Black Methodists for Church Renewal is the Black caucus of the United Methodist Church. It represents more than 2,400 congregations and 500,000 members across the United States. It is based in Atlanta, Ga. Contact Rev. Rita Howard, manager of programs and operations.

William Brown is a professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. He teaches several courses that combine science and theology with a special focus on ecology and “creation care.” He is the author of The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science and the Ecology of Wonder.

Eliel Cruz is a speaker and writer on religion, bisexuality, media, and culture at The Advocate, Mic, and Religion News Service. He has also written for the Huffington Post, Sojourners, Washington Post, Patheos, Everyday Feminism, DETAILS, and Rolling Stone. He’s the co-founder and former president of Intercollegiate Adventist Gay-Straight Alliance Coalition, an organization that advocates for safe […]

Billy Michael Honor is a minister, theologian, and writer who currently serves as pastor and head of staff of New Life Presbyterian Church in College Park, Georgia. His professional and research focus includes religious criticism, African American religious thought, and public theology. He contributed a “preaching reflection” about the death of Michael Brown to Odyssey Networks.

Andre Key is an assistant professor of history at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. He is an expert in the historical development of Black Hebrew religion and Hebrew Israelite ethno-religious identity.

Cristóbal Serrán-Pagán y Fuentes is an associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Ga. He is leading a daylong celebration of Thomas Merton and the Spanish mystics Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross as part of the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University’s 100th anniversary celebration of […]

Letitia Campbell is an assistant professor of ethics at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, where she also coordinates the Laney Legacy Program in moral leadership and the clinical pastoral education program. She studies Christian evangelization, especially in short mission trips, and helps run a Facebook group on virtual ministry tools.

Jehu J. Hanciles is an associate professor of world Christianity at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. He studies global Christian expansion, especially in Africa.

Don Seeman is an associate professor at the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, where he studies medical and phenomenological anthropology, Jewish studies and ritual theory. He is the author of One People, One Blood: Ethiopian-Israelis and the Return to Judaism. He is currently studying contemplative practice among Hasidic Jews.