Assistant Professor
Brite Divinity School
Fort Worth, TX

Jeremy L. Williams, Ph.D. is a native of Huntsville, AL. His recent book Criminalization in Acts of the Apostles: Race, Rhetoric, and the Prosecution of an Early Christian Movement was published with Cambridge University Press. Dr. Williams is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School where he is also the inaugural director of the Center for Theology and Justice. He has written several articles and his current research project is a manuscript entitled "Abolitionist Acts of the Apostles: Hermeneutics of Imagination." He began his academic work on Acts of the Apostles while studying for the Ph.D. at Harvard University. He earned the M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and received the Henry Hallam Tweedy Award, which is the highest award given to graduating students. He graduated with Highest Honors in Religious Studies and Economics from Vanderbilt University. He is also an Elder in Full Connection in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.

Associate Professor
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Pittsburgh, PA

Kimberly D. Russaw is a dynamic and diversely gifted woman of God who brings all of her gifts together to serve the God she loves. She is the Associate Professor of Old Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA where she blends intellectual rigor with an infectious passion for teaching. When Russaw completed her Ph.D. in Religion at Vanderbilt University, she joined a select cadre of African American scholars who passionately teach the next generation of Christian leaders at our seminaries, colleges, and universities. Russaw is the author of Daughters in the Hebrew Bible (Fortress Academic, 2018) and Revisiting Rahab: Another Look at the Woman of Jericho (Wesley's Foundery Books, 2021).

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Russaw is a lifelong member of Greater Institutional AME Church in Chicago, IL. She is an ordained itinerate elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, an inductee into the prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College, and holds membership in many professional organizations including the Society of Biblical Literature and the Society for the Study of Black Religion. She is also a dedicated member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Above all this, God has blessed Russaw with a loving family to whom she is devoted. She is the daughter of the late Drs. Floyd and Ethel Russaw, the sister of Kaye and Kelly, the sister-in-love of Sean D. Shelton, and the adoring auntie of Sean William Floyd Shelton.

Professor
Eden Theological Seminary
St. Louis, MO

The Reverend Raquel St. Clair Lettsome, Ph.D. is the Professor of New Testament and Womanist Biblical Interpretation at Eden Theological Seminary (St. Louis, MO) and the Founder & President of RSL Ministries (www.rslministries.com), a 501(c)3 organization, where she works with faith leaders and lay people to interpret Scripture more effectively for preaching, teaching, and living. Dr. Lettsome is also an Associate Minister at Mount Zion A.M.E Church, Dover, DE. Affectionately known as "Rev. Raquel," Dr. Lettsome is committed to excellence and loves to help people move forward in their lives and ministries. Her ministry and scholarship flows from a faith commitment that values scholarship, integrity, and authenticity. With more than two decades of pastoral experience and extensive exegetical training, Dr. Lettsome integrates the highest levels of academic biblical scholarship, practical theology, and life-giving ministry, with the discernment of the Holy Spirit, to equip and empower believers.

Rev. Lettsome is nationally recognized for informing and inspiring congregants and classes through her preaching, teaching, writing, online courses, and webinar experiences. She is an in-demand preaching coach and ministry consultant who uses her gifts and experience to help pastors develop their ministerial staffs, coordinate their ministry operations , and train Christian education leaders. Her preaching merits include the Distinguished Preachers Series (Riverside Church, NYC), the George A. Crawley Women in Ministry Preacher (Hampton University Ministers’ Conference), the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, the Festival of Homiletics, The Craft of Preaching, Yale University, and Duke Divinity School.

In 2022, Dr. Lettsome was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College. She has been an invited lecturer and instructor for classes at Princeton Theological, Payne Theological, and United Lutheran seminaries as well as national conferences and denominational meetings. Dr. Lettsome is also a published author in the fields of homiletics, biblical studies, womanist biblical interpretation, and Christian spirituality. Her first publication, Call and Consequences: A Womanist Reading of Mark’s Gospel was the first womanist Biblical interpretation monograph to be published. Her latest publication, Breakthrough You! 30 Daily Devotions to Move You Forward, was a #1 New Release in Religion & Spirituality Short Reads on Amazon.

With a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies (Yale University) and a Master of Divinity (Princeton Theological Seminary), The Reverend Raquel S. Lettsome became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2005.

Rev. Raquel shares her life with her husband, the Rev. Lydell C. Lettsome, M.D., and their 2 children, Tiffany and Luke.

Independent Scholar
Author, The Talking Book: African Americans and The Bible

Allen Dwight Callahan is an independent scholar, media commentator, and creative consultant. He holds a BA in Religion from Princeton University and MA and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University in the Study of Religion. He is an ordained minister of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. Dr. Callahan has taught and lectured throughout the United States and abroad; he is the author of three books and over fifty scholarly articles and has appeared as an expert commentator in documentaries featured on PBS, the History Channel, and the Discovery Channel.

Senior Pastor
Walker Memorial Baptist Church
Washington, DC

Ademuyiwa T. Bamiduro is an ordained Baptist minister and the Senior Pastor of the historic Walker Memorial Baptist Church in Northwest, Washington, D.C. Prior to accepting the call as pastor, Rev. Bamiduro served as the Youth Minister at Walker Memorial; as an Associate Minister at the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in Landover, Maryland, where he was called to the ministry and ordained; and as Associate Minister at Christian Tabernacle Baptist Church, in Hamden, CT

Rev. Bamiduro was born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area and graduated from Archbishop Carroll High School with top honors. Rev. Bamiduro attended the University of Detroit Mercy, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Maryland School of Law. He then graduated from Yale Divinity School, where he received a Masters of Divinity degree, and was awarded the Charles S. Mersick Prize for effective public address, especially in preaching. Rev. Bamiduro is married to Portia R. Bamiduro.