Erin Beasley, co-author of “I’m Black, I’m Christian, I’m
Methodist,” is an ordained elder in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. She currently serves as the pastor of The Vine United Methodist Church, a new online church in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky
Conference geared to offer spiritual guidance and pastoral care for United Methodists who have lost their church homes due to disaffiliations. Erin also serves as the chair of the Commission on Religion and Race for the Tennessee-Western Kentucky
Conference. She has served various ministry settings in Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee for 12 years. Erin is a graduate of Millsaps College (2010) where she obtained a Bachelor of Accountancy degree, with a minor in Music. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology (2014) and received her Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary in 2020. Racial segregation in the mainline church was her doctoral focus. Erin enjoys knitting and playing Animal Crossing in her spare time. She is the proud auntie of three nieces and one nephew.

Mark Miller currently serves on the faculty at both the Drew Theological School and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University where he teaches music and worship. He also is Director of the Gospel and Youth Choirs at the Marble Collegiate Church, in New York City. From 1999 to 2001 he was Music Associate and Assistant Organist of The Riverside Church in New York City.

Mark is well known throughout the United Methodist Church as a worship leader, teacher and performer of sacred music. Abingdon Press has written that he is a “rising star in the field of Protestant music.” Since 1997 Mark has performed concerts and directed conferences at churches both across the United States and internationally.

Mark is a life long United Methodist and the son, grandson, brother, and cousin of United Methodist clergy. He is an active lay person in the church being elected as a lay delegate to both the 2000 and 2004 General Conferences, and serving on the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (‘97-‘00) and the General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns (’01-’04). In this quadrennium he is the Vice Chair of the Committee on Rules of Order and Plan of Organization for the General Conference, 2008. He is a member of Covenant United Methodist Church in Plainfield, New Jersey where is the chair of the Staff-Parish Relations Committee. In June he was the featured presenter on Evangelism and Worship at the Arkansas Annual Conference and also directed music for the Central Pennsylvania Annual Conference.

Composing for the church is one of Mark’s passions. In February of 2002 the Mark Miller Anthem Series was launched by Abingdon , and in March, 2003, Abingdon Press published his hymn collection, Amazing Abundance, Hymns for a Growing Church. Mark’s organ work, Toccata on “God Rest Ye Merry” was featured on National Public Radio’s program Pipe Dreams in 2002. In January of 2004, James Earl Jones was the narrator of his original work, Let Justice Roll: Song from a Birmingham Jail, which was also featured on NBC’s program Positively Black.

Mark received his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Yale University and his Master of Music in Organ Performance from Juilliard.

Rev. Dr. Michael S. Piazza is a spiritual visionary, author and social justice advocate who currently serves as Dean of the Cathedral of Hope, the world’s largest liberal Christian church with a primary outreach to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. Under Rev. Piazza's courageous leadership, the Cathedral of Hope is making religious history by reclaiming Christianity as a faith of extravagant grace, radical inclusion and relentless compassion.

The Advocate magazine named Rev. Piazza one of the most influential people in the gay and lesbian movement (August 1999). He has five published books, Holy Homosexuals, Rainbow Family Values, Mourning to Morning and Growth or Death, and the recently published Queeries: Questions Lesbians and Gays have for God. Rev. Piazza and his partner Bill have been together since 1980 and have two daughters.

Chaplain Timothy R. Riddle is a Board Certified Chaplain providing spiritual and emotional support for people suffering from grief, lack of spiritual connection, and moral injury. Tim is a former Palliative and Bereavement Chaplain Fellow at the Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital in San Antonio, TX. He is a bi-vocational United Methodist Licensed Local Pastor appointed to Travis Park United Methodist Church and the Northwest VA Healthcare Center as an. Tim is a graduate of Duke Divinity School with certificates in Theology, Medicine & Culture and Prison Studies. He has also recently completed the Shay Moral Injury Center’s Moral Injury Certificate Program. Tim is passionate about his work with veterans and others, including those living with Moral Injury, as they make their journey to greater self-acceptance and wholeness. Key to Tim's work is a belief that restoration is the lived action of the church, and that part of restoration is acknowledging how and where harm has been done, even if one discovers that they are complicit in that harm.

The Reverend Fred Douglas Smith Jr. (PhD: Director, Center for Leadership in Public Theology, Doctoral of Ministry Program Professor of Public Theology ) has over 30 years of training and experience as an educator, strategist, facilitator, and innovator in public theology, especially in the field of faith and health. He helped launch the newly established Center for Leadership in Public Theology at Houston Graduate School of Theology. As Faith and Health Consultant and Senior Scholar for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System, Dr. Smith participated in the development of the Memphis Model. As Educational Consultant to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center FaithHealth Division, he consulted on the development of FaithHealthNC and developed the FaithHealth Fellows program for the state of North Carolina. Other leadership roles included Associate Director of the Interfaith Health Program where he participated in the development of such programs as Not Even ONE-Kids and Guns; Whole Communities Collaborative; Faith and Health Consortium; The Institute for Faith and Public Health Collaboration. He retired as Professor of Urban Ministry and Associate Director of the Practice of Ministry and Mission at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC where he developed and taught masters and doctoral level courses in Urban Ministry, Faith and Health, Black Church Studies, Practical Theology, and Children and Poverty. Dr. Smith is also a retired United Methodist Elder from the Western Pennsylvania Conference where he was pastor of Fellowship United Methodist Church.

A native of Oakland, California he earned a BA in Economics from Harvard University, a MDiv from Perkins School of Theology at SMU, and a Ph.D. in Practical Theology from Emory University. Publications include Black Religious Experience: Conversations on Double Consciousness and the Work of Grant Shockley (with Charles R. Foster); “A Prophetic Religious Education for the Twenty-First Century: Black Boys Shall See Visions” in Theological Literacy for the Twenty-First Century ed. by Rodney L. Petersen with Nancy M. Rourke; “Africentric Christian Education: A Historical Perspective” in Africentric Approaches to Christian Ministry ed. by Ronald E. Peters and Marsha S. Haney.

Join our Reconciling Ministries Panel for an insightful discussion on promoting reconciliation and inclusion within our faith community, especially for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC individuals. Through advocacy, education, support, and community building, we aim to create a welcoming space where everyone is embraced for who they are. Our panelists will share valuable insights and resources to foster understanding, dialogue, and acceptance. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation and contribute to a more inclusive community.