Mr. Jon Meacham currently holds the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Chair in the American Presidency at Vanderbilt University and is the Canon Historian at the Washington National Cathedral. The author of multiple bestselling books, Meacham explores the human and sometimes surprisingly intimate sides of pivotal historical events and time periods. His latest book, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle was released in 2022.

The Rev. Dan Matthews is a consistent favorite at Calvary’s Lenten Preaching Series over the last fifty years. His preaching is inspired by powerful and meaningful stories like the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. In light of these stories, Matthews pushes us to recognize when genuine blessings come our way. He believes that these moments of being “kissed by God” are more than being in the right place at the right time. His spiritual discipline of holy love is modeled after his mother’s ability to love with abandon. Each time he receives communion he is reminded of the transformative power of that love.

The Rev. Becca Stevens is a speaker, social entrepreneur, author, priest, founder of ten non-profit justice enterprises, and President of Thistle Farms. She has been featured on multiple news outlets and named a White House Champion of Change. Stevens has raised over $65M in funding for justice initiatives. She leads important conversations across the country where she underscores her central message that love is the strongest force for change in the world.

The Rev. Becca Stevens will also be speaking at a fundraiser for Thistle and Bee on Saturday, February 25. Click here for more information.

The Reverend Jen Bailey is an ordained minister, author, and a national leader in the multi-faith movement for justice. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Faith Matters Network. The Rev. Bailey believes love is *the* animating force that will make the difference between a future of uncertainty and division and one of deep belonging. She is ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Dr. Omid Safi is a teacher in the Islamic tradition of Radical Love with extensive written work on the foundational sources of Islam and Sufism. A leading Muslim public intellectual, Safi investigates the intersection of spirituality and social justice. He is also deeply committed to liberationist prophetic traditions manifested in the legacies of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Malcolm X. Dr. Safi has delivered the keynote address in annual services honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

The senior rabbi at Temple Israel, Micah Greenstein loves Torah no matter where it comes from. "Torah" in a broad Jewish sense refers to the teachings and wisdom of Judaism, but he treasures insights on goodness, love, justice, shalom, and compassion from every faith tradition and every reflection of God's unity. What inspires Greenstein most about the Jewish legacy he lives and teaches is that it is not simply a tale of enduring persecution and surviving hate, but rather a 4,000 year-old joyful embrace of faith, family, and the blessing that comes with being God's partner in healing a broken world. A preacher at the Lenten Preaching Series since 2000, Rabbi Greenstein is an integral part of Calvary’s Lenten services.

Dr. Brian D. McLaren started his career as a college English teacher, then became a pastor, and then put the two together to become a spiritual writer. He loves the outdoors (fly fishing especially), music (jazz and folk especially), and reading (novels and poetry especially). He has four adult kids and five amazing grandchildren and will show you photos without your permission. His new book, Do I Stay Christian? (St. Martins, 2022) is on Publisher's Weekly top 20 books of 2022. He and his wife, Grace, just survived Hurricane Ian, and can be found walking the beach, pruning trees in their little mango orchard, and watching tortoises cross the road. He looks forward to returning to Calvary and telling the honest truth (as he sees it) about the future of faith.

A national leader in the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Winnie Varghese is known for her inspired writing, teaching, and preaching. Winnie has been a leading voice on issues including mass incarceration; systemic racism; gender, sexuality, and LGBTQ issues; and immigration, among others. She is the 23rd rector of St. Luke's, Atlanta. Prior to St. Luke’s, Winnie served at Trinity Church Wall Street, St. Mark’s in the Bowery in New York City, and St. Alban’s, Los Angeles. Winnie has also served as the Episcopal Chaplain at both Columbia University and the University of California Los Angeles.

Dalia Mogahed is the Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, where she leads the organization’s pioneering research and thought leadership programs on American Muslims. With John L. Esposito, she co-authored the book Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. President Barack Obama appointed Mogahed to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2009 and she was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about U.S. engagement with Muslim communities. Her 2016 TED talk was named one of the top TED talks of that year. Mogahed is a frequent expert commentator in global media outlets and international forums. She is also the CEO of Mogahed Consulting.

Father Greg Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, an intervention program that builds job, life, and relational skills with former gang members. Known for his bestselling book Tattoos on the Heart, Boyle tells stories of shared life that provoke laughter as often as tears. Homeboy Industries has spawned more than 250 partnerships with social enterprises around the globe. Father Boyle travels widely and speaks on the importance of meeting violence with humanity.

The Rev. Canon Borg was not raised in the church and lived outside the US (and a conventional Christian culture) until she was eight. At age 26 she had a compelling experience reading the Gospels. That interaction began an unsettling and transformational journey into Christianity and its traditions. At age 40 Borg was ordained in the Episcopal church, which has remained her spiritual home for 32 years. Her commitment to her faith requires continual rethinking and reimagining what Christianity is and why it matters. She is very concerned about the future of Christianity, particularly American Christianity. Borg’s adult formation has been profoundly shaped by the life and work of her late husband (the scholar Dr. Marcus J. Borg), the South African Bush, the horse, and the work of John D. Caputo. She hosts a monthly virtual gathering called the Second Saturday Conversation that explores Christianity in and for the 21st century.

Pádraig Ó Tuama’s interests lie in language, violence and religion. Having grown up in a place that has a long history of all three (Ireland, yes, but also Europe) he finds that language might be the most redeeming of all three of these. In language there is the possibility of vulnerability, of surprise, of the creative movement towards something as yet unseen. He is inspired by any artist of words: from Krista Tippett to Lucille Clifton; from Patrick Kavanagh to Emily Dickinson; from Lorna Goodison to Arundhati Roy. Ó Tuama loves words — words that open up the mind, the heart, the life. For instance — poem: a created thing.

Lenten Retreat with Pádraig Ó Tuama
March 18, 2023 (9:00a.m. - 2:00p.m.)
RSVP HERE

The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. After serving three congregations—two in downtown Atlanta and one in rural Clarkesville, Georgia—she became the first Butman Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College, where she taught until 2017. Since then she has spoken at events with wonderful names like Wild Goose, Evolving Faith, Awakening Soul, and Gladdening Light, but her favorite gig is being full-time caretaker of a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians with her husband Ed and very many animals.

Rabbi David Wolpe is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. Known for his honest engagement on the place of religion in public life, Rabbi Wolpe explores Torah in fresh and faithful ways. Author of eight books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times, Wolpe has been named the most influential Rabbi in America by Newsweek and twice named among the 50 most influential Angelinos by LA Magazine. He has taught at a number of universities, including UCLA, Hunter college, Pepperdine and the Jewish Theological Seminary, and written for numerous prominent news outlets. His next adventure will be serving as a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School.

Dr. Nichols, a native of Memphis, TN, is the organizing pastor of Freedom’s Chapel Christian Church (DOC). Following the death of a childhood friend, Dr. Nichols created A More Excellent Way, Inc., an organization with a mission to help individuals from all walks of life to enter into, engage in, and maintain spiritually healthy relationships while eliminating relationship violence. She is a founding member of MICAH (Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope) and serves as Inter-Faith Officer for MIFA (Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association). She has been a visiting professor in Gweru, Zimbabwe, a church planter throughout China, and a Holy Land pilgrim. Dr. Nichols’s deepest passions are transformational teaching and working with others to seek justice, love, and mercy.

Kaitlin Curtice is an award-winning author, poet-storyteller, and public speaker. As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi nation who was raised in the Christian faith, Kaitlin investigates the intersections of spirituality and identity. She believes truthfully sharing the stories and contradictions of our histories and faith traditions can contribute to communal healing. As an inter-spiritual advocate, Kaitlin participates in conversations on topics such as colonialism in faith communities. Her forthcoming book, Living Resistance, claims that “resistance is for every human who desires their neighbors’ flourishing.”

Dr. Jemar Tisby is a professor of history at Simmons College of Kentucky. He is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the Church's Complicity in Racism and How to Fight Racism. Tisby has co-hosted the podcast "Pass the Mic” for all of its seven-year history and his writing has been featured in multiple national news outlets. Dr. Tisby speaks nationwide on the topics of racial justice, U.S. history and Christianity. He earned his PhD in history where his research examines race, religion, and social movements in the 20th century.

Rev. Sam Teitel is a Unitarian Universalist minister, poet, and lapsed punk rocker. He serves as the minister of The Church of the River in Memphis, Tennessee. His favorite parts of scripture are the parts that people usually try to ignore. He loves checking out new restaurants and record stores in Memphis with his wife, Sandra, their son, Gideon, and their Jack Russell Terrier, Tommy.