Conference Agenda

The Rev. Dr. HyeRan Kim-Cragg, is Principal and Professor of Preaching at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. She was appointed the 14th principal of Emmanuel College in 2022 and is the first racialized person to lead the institution and to be promoted to full professor in 2021 in its nearly 100-year history.

As a leading postcolonial scholar in homiletics, Kim-Cragg is committed to an interdisciplinary approach to homiletics. Her current research focuses on connecting the ecological crisis with preaching. She is working on a manuscript on “Preaching Ecologically” and will be published in T & T Clark Library of Homiletics Series. 

Irie Lynne Session is an award-winning minister, womanist pastor, church planter, author, and spiritual entrepreneur. Raised in the South Bronx and in the New York City Housing Projects, she began her service to humanity by ministering to persons marginalized in society due to incarceration, addiction, commercial sexual exploitation, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS histories.

She holds an undergraduate degree in Social Work from Oklahoma Christian University; a Master of Divinity with Certificate in Black Church Studies from Brite Divinity School; and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformative Leadership and Prophetic Preaching from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, in Rochester, New York. In 2025, Dr. Irie received a Certificate in Artificial Intelligence and Career Empowerment from the University of Maryland.

The Reverend Dr. Marsha Brown Woodard is a graduate of Ottawa University (Ottawa, Kansas), Eden Theological Seminary (Webster Groves, Missouri), and Lancaster Theological Seminary (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), from which she received the Doctor of Ministry degree. She is a Senior Lecturer in Christian Ministry, Director of Supervised Ministries, and an Academic Advisor at Palmer Theological Seminary, the Seminary of Eastern University, in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. Her teaching has been extensive; among the courses she has taught are African American Women in Church History—1800 to the Present, Preaching Practicum, Personal Growth & Transformation through Movies, and Seminar in Prophetic Preaching and Teaching.

On November 9, 2024, Rev. Cavaness was appointed the 53rd Pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church, the first woman to lead the birthplace of African Methodism, which sits on the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African Americans in the United States purchased by the founder of the AME Church, Bishop Richard Allen. 

Rev. Cavaness is a graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City, with a major in Urban Studies with a concentration in Economics. Prior to her historic appointment, she served for ten (10) years as the Pastor of Bethel AME Church of Ardmore, PA the first female pastor in that church’s 130 year history.

Obed Arango Hisijara is a Mexican/Latinamerican photographer, social anthropologist, author, social leader, and university professor. 

In addition, he is the founder and executive director of the Centro de Cultura, Arte, Trabajo y Educación (CCATE), a Latinx non-profit organization that was founded in 2012, and which is located in Norristown in the metropolitan area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and whose mission is: “to promote change and social transformation from the talents of the Latino community, at the intersection with education, art, culture, technology, health and environmental sciences.”

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and best-selling author. Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. 

He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living "as if Jesus meant the things he said." 

Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war.

 Now grace fuels his passion to end the death penalty and help stop gun violence.

Rev. Dr. Brian C. Ellis-Gibbs serves as national coordinator for Healing and Transforming Communities at American Baptist Home Mission Societies. 

In this role with American Baptist Home Mission Societies, Rev. Dr. Brian C. Ellis-Gibbs engages with community partners to advance healing, justice and liberation. 

Rev. Dr. Brian C. Ellis-Gibbs has more than two decades of pastoral leadership and over 10 years of experience in faith-rooted social justice organizing. 

He brings a deep commitment to transformational ministry grounded in compassion, inquiry and relationship.

David Stark earned a Doctor of Theology from Duke University with a focus on homiletics and Hebrew Bible. 

He is the author of Singing and Suffering with the Servant: Second Isaiah as Guide for Preaching the Old Testament (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2022) and Preaching that Confronts Confederate Monuments: Religion, Anti-Racism, and United States Politics (T & T Clark, 2025). 

Stark currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Homiletics and as a member of the executive board of Societas Homiletica. He is an ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church with leadership experience in rural and urban congregations.

Rev. Rebecca Irwin-Diehl, PhD, is founding director of the ABHMS Center for Continuous Learning. Dr. Irwin-Diehl holds a Master of Theological Studies from Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University, as well as a Master of Arts in Theology and the PhD in Theology from Villanova University. Her research has focused on lived spirituality, especially among those who are religiously disaffiliated or who consider themselves "spiritual but not religious." Rev. Rebecca is passionately committed, both personally and vocationally, to lifelong learning, especially when it comes to equipping leaders and other disciples with the tools they need to pursue ongoing faith formation and spiritual growth, individually and in community. In addition to her work with ABHMS, Rev. Rebecca serves as associate minister at the Second Baptist Church of Germantown, in Philadelphia, PA, where Rev. Dr. Crystal Jennings is pastor.  

James Williams serves as Senior Pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Philadelphia—a 325+ year ministry in the heart of the City of Brotherly Love.  Prior to accepting his call, Rev. Williams attended Palmer Theological Seminary where he earned his Master of Divinity degree, serving as a Presidential Scholar, a Sider Scholar, a Campolo Scholar, and as a Church Mutual Religion Scholar. 

Before seminary, James earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Pennsylvania State University, where he graduated with Highest Distinction. He is a PhD candidate in Practical Theology and Homiletics at Eastern University, where he serves as the Kerygma Initiative Campolo Research Fellow.

Jimmy Arthur Atkins earned a Doctor of Strategic Leadership from Regent University with a focus on strategic organizational development and design. He has also taught at the University of Charleston W.V and as Visiting Professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Fulda in Germany. 

Beyond his academic appointments, Atkins serves as Senior Pastor of True Worship Christian Fellowship in Cary, North Carolina. Atkins is currently pursuing the Doctor of Ministry in Contextual Leadership at Palmer Theological Seminary with a focus on Prophetic Preaching and Teaching.