Dr. Angela Cowser  (Ph.D. in Ethics from Vanderbilt University) is Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion and Director of The Center for the Church and the Black Experience (CBE) at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She studies social movements, community organizations, and community organizing. Dr. Cowser has nine years of experience as an IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation) community organizer in Nashville, Tennessee with two organizations: Tying Nashville Together (TNT) and People of God Organized (POGO). She served as Director of Operations for Project HOME and as Program Director for A Better Start (a program to reduce infant mortality) in Philadelphia, PA. She is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Dr. Margaret Ann Crain  is Professor of Christian Education and Director of the Deacon Program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She serves on the Northern Illinois Board of Ordained Ministry and has been a delegate to the Jurisdictional Conference of 2004 and the General and Jurisdictional Conferences of 2008. She is a member of the Commission on the Study of Ministry 2009-2012. Together with her husband, Jack L. Seymour, she is author of A Deacon's Heart: The New United Methodist Diaconate and several articles on the ministry of deacon in the UMC. They are also authors of Yearning for God: Reflections of Faithful Lives (Upper Room, 2003) and Educating Christians: The Intersection of Meaning, Learning, and Vocation (Abington, 2001). She is currently part of a research project, Greenhouses of Hope: Calling Congregations and the Practices that Nurture Young Leaders which is sponsored by The Fund for Theological Education.

Rev. Dwight H. Judy, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He helped design the United Methodist Professional Certification in Spiritual Formation, approved in 2000. He has offered retreats in spiritual formation since 1980. He regularly teaches core courses in spiritual formation and spiritual direction at the seminary. Dwight has served as a parish pastor and director of spiritual formation for a retreat center. He offers spiritual direction in Evanston and in Syracuse, Indiana. His books include A Quiet Pentecost: Inviting the Spirit into Congregational Life (Upper Room Books, 2013); Discerning Life Transitions: Listening Together in Spiritual Direction (Morehouse, 2010); Embracing God: Praying with Teresa of Avila (Abingdon, 1996); Quest for the Mystical Christ: Awakening the Heart of Faith (OSL Publications, 2003); Christian Meditation and Inner Healing (OSL Publications, 2000, 2010). He and his wife, Ruth, are parents of two grown sons.

Dr. Virginia A. Leeis Associate Professor of Christian Education and Director of Deacon Studies at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She is a deacon in the Virginia Annual Conference. She came to Garrett-Evangelical two years ago after teaching at Memphis Theological Seminary for twelve years. Having written her dissertation on the educational legacy of Georgia Harkness, Dr. Lee feels quite “at home” at Garrett-Evangelical and she is delighted to be a part of an institution that values and affirms the ministry of deacons.