Cara Sexton describes herself as "part monk, part punk." She lives with her husband and four children in beautiful southern Oregon where she cultivates a passion for creativity and inspiration, as she daily gathers the manna of ordinary magic from even the unlikeliest of places. Cara writes creative nonfiction, poetry, and fiction, and her work has appeared in the books Finding Church and What a Woman is Worth, as well as in many magazines and online publications. She has worked as nonfiction editor for Duende literary magazine and is currently writing a spiritual memoir while also completing her BFA degree in creative writing at Goddard College. When she isn't writing, she is probably decorating, daydreaming, kissing freckles, scouring flea markets for vintage trinkets, or preparing for her next big adventure.

Sara L. H. Shady (PhD, University of South Carolina) is professor of philosophy at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota. In addition to coauthoring several articles on interfaith engagement with Marion Larson, her writing is featured in the books Faith, Film and Philosophy, The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education (chapter coauthored with Marion H. Larson), and Walking Together: Christian Thinking and Public Life in South Africa. Her interests include the construction of healthy communities and political societies, the role of religion in politics, especially interfaith dialogue, and early to mid-20th century Continental philosophy.

Luci Shaw is a poet, an editor, a retreat leader, a lecturer, and the author of forty books, including Thumbprint in the Clay, The Adventure of Ascent, and The Genesis of It All. Luci and her husband live in Bellingham, Washington, where she enjoys sailing, tent camping, knitting, gardening, and wilderness photography.

Judith Allen Shelly (BSN, DMin) previously served as publications director for Nurses Christian Fellowship, director of NCF Press, and editor of the Journal of Christian Nursing. She is also the author of Spiritual Care: A Guide for Caregivers and the coauthor of Values in Conflict.

Shelly's editorial work has won numerous awards from the Evangelical Press Association, and her articles have appeared in journals such as Ethics and Medicine, Christian Counseling Today, and Christian Bioethics. She has also been an adjunct professor at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, and at North Park University in Chicago, Illinois.

Amy L. Sherman directs the Sagamore Institute's Center on Faith in Communities, which trains and consults with faith-based social service providers and religious congregations desiring to invest more effectively in their neighborhoods. She is the author of Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good.

Diana Shiflett is ordained in the Evangelical Covenant church. She is an adjunct professor of youth ministry at North Park University, and a certified spiritual director. She has a master's degree in clinical psychology from Wheaton College.

Sarah Shin is a speaker and trainer in ethnicity, evangelism, and the arts, and she is the author of Beyond Colorblind. A fine artist and painter, Shin has a master's degree in theology from Gordon-Cromwell Theological Seminary and a master's degree in city planning and development from MIT. She is continuing her theological studies as a PhD student at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Previously, Shin served as associate national director of evangelism for InterVarsity.

Laurie Polich Short is a speaker, an author, and associate pastor of Oceanhills Covenant Church in Santa Barbara, California. She is the author of Finding Faith in the Dark: When the Story of Your Life Takes a Turn You Didn't Plan as well as thirteen books for youth and youth workers. She has spoken to more than 500,000 people at youth conferences, women's conferences, denominational gatherings, colleges, and churches around the country. Laurie has been in ministry for thirty years, and has served on staff at four churches. She is a featured speaker with Compassion International and was on the speaking staff of Youth Specialties for fifteen years. She is a graduate of UCLA and Fuller Theological Seminary, and lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, Jere, and stepson.

Alison Siewert is a graduate of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, and also attended Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. She currently serves as an arts pastor and church planter in the Hershey, Pennsylvania area.

She cowrote and edited Worship Team Handbook after leading worship at Urbana 93 and Urbana 96. She was director of the Urbana 03 Theater Team and is cofounder and director of ransomTHEdonKey, a theater group that performs in many settings, including campuses and churches. Previously, she has worked as a church planter, worship designer, and InterVarsity staff trainer.

Eeva Sallinen Simard is the project director (chief of party) at SCOPE Project at World Relief and has more than ten years of experience working with missional NGOs from research to ministry. She is cofounder of BE Development Partners, a consulting firm that trains organizations to develop belonging cultures. Eeva holds an MSc in international politics from the University of Helsinki and an MBA from John Hopkins University, and she is a coconvener of the Wheaton Consortium for Development, Gender, and Christianity.

Caroline J. Simon (PhD, University of Washington) is provost and executive vice president of Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. She was formerly the John and Jeanne Jacobson professor of philosophy and interim dean of social sciences at Hope College. Her primary teaching fields include ethics, history of ethics and interdisciplinary humanities. Simon is the author of Introduction to Ethics (Rowman & Littlefield), The Disciplined Heart (Eerdmans), and coauthor of Can Hope Endure? and Mentoring for Mission, both from Eerdmans.

Amy Simpson is a speaker, editor, leadership coach, and author of the award-winning books Blessed Are the Unsatisfied, Troubled Minds: Mental Illness and the Church's Mission, and Anxious.

Beth Allen Slevcove is a spiritual director, retreat leader, writer, surfer, and mother in San Diego, California. She served as the director of spiritual formation for Youth Specialties for seven years and holds advanced degrees in theology and education. She also co-led a spiritual direction training program through Christian Formation and Direction Ministries (CFDM) and recently co-led the San Diego Spiritual Directors Association. Beth is deeply rooted in her urban Lutheran congregation and is an oblate at a Benedictine monastery. She created and runs the Surf Monkey Fellowship, a Southern California surf company and online community. She lives in San Diego with her husband and two young children.

Check out Beth's Surf Monkey Fellowship.

Ebony S. Small serves as an associate pastor at The River Church under the leadership of Bishop Ronald L. Godbee. Formerly, she worked with organizations like Pulse Outreach and Movement Day Expressions with movement.org. She is the author of The Leader in You and president of Transforming Leaders Consulting.

Kay Higuera Smith (PhD, Claremont Graduate University) is professor of religion and chair of the department of biblical studies at Azusa Pacific University. Her specialization is in the New Testament and early Judaism.

Originally from Australia, Mandy Smith is lead pastor of University Christian Church, a campus and neighborhood congregation with its own fair-trade café in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a regular contributor to CT Pastors and the author of Making a Mess and Meeting God. She is also the creator of The Collect, a citywide trash-to-art project. Mandy and her husband, Jamie, a New Testament professor at Cincinnati Christian University, live with their two kids in a little house where the teapot is always warm.

Andrea Smith (PhD, University of California) is a cofounder of Evangelicals 4 Justice and a board member of the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies. She is currently chair of the Ethnic Studies Department at UC Riverside. Her books include Conquest, Native Americans and the Christian Right, and Unreconciled (forthcoming).

Natasha Smith is a wife, mother, and writer from North Carolina. Her work has appeared at Her View from Home, Focus on the Family, and TODAY Parents. You can find her online at imnatashasmith.com.

Felicia Wu Song (PhD, University of Virginia) is a cultural sociologist of media and digital technologies, currently serving as professor of sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. She is author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence and Place in the Digital Age and Virtual Communities: Bowling Alone, Online Together as well as articles in scholarly journals including Gender & Society and Information, Communication & Society. She also serves as Associate Editor at Current, an online journal of commentary and opinion that provides daily reflection on contemporary culture, politics, and ideas.

Veronica Squires is chief administrative officer at The Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where she leads fundraising strategy and development efforts. She previously served as director of corporate development for Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, and as the Georgia director of ministry partnerships for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is a certified CCDA practitioner and serves on the advisory board for the Georgia Charitable Care Network. 

Suzanne Stabile is a highly sought-after speaker, teacher, and internationally recognized Enneagram master teacher who has taught thousands of people over the last thirty years. She is the author of The Path Between Us, and coauthor, with Ian Morgan Cron, of The Road Back to You. She is also the creator and host of The Enneagram Journey podcast. Along with her husband, Rev. Joseph Stabile, she is cofounder of Life in the Trinity Ministry, a nonprofit, nondenominational ministry committed to the spiritual growth and formation of adults. Their ministry home, the Micah Center, is located in Dallas, Texas.

Margot Starbuck is a writer and speaker who cares deeply about what it means to follow Jesus in the sneakers, pumps, or Doc Martens in which we find ourselves. She is passionate about communicating God's great love for the world—inextricably bound to God's love for individuals—in print and in speech. Margot studied art at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. At the beach and in dorm rooms, she began to notice the bind in which women find themselves today, specifically as they're pinched by the culture's insistence on the value of appearances. She was further equipped to process these issues theologically at Princeton Seminary. Today, Margot continues to be energized by the kingdom reality of God's big plan for our bodies which have been called good.

Stiles is a pharmacist based in Lexington, Kentucky. With her husband, Mack, she has codirected more than a dozen short-term mission trips in Kenya, the Middle East, and Central America.

Beth M. Stovell (PhD, McMaster Divinity College) is associate professor of Old Testament at Ambrose Seminary of Ambrose University, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She has authored Mapping Metaphorical Discourse in the Fourth Gospel: John's Eternal King and co-edited Biblical Hermeneutics: Five Views with Dr. Stanley E. Porter. Beth has also contributed chapters in edited volumes such as Holy Spirit: Unfinished Agenda, Devotions on the Hebrew Bible, and Global Perspectives on the Bible.

E. K. Strawser (DO, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine) is the co-vocational lead pastor of Ma Ke Alo o, non-denominational missional communities multiplying in Honolulu, Hawaii; a community physician at Ke Ola Pono; and an executive leader at the V3 Movement, the church planting arm of the Baptist General Association of Virginia.