Contributors

Bryant Kaden serves alongside the people of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, as one of their pastors and is passionate about rural ministry in challenging and changing times. Along with spending time with his wife and three children, he enjoys railroad photography and model railroading, cheering on the St Louis Cardinals, running,…

Scott Richards is a 2014 graduate of Luther Seminary. He serves as the pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran and Trinity Lutheran churches in Gaylord MN.

Cody J. Sanders is Associate Professor of Congregational and Community Care Leadership at Luther Seminary. Prior to this, he was pastor to Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and served as a chaplain at Harvard and MIT. He has published several books, including, Corpse Care: Ethics for Tending the Dead (Fortress, 2023) and A…

Rev. Melissa Cooper is an ordained Deacon in the United Methodist Church. Prior to serving at St. Luke’s, Melissa served as Program Coordinator for the Life Enrichment Center and Warren Willis Camp. Before receiving her MTS in 2009, Melissa earned a B.A. in English from Middle Tennessee State University. She is originally from Tennessee, but…

Rev. Dr. LaDonna Sanders Nkosi is a global poet, author and founder of Africa Exhale and Ubuntu Global Retreats, launching in 2024. She speaks widely online and in person through conference preaching, teaching and poetry. She is founder of the Gathering Global Network, and she loves mentoring, providing counsel and hosting retreats for leaders. For…

Pastor Matt Musteric serves as pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Martin, Ohio and St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Curtice, Ohio. He also dabbles in improv comedy with Glass City Improv in Toledo.

Mike Davis is an electrifying performer and motivational speaker who reflects the knowledge of self, collective creativity, cultural consciousness, and the Gospel. He also makes space for youth and young leaders to encounter community, opportunity, and the presence of God through a program he founded called “Cultured” a performing arts based, outreach ministry in South…

Rev. Gail Goldsmith is the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, VA. She loves parish ministry because the church can be our best practice for the Kingdom of God. She earned her M. Div from Bexley Seabury at the University of Chicago Divinity School. She felt called to parish ministry after serving as a…

Rev. Dr. Katie Hays is the founder and lead evangelist of Galileo Church, a quirky, queer-inclusive community-in-Jesus’s-name on the outskirts of Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of several books for and about Galileo, including God Gets Everything God Wants and Family of Origin, Family of Choice: Stories of Queer Christians.

Dee Terry is Associate Director of Marketing for Faith+Lead.

Dawn Rundman holds a doctorate in developmental psychology and is Director of Faith Formation Resource Development at 1517 Media. She is also the series editor for Mouth House books published by Augsburg Fortress and the program director for the Unbridled Presence grant awarded by the Lilly Endowment’s Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative. She…

Rev. Melva L. Sampson, PhD is a digital hush harbor curator, ritualist, scholar and preacher. She is the creator of Pink Robe Chronicles â„¢ a digital hush harbor that centers faith and spirituality using womanist and Afrocentric values to highlight the importance of collective work and responsibility in healing and sustaining marginalized communities. She is…

Emmanuel Philor Sr. is a husband, father, minister, and thinker; who hopes to revolutionize how his community practices the Christian faith. Philor is a native of Orange, NJ but currently residesin the Greater Philadelphia area. Philor is married to his best friend and the love of his life, the former Yasmin Marsh-Williams. Together, they have…

Julie Wesley is a student at Luther Seminary and a candidate for ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Arkansas-Oklahoma synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. She is currently serving at Community of Joy Lutheran Church in Hot Springs Village, Ar.

The Rev. Dr. Karl Jacobson (M.Div., Luther Seminary; Th.D., Providence) serves as Senior Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Minneapolis, Minn. Prior to that, he was Assistant Professor of Religion at Augsburg College. Jacobson is contributing author to Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms (Augsburg Fortress, second edition 2017) and…