MEET THE AUTHORS
BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR
Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, speaker, and Episcopal priest who taught at Piedmont College for twenty years, retiring as the Butman Professor Emerita of Religion in 2017.
BARBARA BROWN TAYLOR
PATRICK CLAYBORN
Patrick D. Clayborn is the senior pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He is married to Rev. Sheri Smith Clayborn and has two children: Patrick II and Joya.
PATRICK CLAYBORN
ELESA COMMERSE
Elesa Commerse is the founder and codirector of Touching Earth Mindfulness Learning Center. She teaches meditation and mindful commu- nication worldwide and offers intensive thematic studies and retreats for students committed to the practice.
ELESA COMMERSE
MARTIN DOBLMEIER
Martin Doblmeier is the founder of Journey Films. He has produced more than thirty award- winning documentary films on topics of religion, faith, and spirituality, including Bonhoeffer, The Power of Forgiveness, and Backs against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story.
MARTIN DOBLMEIER
MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president emerita of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans for her entire professional life. For her life of service in the legal commu- nity and her advocacy on behalf of children, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, in 2000.
MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN
GREGORY C. ELLISON, II
Gregory C. Ellison II is Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and founder of Fearless Dialogues. He is married to Antoinette and the proud father of Gregory III and Anaya.
GREGORY C. ELLISON, II
MARI EVANS
Mari Evans was a poet, writer, playwright, and composer, associated with the Black Arts Movement. Instructed by her beloved teacher Langston Hughes, Evans’s iconic poems like “I Am a Black Woman” and “Celebration” have been copiously cited and live on in the hearts of many.
MARI EVANS
WALTER EARL FLUKER
Walter Earl Fluker is Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership at Boston University School of Theology and editor and director of the Howard Thurman Papers Project.
WALTER EARL FLUKER
STEPHEN LEWIS
Stephen Lewis is the president of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) and creator of DO GOOD X, a start-up accelerator for diverse Christian social entrepreneurs. He is passionate about inspiring the next generation of leaders to make a difference in the world through Christian communities and businesses that do good in the world.
STEPHEN LEWIS
PARKER J. PALMER
Parker J. Palmer is an independent writer, teacher, and activist. He holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and his ten books (most recently, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity and Getting Old) have been recognized with thirteen honorary doctorates.
PARKER J. PALMER
LUKE A. POWERY
The Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery is the dean of the Duke University Chapel and Associate Professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School. His most recent book is Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals, and he also serves as a general editor for the nine-volume lectionary commentary series titled Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship.
LUKE A. POWERY
LIZA J. RANKOW
Liza J. Rankow is an interfaith minister, activist, educator, and the founder of OneLife Institute for Spirituality & Social Transformation. She has taught classes on Thurman in community and academic settings since 2002 and is the producer and coeditor of a six CD archival audio collection titled “The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman” (Sounds True, 2010).
LIZA J. RANKOW
TYLER SIT
Tyler Ho-Yin Sit is a United Methodist pastor and church planter of New City Church in Minneapolis. He is author of the upcoming book tentatively titled Staying Awake: The Gospel for Changemakers, an exploration of Christianity from queer perspectives of color.
TYLER SIT
LUTHER E. SMITH, JR.
Luther E. Smith Jr., is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology, Emory University. He is the author of Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet, editor of Howard Thurman: Essential Writings, senior advisory editor for the “Howard Thurman Papers Project,” coeditor of the recordings The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman: A Visionary for Our Time, and author of numerous articles on Howard Thurman.
LUTHER E. SMITH, JR.
SHIVELY T.J. SMITH
Shively T. J. Smith is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Boston School of Theology and an itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Smith’s scholarship focuses on the general letters, diaspora rhetoric, and hermeneutics.
SHIVELY T.J. SMITH
MATTHEW WESLEY WILLIAMS
Matthew Wesley Williams serves as the president at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), a historically Black ecumenical graduate theo- logical school, located in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia. He is coauthor of Another Way: Living and Leading Change on Purpose and resides in the Atlanta metropolitan area with his wife, Alexis and children, Zuri and Sage.
MATTHEW WESLEY WILLIAMS
STARSKY WILSON
Starsky D. Wilson is president and chief executive officer of Deaconess Foundation, a philanthropic child advocacy ministry in St. Louis, Missouri. He is board chair for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and formerly led the Ferguson Commission.