Presenter Bios
Session One Facilitators: (skip to Session Two)
Jan Cherry, Diaconal Minister
Jan Cherry, a Diaconal Minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and President of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, served for seven years as the Ecumenical Liturgical Coordinator at the School of Theology & Ministry at Seattle University. She has served on the Governing Board of DIAKONIA of the Americas and the Caribbean, an ecumenical, international, Diaconal association. In these capacities, she has shaped many worship services, ever mindful of the power of the words used, and the mandate from Christ that we serve others as Jesus served us. She is passionate about the need to take a closer look at the hymns and songs we use in assembled worship.
Ms. Cherry will lead "Singing Our Way to Justice."
Michelle Doherty
Michelle Doherty is a Certified Public Accountant serving as the Accounting Manager for the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ for the last six years. She has extensive experience with public accounting, specializing in taxes and payroll, and working as a for-profit corporate controller. She teaches a full day Treasurer’s Training seminar once per year titled Church Numbers for Treasurers.
Ms. Doherty will lead "Financial Management for Churches."
Pastor Sheila Houston
Pastor Sheila Houston has been a leader in the Sex Trafficking Movement for years. She has trained organizations, interested individuals, volunteers, and paid staff. She has led teams to work directly with victims of domestic sex trafficking throughout Seattle and internationally. Sheila’s leadership consisted of her being directly involved with over 2,500 victims. From 2008-2011, she also led street teams that worked directly with men involved in pimping. Her work has been featured in 2015 Seattle Pacific's Response Magazine “All in a Day’s Work". In 2012, Seattle Met Magazine recognized Sheila as “The Finder of Lost Children”. Sheila has appeared on Northwest Today, Headline News with Jane-Velez-Mitchell, the local NPR radio as well as every local news channel and paper in the Seattle area. Sheila is a conference, retreat speaker and preacher; She has spoken before Washington State Senate and her name is on a Senate Bill. She partners with WashACT and Washington State Committee and is one of the founders of Sex Industry Survivors Network (SIS) and Rare Coins Ministries.
Sheila is a Free Methodist Pastor currently serving in Renton, Washington at Living Hope Christian Fellowship. Her credentials include an Executive Master of Not-For-Profit Leadership, Seattle University; Post-Master Certificate in Transforming Spirituality, Seattle University; BA Organizational Behavior, Seattle Pacific University; and Pastoral Leadership Certificate. She is currently working on her Doctor of Ministry at School of Theology, Seattle University.
Pastor Sheila Houston will lead "Human Trafficking Awareness."
Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship
The Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship equips young adults engaged in long term service to transform their service experiences into lives of service leadership. The facilitators include Krista Colleagues as well as staff. Valerie Norwood, executive director, and Stacy Kitahata, program director, develop volunteer preparation, transition and experiential leadership learning within a spiritually grounded context.
The Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship will lead two sessions: "Equipped: Practical tools for inclusion in daily life and ministry" in session one and "Resilience for the Journey toward Justice" in session two.
Rev. Katie Ladd
Katie M Ladd is a United Methodist pastor who currently serves Queen Anne UMC and is Abbot/Director of The Well, a monastic community and gathering place for compassionate and prophetic conversation as an act of public commons. She created a video curriculum on Sabbath featuring nationally known and respected voices. Her current obsession is interrupting partisanship of all kinds in search of a deeper and more holistic generosity. She is currently part of Interfaith Partners for Peace.
Rev. Ladd will lead "Sabbath - a Christian Perspective and Practice of Compassion and Justice."
Rev. Dr. Linda M. Smith
The Reverend Dr. Linda M. Smith serves as the Executive Director and Pastor of SKY Center for Urban Empowerment Ministries and REACH Center of Hope, which serves homeless families, women and women with children in the South King County area. She previously served as the Pastor of Church of Mary Magdalene, a shelter that serve homeless women and women with children. She holds a Doctoral in Transformational Leadership and Master of Divinity with a Post Graduate certificate in Transforming Spirituality and serves on the faculty of Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry at the graduate level coaching leaders in Pastoral Leadership Program, Transformation Leadership Program and now the Doctoral program. She has been actively involved in many social arenas, speaking and advocating or issues of equity and justice in the area of poverty, homelessness, and race. She currently serves as the Chairperson of Renton Mayor African American Clergy with the Renton Police Department on race relationship.
Rev. Dr. Smith will lead "Breaking Down the Walls of Hostility: The Path to Racial Reconciliation."
Leigh Weber
Leigh Weber is the Community Chaplain/Pastor serving the Renton homeless population for REACH (Renton Ecumenical Association of Churches). She has an MDiv from the School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University and a post master’s certificate in Spiritual Direction. She is a certified spiritual director listed with Spiritual Director’s International. She has been serving the homeless population in Renton for the last two years and previously served on the board of Southwest Mental Health Ministries in South King County, where she also served as a companion to those suffering with mental illness and their families. She is a certified candidate for ordination in the PCUSA.
Ms. Weber will lead "Accompanying People Experiencing Homelessness."
Session Two Facilitators: (return to Session One)
Rev. Kelle Brown
The Rev. Kelle J. Brown is a minister, facilitator and advocate for those experiencing homelessness. She is a graduate of Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry, and will complete a Doctorate of Ministry from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2016. Kelle is the chief consultant of ReConciling Acts, and facilitates conversation and training in antiracism and inclusion. She enjoys singing, and creating unique Dolls of Promise, made from recycled glass bottles.
Rev. Brown will lead "Reading the Bible Through the Lens of Justice."
The Creativity Council of University Congregational United Church of Christ
The Creativity Council imagines approaches to worship for University Congregational UCC. This group brings together experience in visual, musical, graphic, physical arts, as well as intergenerational, community, and liturgical engagement. We were initially launched by a Lilly Foundation grant through The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. From gargoyles to galaxies – we seek community experiences that ground us in a God in who is ancient and ever-new.
The Creativity Council of University Congregational United Church of Christ will lead "Grounded: A Creative Worship Exploration."
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is one of the three co-founders of Seattle Restorative Justice along with (Susan Partnow and Andrea Brenneke), the Co-chair to the African American Community Advisory Council to Seattle Police Department. Angela has a Bachelor's degree in Communications from Seattle University as a Non-traditional Student. Angela's CoCultures are African American single parenting, domestic violence and sexual assault survivor, Apostolic, and survivor of discovering the suicide of her mother as a child.
Ms. Davis will co-lead, with Rev. Terri Stewart, "Facing Privilege."
Jessie Dye
Jessie Dye is a Catholic, a lawyer, and a leader in faith-based enviormental advocacy. She is Program and Outreach Director of Earth Ministry and WA Interfaith Power & Light. With the strength of faithful citizens she has led a successful campaign to phase out the burning of coal in Washington. She now defends the “Thin Green Line” of the Northwest against coal export, exploding oil trains, Arctic drilling, and infringement of Native treaty rights by fossil fuel companies. Jessie is the mother of two, homestay mother of many EarthCorps internationals, and a dog rescuer. Though she is embarrassed to admit it, she is a leading expert on Laudato Sii in the region.
Ms. Dye will lead "Climate Change, Pope Francis, and You."
Kae Eaton
Kae Eaton is Chaplain and Executive Director of the Mental Health Chaplaincy, working with individuals and families experiencing mental illness or homelessness in Seattle and throughout the Northwest. Kae’s trainings support both secular and faith-based communities who are engaged with, and supporting, the disadvantaged through the practice of Companionship, designed to facilitate compassionate awareness through ministries of hospitality and outreach. Kae holds a Masters in Theology, Counseling Psychology and Spiritual Direction from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. She is a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Parish in Seattle.
Ms. Eaton will lead "Companioning in Mental Health."
Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship
The Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship equips young adults engaged in long term service to transform their service experiences into lives of service leadership. The facilitators include Krista Colleagues as well as staff. Valerie Norwood, executive director, and Stacy Kitahata, program director, develop volunteer preparation, transition and experiential leadership learning within a spiritually grounded context.
The Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship will lead two sessions: "Equipped: Practical tools for inclusion in daily life and ministry" in session one and "Resilience for the Journey toward Justice" in session two.
Rev. Dr. Marcia Patton
The Rev. Dr. Marcia Patton is the first Executive Minister of Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, installed in June of 2004. She worked with the organizers of Evergreen Association, a group of churches invited by the American Baptist Churches of Northwest to form a new region.
Evergreen Association is unique among American Baptists because it is organized around ethnic caucuses and does its work by consensus. Evergreen is serious about building bridges of relationship among its ethnically diverse churches, as well as in the American Baptist Churches family and beyond. Prior to her current work, Marcia served as Associate Executive Minister with the American Baptist Churches of the Northwest for 13 years.
Marcia earned a Ph.D. from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a Masters of Divinity (M.Div) and Masters of Arts in Religion (MAR) from Eastern Baptist (now known as Palmer) Theological Seminary.
Rev. Dr. Patton will co-lead, with Nora J. Percival, "Sacred Conversations: Consensus and Beyond in Church Decision-Making"
Nora J. Percival
Nora J. Percival is a member of University Friends Meeting, North Pacific Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. She has clerked meetings using Quaker process for more than 30 years.
Ms. Nora J. Percival will co-lead, with Rev. Dr. Marcia Patton, "Sacred Conversations: Consensus and Beyond in Church Decision-Making."
Rev. Terri Stewart
Terri Stewart is the Founder and Director of the Youth Chaplaincy Coalition-a Task Force of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, canoness of BeguineAgain.com, and a board member of Reconciling Ministries. Her intersecting CoCultures are: western European descent, middle-upper class, educated, adult child of alcoholic parents, United Methodist pastor, and firmly entrenched in the queer community.
Rev. Stewart will co-lead, with Angela Davis, "Facing Privilege."
Return to Session One
Return to Session Two