Annie is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Chillicothe Ohio. She is married to Kurt, a retired pastor, and they have 4 amazing adult children. Annie spent over 30 years in ministry as a pastor’s wife. She grew up in church, was active in campus ministry in college and became a pastor’s wife at age 20. She is in the middle of her deconstruction journey. Her journey began over 20 years ago, as her children grew and changed, she noticed she was changing with them. Her husband’s retirement has afforded her some space and freedom to explore her faith. She has been working with a counselor for several years, unpacking her childhood and is now exploring the relationship her family of origin and her faith experience. She is growing and learning. Sorting through her beliefs as they emerge and letting go of the ones that no longer serve her. If you would like to join her on her journey you can follow her blog at annieking.substack.com.

Midge Noble is an online resiliency coach, podcaster, author, and speaker. She has published two children’s books, SHEBA, Home Is Where Your Heart Is, and ICE CUBE AWARD, Learning To Be Cool Under Pressure. Her memoir, Gay with God, Reclaiming My Faith, Honoring My Story has just been released! Her podcast, GAY with GOD! can be found wherever you stream your podcasts.

Midge specializes in helping her LGBTQIA+ community in their coming out and faith journeys. Her main focus is to stop gay suicides by educating people wounded by the church that they can be in relationship with the God of their understanding and that God does and has always loved us, just as we are created to be. To that end, Midge is very involved in her parish, The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. Midge and her wife, along with their fur babies, enjoy spending time at their mountain cabin, hiking, and being with their friends.

Possessing a voice praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for its “ravishing fullness,” GRAMMY® Award-winning soprano Jessica Rivera “has established herself as a singer of uncommon vocal luster and musical intelligence” (San Francisco Classical Review). The dimension and spirituality with which she infuses her performances on international concert and opera stages has garnered Jessica unique artistic collaborations with many of today’s most celebrated composers.

Jessica’s extensive discography includes releases on the Deutsche Grammophon, Nonesuch, Naxos, Telarc, Urtext, VIA Records, Opus Arte, CSO Resound, and ASO Media labels. Her performance of John Harbison’s Requiem with the Nashville Symphony and Chorus under Giancarlo Guerrero was recorded and released on the Naxos label in October 2018 and her third release for Urtext, an Homage to Victoria de los Angeles was released in 2022. Jessica serves on the vocal faculty at Miami University in Oxford, OH. jessicarivera.com

Following a 40+ year career as a product manager and director in the insurance industry, Teri Miles has devoted her life to LGTBQ+ advocacy, particularly with trans adults under the age of 24. Teri started the MIF Foundation to provide resource support for that group.

Teri also served as adjunct instructor at the University of Wisconsin system in their Health Promotion major for nine years, coached age group swimming and high school cross-country, and served as a coach and mentor with each of her previous employers.

In her life, Teri has competed in Olympic pre-trial swimming events, created 3 major trademarked risk management tools, and authored memoirs released in 2021 to help fund the MIF Foundation.

This is Part 2 of a two-part discussion with Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. Willis is an advocate, Kentucky Teacher of the Year, and the author of a collection of narrative poetry about his childhood growing up queer in Appalachia, Gay Poems for Red States (University Press of Kentucky), recently named a BookRiot Best Book of 2023. His work exists at the intersection of queer identity, Appalachian identity, and the politics of innocence.

Willie is a candidate for the MFA in poetry at the University of Kentucky. He publishes and presents on the subjects of education, marginalization, and identity, and his story has been featured on ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, and in The Washington Post, Le Monde, and Good Morning America. His advocacy has led him to engage President Biden and to testify before the United States Congressional Committee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. His creative work has been published in 100 Days in Appalachia, 2RulesofWriting, Another Chicago Magazine, Largehearted Boy Blog, Smoky Blue Literary Magazine, Miracle Monocle, and Good River Review.

This is Part 1 of a two-part discussion with Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. Willie is an advocate, Kentucky Teacher of the Year, and the author of a collection of narrative poetry about his childhood growing up queer in Appalachia, Gay Poems for Red States (University Press of Kentucky), recently named a BookRiot Best Book of 2023. His work exists at the intersection of queer identity, Appalachian identity, and the politics of innocence.

Willie is a candidate for the MFA in poetry at the University of Kentucky. He publishes and presents on the subjects of education, marginalization, and identity, and his story has been featured on ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR, and in The Washington Post, Le Monde, and Good Morning America. His advocacy has led him to engage President Biden and to testify before the United States Congressional Committee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. His creative work has been published in 100 Days in Appalachia, 2RulesofWriting, Another Chicago Magazine, Largehearted Boy Blog, Smoky Blue Literary Magazine, Miracle Monocle, and Good River Review.

Dr. Steve Harper is a retired Elder in the Florida Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Over the years, his ministry has taken multiple forms: youth minister, evangelist, pastor, parachurch ministry founder, church agency staff member, theological educator, and seminary administrator. in these roles he has preached and taught in churches, conferences, retreats and other settings in The United States and other countries. The bulk of his ministry has been in theological education, where he served for thirty-two years as a professor, dean, and vice president.

He received his PhD in 1981 from Duke University in Historical Theology with a specialization in Wesley Studies, studying under the supervision of Dr. Frank Baker. His teaching fields have been Wesleyan theology and Spiritual Formation. He has taught in person in colleges and universities in the USA and in eight countries. When Zoom teaching is added to the picture, the number of schools at home and abroad increases.

Steve has been married to Jeannie since April 10, 1970. They are the parents of John and Katrina, in-laws of Allison and Chris, and grandparents of Zoe, Isaac, and James. Steve and Jeannie have been co-laborers in ministry, with a particular emphasis upon the wellbeing of clergy and their spouses through the Shepherd’s Care ministry they began in 1992. Another joy has been traveling in Jeannie’s “Little Red Truck” with a pop-up camper to all of the 48 continental United States, fifteen National Parks, and five Canadian provinces.

Steve’s has authored 24 books and co-authored an additional 21 He has written articles for scholarly journals and popular magazines. He continues to write on his Oboedire site (www.oboedire.wordpress.com). He is currently serving as co-director of UMsConnected, a metaverse community offering support for United Methodists who feel homeless as their churches disaffiliate, and for any and all seekers who want to grow spiritually in a formative fellowship marked by love, inclusion, deep ecumenism, and interfaith life together.

With his band Everyday Sunday, Trey Pearson has sold hundreds of thousands of records, and amassed millions of streams. He has scored 5 #1 U.S. singles and 20 Top 10 hits. His song “Wake Up! Wake Up!” earned most-played Christian rock song of the year , and “Best Night of Our Lives,” broke onto the coveted Billboard 200 chart. Pearson has toured in all 50 states and 20 countries.

Recently, Trey Pearson, the founder, and owner of Everyday Sunday has come out of the closet to make national news. His announcement started a national conversation with a television appearance on The View. Trey has been covered by The New York Times, Billboard Magazine, CNN and more, as he became the #1 trending topic worldwide on Facebook.

Trey was nominated for a 2017 GLAAD Award for his appearance on The View. Trey has been performing at Pride Festivals all around the country, with Kesha and Betty Who. He released his debut solo single, “Silver Horizon”, and premiered the music video on Teen Vogue. Billboard Magazine did a feature on Trey for his new album, premiered the title track for his debut solo album “Love Is Love”, which is now available worldwide. Learn more at Trey’s website: treypearson.com

Dr. Suzanne Goebel is a seasoned professional with a number of business skills. For over 20 years she has served many private and government organizations with major skills such as data design, business intelligence, executive coaching and project management. Currently she is a consultant with the State of Wisconsin, Children and Family Services. She is also a certified professional executive coach serving such organizations as Aflac, Anthem and multiple ministry organizations. As a coach she has also created Biblically based coach training which has been delivered to over 200 pastors in key denominations. Among those are Southern Baptists, United Methodists of Western Ohio, and many individual churches.

Other interests include various speaking opportunism, most recently delivering a humanitarian challenge to the United Nations (October, 2022). She has also served as a volunteer to the National Prayer Breakfast for over 20 years. Her love for people and God integrates consistently in all of her amazing opportunities.

Austen Hartke is the author of Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians, a book on theology and personal narratives published by Westminster John Knox Press, now in its second edition. He is also the founder and Executive Director of Transmission Ministry Collective, an online community dedicated to the spiritual care, faith formation, and leadership potential of transgender and gender-expansive Christians. Austen is a graduate of Luther Seminary’s Master of Arts program in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible Studies. As a transgender person of faith, Austen's greatest passion is helping other trans and gender-expansive people see themselves in scripture. Visit Austen’s website: http://www.austenhartke.com/