Contributors

Rev. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Leadership and Formation and Director of the Office of Professional Formation at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a current research fellow with the Center for Church Management at Villanova University studying beliefs and…

Jeff Zust is a pastor with 38 years ordained experience in the Southwest Minnesota and Rocky Mountain Synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He retired from active duty as an Army chaplain in 2019 where he completed 26 years of active-duty and 7 years of reserve service in the Air Force and…

Andrew Crow-Roberts is a Lay Leadership student in the Faith + Lead Academy. As a retired U.S. Air Force Aircraft Structural Maintenance Technician and Machinist for over 20 years, he channeled his service directly back to those that served him in faith and love while he was home and abroad. Since his departure from the…

Jeremy Gustafson grew up and live in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and graduated from St. Olaf College in 2008, with degrees in Computer Science and Religion.

Dr. Lamar Hardwick (D.Min.) also known as “the autism pastor,” is the lead pastor at Tri-Cities Church in East Point, Georgia. He is the author of Epic Church and the best-selling I Am Strong: The Life and Journey of an Autistic Pastor. Lamar received a master’s degree from Emory University, a doctor of ministry degree…

The Rev. Peter Heide (Wartburg Theological Seminary, M. Div., 1996) currently serves the ELCA South-Central Synod of Wisconsin as an interim minister. He has previously been published in Monday Quotes of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy, Currents in Theology and Mission, Bread for the Day, Sundays and Seasons, and Persistent Voice, as well as…

Shannon Evans is a woman with a Catholic spirituality and an interfaith heart. Her passion is opening up deeper waters of contemplating God so that our experience of the Divine grows further loving and curious rather than static and complacent. She is the author of two books, Embracing Weakness and Rewilding Motherhood, and one guided…

Pastor Lexy Steinle is pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Fargo, North Dakota.

Melissa Pohlman is one of the pastors at Central Lutheran Church in Downtown Minneapolis, MN. As the Pastor for Community, she works alongside people experiencing homelessness and poverty in order to change the conditions of what it is to be homeless in Minneapolis. She tries to do this through Jesus’ deeply collaborative example.

Br. Bill Bradley is a Novice in the Order of Lutheran Franciscans and a Synod Lay Worship Leader in the West Virginia-Western Maryland Synod of the ELCA. He is currently a student in the online Lay Worship Leader course at Luther Seminary and an active participant in Faith+Lead’s Learning Lab. Br. Bradley is retired from…

Rev. Carolyn Lesmeister is a pastor in the ELCA, who mostly recently has worked in an urban public Montessori school. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband, son, and three cats. After The Incident With the Dead Mouse, the cats were given a stern lecture and professionals were called to deal with the mice. The…

Pastor Joel Richter serves a congregation in Wilmington, Ohio. It has been a wonderful surprise and blessing in his career to have worked with people on the edge of the street, suffering from addictions and other mental illnesses. He is also a trained Spiritual Director in the Franciscan Tradition.

Katelyn Rakotoarivelo, MDiv, is Grants Manager at the Center on Rural Innovation.

The Rev. Stanley Ayashim serves as Residential Life Program Coordinator at Luther Seminary

Kevin is Communications Support Lead at PACE (Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement) after six years of media relations and PR experience for a non-profit and two research organizations. Kevin grew up at the intersection of his mother’s evangelical Christianity and his father’s reform Jewish roots, learning how to appreciate deep difference at home.