Presenters and preachers

All of the retreat speakers are prominent, active church leaders, highly respected theologians, preachers and distinguished authors.

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Walter Brueggemann is an Old Testament scholar and author.   Born in Nebraska, the son of a German Evangelical pastor, Brueggemann received his bachelor’s degree from Elmhurst College and doctorates from Eden Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary, New York, and Saint Louis University.  He is ordained in the United Church of Christ and is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia.  His pastoral and prophetic speech opens the strange new world of the Bible in ways that awaken daring hope and courageous faith in the church. Brueggemann has authored more than 58 books, hundreds of articles and several commentaries on books of the Bible.  He participated in Bill Moyers’ 1990s PBS television series on the "Book of Genesis."

Retreat Preachers

Dr. Frances Taylor Gench is a New Testament scholar and author.  Gench is the  Herbert Worth and Annie H. Jackson Professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia.  Prior to joining the Union-PSCE faculty in 1999, she taught for 13 years at Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary (Pennsylvania). She is a graduate of Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary in Virginia (now Union-PSCE; M.Div., Ph.D.).  Gench is the author of Back to the Well: Women’s Encounters with Jesus in the Gospels (WJKP, 2004), Hebrews and James (Westminster Bible Companion; WJKP, 1996), Encounters with Jesus: Studies in the Gospel of John (May 2007), Faithful Disagreement: Wrestling with Scripture in the Midst of Church Conflict (March 2009), Wisdom in the Christology of Matthew (June 1997), and two Horizons Bible Studies for Presbyterian Women.

The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson is a third-generation African-American Presbyterian pastor.  He is a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University and serves as the founding pastor of Liberation Community Presbyterian Church, an inner city congregation in Memphis whose call is to evangelize the poor. Liberation Community Church was chartered on April 11, 1999, and the ministry received the prestigious Walton Grant, which is awarded by the Presbyterian Church for outstanding work in New Church Development.  Known as a remarkable preacher and person, Nelson serves as preacher, workshop leader, consultant and writer. He is a featured conference speaker at Montreat, Mo Ranch and Massanetta Springs Conference Centers in the Presbyterian Church. His writings have appeared in Presbyterians Today and The Outlook.

Workshop Leaders
All of the above and …

The Rev. Dr. Mark Killmer is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Killmer is a faculty member in the marriage and family therapy program at Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, Illinois. He received his marriage and family therapy post-master’s degree training at Penn (University of Pennsylvania) Council for Relationships and doctorate in MFT at the Graduate Theological Foundation (Oxford University).  Killmer earned a B.A. in religion at Duke University and a Master of Divinity in pastoral counseling from Vanderbilt Divinity School.  He has 30 years of experience as a mental health chaplain, marriage and family therapist, clinical supervisor and not-for-profit administrator.  Areas of expertise include integration of religion and spirituality in therapy, recovery from affairs, forgiveness, the transformative process, therapist development as well as stress, coping and resiliency. 

Workshop Leaders:

The Rev. Dr. Walter Brueggemann: “Q and A” in relation to keynote address

The Rev. Dr. Frances Taylor Gench: "Johannine Espistles, Presbyterians and Dirty Laundry"

The Rev. Dr. Mark K. Kilmer: “Spirit Filled Pastor"
The Spirit Filled Pastors program was designed to encourage intensive spiritual growth for pastors as well as promote a realistic spiritual lifestyle as pastors attend to their own self as they serve others.  The workshop will outline the key aspects of the program and share the experiences of participants in a pilot project that was funded by Lilly Endowment.

The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson: “Ministry With (Not To) Poor People”
Hear about and learn from a new church development model for ministry with and among the poor people that focuses on empowerment and community buidling.  Liberation Community Church, Memphis, is celebrating its 10th year as a chartered church that evangelizes the poor into membership with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)  Come and hear some good news!