Jonathan Lee Walton, Ph.D., is a social ethicist, religious educator, and the eighth president of Princeton Theological Seminary. A leading voice on American religion, he is the author of Watch This! and A Lens of Love, and his scholarship has appeared widely in academic journals and national media including The New York Times, CNN, and the BBC. Prior to Princeton, Dr. Walton served at Harvard University and Wake Forest University, where he was dean of the School of Divinity. A graduate of Morehouse College and Princeton Seminary, his work engages ethics, race, media, and public life with intellectual rigor and moral imagination.

Kontji Anthony is a veteran journalist and host of Live at 9 on Memphis CBS affiliate WREG-TV. With a 30-year career in anchoring, reporting, producing, and writing, she has been recognized by the Tennessee General Assembly for her contributions to broadcasting. Anthony is also the creator, CEO, and co-founder of Youdle, a tech platform connecting families to fresh groceries. She serves on the boards of The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis and New Memphis and is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., The BOW Collective, NABJ, NATAS, and ACT | The App Association. Her work bridges media, entrepreneurship, and community impact.

Drew Jackson is a poet, speaker, public theologian, and Managing Director of Formation at the Center for Action and Contemplation. He is the author of God Speaks Through Wombs, a finalist for the Christian Book Award, and Touch the Earth, named one of Sojourners’ Best Books of 2023. Drew also co-hosts CAC’s Everything Belongs podcast. His work blends poetry, theology, and social reflection, inviting readers into embodied, justice-rooted spirituality. Living in Brooklyn with his wife and twin daughters, Drew finds joy in coaching his daughters' basketball team and cultivating faith through creativity, presence, and everyday life.

The Very Rev. Katherine (Katie) Carlsen Churchwell has served as dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City since 2020 and is the first woman to hold the role. A graduate of Lewis & Clark College and Virginia Theological Seminary, her ministry spans multiple dioceses and emphasizes liturgical excellence, collaborative leadership, and institutional vision. As head of staff and vestry chair, she nurtures both spiritual depth and organizational health. Dean Churchwell is known for her commitment to inclusive ministry, trauma-informed pastoral care, digital evangelism, and leadership development. She lives in Oklahoma City with her husband, Logan, their three children, and a beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Friends, please hear the good news of the gospel. God does not require you to be brave in order to be saved, and God will not condemn you, even for being afraid. I only aspire to the bravery of Nicodemus because I recognize how my fear of being wrong, my fear of being thought a fool, my fear that no one would love me, not even God, if they really knew me … I need this rabbi’s bravery because I know all too well how these familiar human fears send us back down the slide, into this world of condemnation and away from God’s unconditional love. The one love that will never back away from you.

Dr. Yolanda Pierce serves as professor and dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee. A distinguished scholar, her research focuses on Literature and Religion, Womanist Theology, and African American Religions. She is the author of several influential books, including In My Grandmother’s House, Hell Without Fires, and The Wounds Are the Witness. Dr. Pierce’s work weaves together history, theology, and lived experience, illuminating how Black faith traditions hold memory, confront injustice, and cultivate healing. As an educator and leader, she is deeply committed to forming thoughtful, justice-oriented leaders for the church, academy, and public life.

Rabbi Micah D. Greenstein—often called “everyone’s rabbi”—is a central figure in Memphis’s faith community and the national Reform Jewish movement. He has served Temple Israel, Memphis’s historic 170-year-old congregation, for more than three decades and is its eighth senior rabbi. Greenstein’s leadership is marked by intergenerational engagement, pastoral depth, and the enduring relevance of Reform Jewish values. Beyond congregational life, he is investing deeply in shaping the next generation of Reform rabbis and strengthening Jewish communal life in a post–October 7 world. His work reflects a lifelong commitment to faith, justice, and the shared religious fabric of Memphis.

Danté Stewart is a writer, speaker, and public theologian whose work explores race, religion, and politics in contemporary life. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Sojourners, The Witness, Comment, and on CNN. Stewart is the author of the award-winning memoir Shoutin’ in the Fire, which earned the Georgia Author of the Year Award. He holds a B.A. in Sociology from Clemson University and is currently studying at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Through incisive analysis and personal narrative, Stewart invites readers and listeners into honest reckonings with faith, history, and the pursuit of justice.

Temptation is not about appetite. It is about autonomy. Secure yourself. Define yourself. Prove yourself. And Jesus refuses. “I live by what God speaks.” “I serve God alone.” He does not grab. He entrusts. I am convinced that sin, at its root, is trying to save yourself. And forgiveness is God refusing to abandon you when you cannot.

Every time something has tried to dim this city, the people of Memphis have risen. The culture of Memphis has risen. The stories of Memphis have risen. The faith of this city has risen. I think that God's vision for us, Memphis, is not just for us to survive, but is meant for Memphis to be a pasture. A city where creativity feeds people, where culture nourishes people, and where community restores people.