Rev. Dr. Martha Brunell (she/her) has been in ministry as a UCC pastor, adjunct faculty member, hospice chaplain and grief educator, spiritual director, facilitator of writing, SoulCollage, and labyrinth groups, Forest Therapy guide, non-profit administrator, writer, and frequent speaker, workshop leader, and retreat presenter for over four decades. She dwells at the crossroads of spirituality and the earth, listening with us as we grow into our stature to be those who love, those who relish the breadth and depth of the sacred ordinary, and those who serve the wholeness and interbeing of our human and more-than-human neighbors. With her she carries these brief words from the poet Mary Oliver: Pay Attention. /Be astonished. / Tell about it.

At JAM she will present two keynote addresses: “Loving Is Who We Are (Part 1): It’s in the Soup” and  “Loving Is Who We Are (Part 2): Ground of Our Being”.

Dr. Dyanis Conrad (she/her) is a professor of Equity & Diversity in Education at Randolph-Macon College in VA. Her research centers on social and educational inequalities, racial literacy, critical social justice, and the deconstruction and disruption of colonial legacies. As a qualitative researcher, she seeks to develop a deeper understanding of the effects of racialized and colonized practices on the sociocultural and educational experiences of marginalized populations in order to improve community relationships and the educational experiences of underserved populations.

At JAM she will lead the workshop, “Loving Across Differences: Toward Culturally Sustaining Communities Where All Can Thrive”.

Dr. Kristen Leslie (she/her) joined the Eden faculty in fall of 2010 as Professor of Pastoral Care and Theology. Her research has focused on intercultural pastoral theology; womanist and feminist pastoral counseling; pastoral theological implications of sexualized violence, particularly on pastoral counseling issues for survivors of acquaintance rape; and ministry in higher education with young adults. She has worked with chaplains in the U. S. Military on issues of sexualized and religious violence and religious intolerance. In 2005, she co-authored the report that brought to light the problem of Christian proselytizing at the Air Force Academy. In 2013, she was awarded a Navy contract to train Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard chaplains on matters related to military sexual assault. An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, she serves on the board of Care and Counseling, a St. Louis-based pastoral counseling center and has served on several different governing boards for the denomination.

Rev. Kelly Gallagher (she/her) has worked both in Massachusetts and Minnesota as an Associate Conference minister, serving hundreds of churches and ministers in the United Church of Christ. She finds great joy in working with congregations as they discover their “why” and uncover who they are as the body of Christ in their place. She believes deeply in the covenantal polity of the United Church of Christ and loves to wrestle in relationship as we, together, continue to be church in this world. 

She will lead the workshop, “Loving through Covenant: Understanding UCC Polity as a lens for Unity and Hope”.