Miss the conference? Click the links below to explore the sessions.
Grace Al-Zoughbi is an Arab Palestinian Christian. Her experiences as an Arab woman in theological education have been shaped by the challenges she experiences. It is her faith which has given her hope to speak life into such challenging circumstances. She is currently completing a PhD in Theological Education from the London School of Theology, with special focus on the roles of Arab women in theological education in the Middle East. Grace is active in regional theological schools and programs, an international speaker, and published author on the topics of the Palestinian Church and Christianity in the Middle East and the theological education of women in that region. She is married to Rev. Michael Arteen and together they have come to identify strongly with the persecuted church in the Middle East.
Workshop title: Where Are Women’s Voices in Arab Christian Theology?
Antoinette Alvarado is the Co-Pastor of Grace ChurchInternational, founder and executive director of My Sister’s Keeper Foundation for Women and president of Targeted Living Coaching & Consulting, LLC. A dynamic preacher, teacher, and workshop presenter, she is also author of Run and Not be Weary: The Pursuit of Purpose and Destiny, Stoking the Fire of Your Dreams, Harmonize Your Life: A Journey Toward Self-Care, and co-author of Let’s Stay Together: Relationship Strategies for Successful Marriages.
Workshop title: Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities
Panel
Andrew Bartlett QC studied law at Oxford and practiced as an English barrister for more than 40 years. His main work is as an international arbitrator. He has a BA in Theology (University of Gloucestershire; first class honors and Bible Society prize). He has served in several churches as elder or churchwarden. He is the author of ‘Men and Women in Christ: Fresh Light from the Biblical Texts’ (IVP, 2019), which Dr Scot McKnight says is “rigorous, fair-minded, cautious, exegetical, analytical, logical, and dispassionately presented” and “will become THE textbook used in colleges and seminaries that want to discuss women in ministry afresh”.
Workshop title: Galatians 3:28 in Context: Human Worth and God’s Great Purpose for Both Men and Women.
Liz Beyer has worked at CBE since 2008 and currently serves as the manager of learning resources and international projects. She is also a writer and editor, most recently of Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities.
Workshop title: Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities
Panel
Dr. Beth Birmingham is a professor, leadership consultant, author, speaker, and facilitator/steering committee member for The Christian Alliance for Inclusive Development. She’s spent 25 years developing leaders for and serving in global development organizations, work that has taken her to over 30 countries. She is the co-author of Creating Cultures of Belonging: Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive (IVP, 2022) and past publications on NGO Partnerships, including Shared Strength (Compassion Press, 2010). Beth is a member of the Wheaton Consortium for Development, Gender, and Christianity. Beth holds a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, and an M.B.A. in International Economic Development from Eastern University.
Workshop title: Creating Cultures of Belonging – Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive.
Esmé Bowers lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and serves as the chairperson of The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa. She is the director for the Church and Community Department of The World Evangelical Alliance and has served in many departments of WEA in various capacities and now serves on the senior leadership team of WEA. She has served as the international secretary for the Lausanne movement for four years, hosted the third Lausanne congress in Cape Town in 2010, and retired as board secretary in 2015. Her passion for seeing a world reconciled to Christ has taken her to many countries as an evangelist and teacher. As a social justice activist, she is engaged in issues of racism, sexism, and poverty. She established The African Women in Missions Network in 2012, serves on the leadership team of The Movement for African National initiatives (MANI), and continues to support the work of The Pan African Christian Women’s Association (PACWA) to train women and men in community transformation.
Workshop title: Let’s Talk! Intergenerational Learning at the Intersection of Church, Race, and Gender in South Africa (Virtual Presentation)
Nadine Bowers Du Toit is an associate professor in theology and development at the Faculty of Theology, University of Stellenbosch. Her research focuses on the role of faith communities in addressing issues of social injustice and poverty, with a particular focus on local congregations and grassroots faith-based actors, and she is often invited to address churches and other faith-based organizations with regards to these issues. She serves on the board of three nonprofit organizations and is the current vice president of the International Academy of Practical Theology.
Workshop title: Let’s Talk! Intergenerational Learning at the Intersection of Church, Race, and Gender in South Africa (Virtual Presentation)
Jeannette Cochran is executive pastor at Seneca Creek Community Church, a multiethnic Evangelical Free Church in Maryland, where she is privileged to shepherd and lead a beautifully diverse staff and congregation. Jeannette is also a women’s leadership coach who empowers Christian women to rise to their full potential. She is a founding leader of the CBE Chapter of Greater Washington D.C., and a member of the CBE board. She is a graduate of Regent University where she earned degrees in organizational leadership and management (BS and MA) and practical theology (MA).
Workshop title: CBE Greater DC Chapter Panel
Kimberly Dickson has studied and worked in the Middle East, East Africa, India, and in her home state of California. In these various contexts she has seen how the status of women practically affects the health and wellbeing of families, communities, and nations. She has seen the welfare of entire communities transform when those who are traditionally marginalized are brought into community decision making. She embarked on her master’s in divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary to better understand the Judeo/Christian faith’s perspectives on women.
Kim is co-host of CBE International’s Mutuality Matters podcast segment, “Global Impact: Egalitarian Activism and Human Flourishing.” Based on her experience in the field, she invites guests to reflect on the practical impacts of Christian theology, especially regarding women, on their humanitarian work.
Workshop title: Parenting Towards Galatians 3:28: Lessons Learned Through Interracial, International Adoption.
Dr. Rob Dixon lives in central California with his wife, Amy, and four children and works as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He earned a Doctor of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, where he focused on discerning the attributes of flourishing mixed gender ministry partnerships. Rob is the author of Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships. Find him online at TogetherInMission.net.
Rob is co-host of CBE International’s Mutuality Matters podcast segment, “Women & Men Leading Together: Stories from the Field.”
Workshop title: Making the Shift: 5 Moves Faith Communities Can Make From Complementarianism to Egalitarianism
Dr. Mimi Haddad is president of CBE International. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary (summa cum laude). She holds a PhD in historical theology from the University of Durham, England. Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University awarded Mimi an honorary Doctor of Divinity in 2013. Read more about Mimi here.
Workshop title: Women At the Margins: Leaders in Christian History
Rev. David Hart is a practicing attorney and lead pastor of a growing church in Madison, Wisconsin. His mom says he is special on the inside.
Workshop title: Going from Ally to Action: Walking Toward Gender Equality in our Churches Together
Dr. Boaz Johnson (PhD, Trinity International University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is a professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at North Park University in Chicago, IL. His writing has appeared in publications such as Christianity Today and The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society.
Workshop title: Male, Female, Slave, and Free in the Context of a Pandemic: In the Thought of Katharine Bushnell
Mary L. Johnson, a native of Americus, Georgia, is the connections pastor of Seneca Creek Community Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She studied at Mercer University (GA) and Howard University of Divinity (DC), from which she earned an MDiv. She is the founder of Faith of Our Mothers Ministries International, connecting older women with younger women called to ministry. She has served as the speaker for the International Evangelism Center Women’s Conference in 2017 in Sakila, Tanzania, 2019 in Moshi, Tanzania, and plans to return as their speaker in Kenya for 2023.
Workshop title: CBE Greater DC Chapter Panel
Dr. Médine Moussounga Keener (PhD, University of Paris) is Community Formation Pastoral Care coordinator at Asbury Theological Seminary. Originally from Congo Brazzaville, she has taught French at Eastern University and continues to teach it at Asbury University. She wrote her dissertation related to African American women’s history, has published various articles in Dictionary of African Christian Biography, Africa Study Bible, and other articles on women in Africa. She coauthored with her husband, Craig, Impossible Love: The True Story of an African Civil War, Miracles and Hope Against All Odds, a story of her war experience and her and Craig’s romance. They also coauthored Reconciliation for Africa, a booklet on ethnic reconciliation currently used in many countries in Africa. She also coauthored with Dr. Sue Russell a Bible study book titled Loved: Women Who Found Hope and Healing in Jesus. Both in Francophone Africa and in the US, she has publicly shared her experiences of war and reconciliation.
Workshop title: Gender and Ethnic Challenges: A Personal Journey
Dr. Craig S. Keener (PhD, Duke University) is F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is author of thirty-three books, with more than one million copies in circulation. The books have won thirteen national or international awards, including six in Christianity Today. These include The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament and major academic commentaries. In 2020 Craig was president of the Evangelical Theological Society.
Workshop title: Ethnicity and Gender: Mutuality in Galatians 3:28 & Ephesians 5:21-33
Jeanne Porter King is the founder and president of TransPorter Group Inc., a consulting practice that specializes in leadership development, diversity and inclusion training, process facilitation, and influence coaching. She has developed global leadership programs and has trained and coached leaders on every continent (except Antarctica!). She is passionate about coaching and developing executive and emerging leaders to be their best and reach their highest aspirations! Dr. Jeanne Porter King received both bachelor and master of science degrees from The Ohio State University, a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from McCormick Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational Communication from Ohio University. She has over thirty years of consulting and training experience in a variety of industries including manufacturing, telecommunications, financial services, as well as with community groups, governmental agencies, churches and other faith-based institutions.
Workshop title: Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities
Panel
Denise Kingdom-Grier is pastor of mobilization and renewal at a multi-site church in West Michigan. She is a contributor to the She is Called: Women of the Bible Study Series and founder of the 1Cor13project.com.
Workshop title: The She Is Called Story: How to Start a Spirit-led Movement that Fulfills the Vision of Galatians 3:28
Rev. Dr. Wilma Faye Mathis holds an MDiv, an MA in urban ministry, a Graduate Certificate in Christian studies, as well as a DMin. Her dissertation is to publish as Jesus Among the Homeless: Strategies for Bringing the Gospel to Women in the Urban Context through Transformational Journaling in the House of Prisca and Aquila series. She is a desktop publishing entrepreneur and now works as a senior project manager at a community health center in Boston, while she conducts her own community ministry to homeless women and her personal ministry to moms and other women (Mom2Mom) “a place where someone cares.” She serves as an Athanasian Teaching Scholar in Dr. William David Spencer’s systematic theology courses at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Boston Campus (CUME). She has written the afterword for An Artistic Tribute to Harriet Tubman and contributed to The Commission: Finding A Better Way, Black Girl Cry: What Black Women Need to Know to Amplify Their Voices, and When Women Speak: An Anthology Encouraging Women. She is also the author of “God’s Masterpiece,” featured in the award-winning Africanus Journal 13:1 (April 2021)
Workshop title: Using Biblical Female Imagery to Bolster Self Esteem in Women
Dr. Jeff Miller is editor of CBE’s academic journal, Priscilla Papers. He holds bachelor’s degrees in pastoral ministry and church music, an MDiv, and a PhD in biblical interpretation. Since 1999 he has taught biblical studies at Milligan University in eastern Tennessee. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society and has published articles in journals such as The Bible Translator, Leaven, Restoration Quarterly, and Stone-Campbell Journal and CBE’s Mutuality. He and his wife Dana have two adult daughters and two grandchildren.
Workshop title: “Fatherless” or “Orphans”? Test Cases in Bible Translation
Johnrice (JR) Newton has been a registered nurse for 38 years and is a licensed minister having received her MDiv from Brite Divinity School, TCU Ft. Worth TX. She is president and founder of Tapestry Ministries, Inc. Dallas, TX which hosts the YES (Youth Expecting Success) Program that provides SAT/ACT prep and Life Skills classes to at risk teens, and Tapestry Women Ministry that provides emergency resources for women affected by domestic abuse. She is author of Healing Voices: Women of Faith Who Survived Abuse Speak Out, Volume 1. Newton is the proud mother of four children, four grandsons and one great-granddaughter. Her stance in ministry and in life is, “I work for God, and I am never unemployed.”
Workshop title: Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities
Panel
Ron Pierce received his PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary. He has taught biblical studies and theology at Biola University since 1976, and currently teaches in the undergraduate program of the Talbot School of Theology there. He is co-editor of Discovering Biblical Equality: Biblical, Theological, Cultural, and Practical Perspectives (2021) with Cynthia Long Westfall and Christa L. McKirland. Ron and his wife Pat live in Fullerton, California and have two adult children.
Workshop title: Paul’s Radical Call for Mutuality in Marriage (& Singleness): 1 Corinthians 7:1–40
Alejandra Pizaña is a passionate worship leader with 18 years of experience in creating contextual worship spaces, and developing leadership and team building skills. Alejandra has been intentionally creating multicultural worship spaces in the church, conferences, and retreats. She is currently a graduate student at Fuller Theological Seminary. She believes worship is key to the spiritual formation of a Christ-follower as well as in corporate worship.
Workshop title: CBE Greater DC Chapter Panel
Grace Ruiter co-created and leads Faithward.org, a digital ministry dedicated to helping people grow and deepen their faith. Since it began as a small blog in 2019, Faithward has grown exponentially and now reaches 50,000-100,000 people each month.
Workshop title: The She Is Called Story: How to Start a Spirit-led Movement that Fulfills the Vision of Galatians 3:28
Rev. Michelle Sanchez (MDiv, ThM) is executive minister of Make and Deepen Disciples for the Evangelical Covenant Church of America. Her co-authored book Routes and Radishes: And Other Things to Talk about at the Evangelical Crossroads was published by Zondervan in October 2010.
Workshop title: Waking Up Womanist: Centering Galatians 3:28 in our Discipleship & Ministry
Eeva Sallinen Simard is Project Director of World Relief’s SCOPE project that works in Haiti, Kenya, Malawi and South Sudan to support health outcomes for mothers and babies. She has worked with non-profits for ten years and is committed to excellence in management, communication, and employee wellbeing. She is the co-author of Creating Cultures of Belonging: Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive (IVP, 2022). Eeva is an advisor for the Wheaton Consortium for Development, Gender, and Christianity and a steering committee member of the Christian Alliance for Inclusive Development. Eeva holds an MSc in international politics from the University of Helsinki and an MBA from John Hopkins University.
Workshop title: Creating Cultures of Belonging – Cultivating Organizations Where Women and Men Thrive
Rev. Dr. Aída Besançon Spencer (PhD, ThM, MDiv) is Senior Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, MA. Born and reared in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, she has served as community organizer, minister, and educator in a variety of urban and suburban settings. Dr. Spencer has authored and coauthored numerous works, including Beyond the Curse: Women Called to Ministry, 1 Timothy, and 2 Timothy and Titus (New Covenant Commentary Series), The Goddess Revival, Global Voices on Biblical Equality, Marriage at the Crossroads, Christian Egalitarian Leadership, and the novel Cave of Little Faces. Her dissertation is Paul’s Literary Style. She has written for Priscilla Papers and Mutuality and is on the CBE Board of Reference and donates to CBE whenever she sells on eBay. She has received CBE’s lifetime achievement award. She is married to the Rev. Dr. William David Spencer. Their blog is entitled Applying Biblical Truths Today.
Workshop title: Using Biblical Female Imagery to Bolster Self Esteem in Women
Rev. Dr. William David Spencer (ThD, ThM, MDiv) is Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Theology and the Arts at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Boston. He has served as street minister, music and evangelistic coffeehouse minister, campus minister, adult literacy teaching coordinator, seminary professor, and founding pastor of encouragement in a store front egalitarian church. He was CBE’s editor of Priscilla Papers for a decade (being blessed with its Lifetime Achievement Award), co-founder of the House of Prisca and Aquila Series and Africanus Journal. In all his endeavors, he has worked closely with his wife, Rev. Dr. Aίda Besançon Spencer. With circa 300 publications, including Empowering English Language Learners, Joy through the Night (Bible resources on suffering), God through the Looking Glass (on the arts), The Prayer Life of Jesus, Name in the Papers (with its cd Songs from the Cave, Ballads from the Papers), he has won 20 writing and editing awards. His books Mysterium and Mystery and Chanting Down Babylon are the definitive works in their fields.
Workshop title: Using Biblical Female Imagery to Bolster Self Esteem in Women
Allyson McKinney Timm is a human rights lawyer, scholar, and faith leader with two decades of experience defending the dignity and rights of those on the margins, in the United States and globally. Her work promoting justice and equality has spanned the nonprofit, private, and academic sectors. She is the founder and executive director of Justice Revival, a Christian voice for human rights in the United States. In this role, she serves as convenor of the #Faith4ERA campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution. As the Cover-Lowenstein Fellow in International Human Rights at Yale Law School, Allyson taught and supervised students in the International Human Rights Clinic, investigating early and forced marriage, human trafficking, and religious liberty. Before that, she established and led the Uganda Field Office of International Justice Mission and initiated a program to defend the property and inheritance rights of widows and orphans.
Workshop title: Equal Before God, Equal Before the State
Liz Testa is a pastor, visionary leader, and community builder who is passionate about biblical hospitality, ministry innovation, and encouraging others to embrace their God-given gifts and callings. She serves the Reformed Church in America as executive for Women’s Transformation and Leadership and Equity-Based Hospitality, and host of the Lavish Hope podcast.
Workshop title: The She Is Called Story: How to Start a Spirit-led Movement that Fulfills the Vision of Galatians 3:28
Rev. Michelle D. Williams (MTS, CDE) is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur. For over twenty years, Rev. Williams has worked with people during some of the most formative and stressful seasons of life: beginning as a social worker with at-risk populations; serving as a pastor walking through life’s transitions; working as an advisor/mentor to undergraduate college students (Anderson University); navigating tumultuous racial/cultural conflicts, and most recently as a dean at a graduate seminary (Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary). Michelle is co-author of Diversity Playbook: Recommendations and Guidance for Christian Organizations. She is a certified diversity executive and CEO of Shalom Consultants.
Workshop title: Between Sisters – Women leading Justice and Reconciliation Efforts.
Terran Williams from Cape Town, South Africa, is an author, church leader, dad of five, and avid surfer. He was the long-time lead teacher of a megachurch that prided itself in its doctrinal accuracy. When tasked with researching and writing a better defense for its complementarian theology, Terran made a shocking discovery. This led to him writing the comprehensive yet accessible, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy, which Dr. Michael Bird, author of Evangelical Theology, describes as a “meticulous case for the unity of men and women”, and Dr. Craig Keener praises for being written with “an insider knowledge of both positions.”
Workshop title: Why Pastor Priscilla Ends Christian Patriarchy.
