Archives: Speakers
Post Type Description
Karen Georgia Thompson
Associate General Minister, Wider Church Ministries @ United Church of Christ
The Reverend Doctor Karen Georgia Thompson, Associate General Minister, Wider Church Ministries and Operations Co-Executive for Global Ministries. Rev. Doc Karen Georgia is an inspiring preacher and theologian, who shares her skills and gifts in a variety of settings nationally and internationally, often using her poetry as a part of her ministry.
She is a gifted writer and poet. Her book of poetry Drums in Our Veins, published in 2020 is a compilation of poems that focus on the injustices facing people of African Descent and the fight and desire for racial justice globally. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, her poetry and writings reflect her Jamaican heritage and culture as well as the traditions and lore of her Ancestors.
Karen Georgia earned a BA from Brooklyn College in New York; a Master of Public Administration from North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC; and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York. She also studied Public Policy at Duke University and earned her Doctorate in Ministry at Seattle University.
She is the mother of two sons – Everette and Patrick and has three grandchildren – Giovan, Elijah and Sara who are affectionately named by her as Peanut, Pumpkin and Pepper.
Kelle Brown
Senior Pastor @ Plymouth Church Seattle
Ophelia Hu Kinney
Director of Communications @ Reconciling Minsitries
Ophelia serves as the Director of Communications for Reconciling Ministries, an organization seeking LGBTQ justice and inclusion in The United Methodist Church. She is also on the staff of a fiercely loving, justice-seeking church in Portland, Maine. She shares her time with Beloved Arise and the Equality Community Center of Maine. Her pronouns are she/her.
Emily McGinley
Senior Pastor @ City Church of San Francisco
Rev. Emily McGinley became a Christian in the non-denominational evangelical tradition before entering ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church (USA). In addition to serving as the Executive Pastor of Urban Village Church, she was the founding pastor of UVC’s Hyde Park-Woodlawn site, located on the South Side of Chicago. Emily has extensive experience working across diverse networks and Christian traditions. She has preached and presented nationally on a variety of topics, including vocational discernment, preaching, church planting, social media in ministry, inclusive evangelism, and anti-racist church leadership. In addition to coaching individuals and congregations, she is a contributing writer to the books, Inter-Cultural Ministry: Hope for a Changing World and Finding Peace in an Anxious World. Her commitment to building gospel-shaped inclusive spaces that nurture, challenge, and practice radical hospitality has helped to cultivate beloved community at UVC and beyond.
Daniel Brereton
Reverend @ St. John the Baptist (Dixie)
The Rev. Daniel Brereton currently serves as Priest in Charge at St. John the Baptist, Dixie (in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto).
Josh Scott
Lead Pastor @ Gracepointe Church
Josh (he/him) has been a pastor for the last two decades. The focus of his work is reimagining, reframing, and reclaiming faith through a Progressive Christian lens. Josh is married to Carla, and they live with their five kids and labradoodle, Lucy.
Brandan Robertson
@ Writer, Activist, Public Theologian
Rev. Brandan Robertson is a noted author, activist, and public theologian working at the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, and social renewal. He currently serves as the Pastor of Metanoia Church, a digital progressive faith community and is the host of The Big Questions Podcast.
A prolific writer, he is the author of seven books on spirituality, justice, and theology, including the INDIES Book of the Year Award Finalist True Inclusion: Creating Communities of Radical Embrace. Robertson has bylines in publications such as TIME Magazine, San Diego Union Tribune, The Huffington Post, NBC, and The Washington Post, and is a regular columnist for Bishop John Shelby Spong’s Progressing Spirit newsletter as well as Baptist News Global. As a trusted voice on progressive faith and politics, Robertson is regularly interviewed in national and global media outlets including CNN, National Public Radio, MSNBC, Hot Press Ireland, The Independent UK, and The New York Times. In 2021, Rolling Stone Magazine included Robertson in its annual “Hot List” of top artists, creatives, and influencers who “are giving us reason to be excited about the future.“
Each year, Robertson speaks on a variety of topics across the globe and has been an honored speaker at renowned institutions such as The White House, Oxford University, and The Parliament of World Religions. He’s taught seminars for San Francisco Theological Seminary and Disciples Seminary Foundation and currently serves on the faculty of The Lakelands Institute. He has served on advisory committees and working groups for the Democratic National Convention, the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Health and Human Services, The Humane Society, and in 2020 was named a Fellow of the prestigious Salzburg Global Seminar.
Named by the Human Rights Campaign as one of the top faith-leaders leading the fight for LGBTQ+ equality, Robertson has worked with political leaders and activists around the world to end conversion therapy and promote the human rights of sexual and gender minorities. He works as a national organizer of people of faith on a wide array of social and political issues, and is a founding member of The Union of Affirming Christians, The Global Interfaith Commission on LGBTQ+ Lives, The Ozanne Foundation US, and is a Patron of One Body One Faith.
Robertson received his Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry and Theology from Moody Bible Institute, his Master of Theological Studies from Iliff School of Theology, and his Master of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration from Eastern Illinois University. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Religion from Drew University. He currently resides in New York City.
Andrea White
Associate Professor of Theology & Culture @ Union Theological Seminary
The Rev. Dr. Andrea C. White is Associate Professor of Theology and Culture at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. She has served as Executive Director of the Society for the Study of Black Religion and chair of the Black Theology Unit for the American Academy of Religion. Her research specializes in womanist theology and critical theory, philosophy of religion and phenomenology.
Her forthcoming volume is The Scandal of Flesh: Black Women’s Bodies, God, and Politics. She is also the author of The Back of God: A Theology of Otherness in Karl Barth and Paul Ricoeur, and editor of several future volumes including, Political Theology on Edge with Catherine Keller and Clayton Crocket, and The State of Black Theology.
She serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the Wabash Center Journal on Teaching, the Black Theology Papers Project, and she is editor of the web forum Love, Struggle Resist, a critical, social and political forum for the progressive multireligious community.
Dr. White is a recipient of both the Lilly Theological Research Faculty Fellowship from The Association of Theological Schools and The Louisville Institute Book Grant for Minority Scholars.
She has delivered lectures in Brazil, Denmark, India, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, and across the United States. She sits on the advisory boards for the Karl Barth Society of North America and Logia at the Logos Institute for Analytic and Exegetical Theology at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. She has served as a member of the Committee on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession and with the Theology and Religious Reflection steering committee for the American Academy of Religion. She also serves on the Committee on Teaching about the United Nations and is a founding member of The Carter Center’s Scholars in Action created to address gender violence against women and girls.
Dr. White is a recipient of Emory University’s 2016 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award.
Prior to her appointment at Union, she served on the faculty at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in theology from The University of Chicago Divinity School, a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School with a concentration in philosophy of religion, and a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College with honors in philosophy. She is also an ordained American Baptist minister and served as a church pastor, hospice chaplain, and chaplain for children and adults with developmental disabilities.
Debie Thomas
@ Pastor, Author
Debie is the author of Into the Mess and Other Jesus Stories: Reflections on the Life of Christ, a collection of essays that explores the life and teachings of Jesus. She is a columnist and contributing editor for The Christian Century, and from 2014 to 2022, was a staff writer for Journey with Jesus: A Weekly Webzine for the Global Church. She studied English Literature at Wellesley College and Brown University, and earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Ohio State University. Currently, she serves as the Minister for Lifelong Formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palo Alto, CA.
Amanda Meisenheimer
@ Riverside Church NYC
Amanda is the Minister of Children and Families at the Riverside Church in the City of New York. Amanda specializes in intergenerational and therapeutic approaches to ministry and curriculum. Amanda also serves as the Executive Director of the Riverside CDF Freedom School, bringing a program of literacy and social justice to the community’s children. She and her two children make their home in Manhattan.