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Dear Friends, In this season of Advent, it seems as if we are all in the same place as the shepherds of Bethlehem. Like them, we are waiting in the darkness, doing our best to keep watch over our flocks and find safety in a frightening world. Yet, the shepherds did not wait in endless

By Jessica Love Dr. Cynthia Talley grew up in a Christian home and knew early in life that God was calling her to do mission and pastoral work. “It was the PTL [Praise the Lord] Club, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker,” Talley recalled. “And I didn’t want anyone to know that I watched it…When my

By Jessica Love Education and the Church have always been a central part of Rev. Jeania Ree Moore’s life. “I come from a family of educators,” Moore explained. “I was raised United Methodist and… I attended religious schools K-12 [kindergarten through 12th grade] … So, religion was very much a part of my educational and

By Jessica Love Growing up in Dorchester, South Carolina, a young Rev. Dr. Rosetta Ross watched the civil rights movement unfold before her eyes. I was in elementary and high school during that time,” Ross recalled, “I can remember how significant the implications of the Civil Rights Movement were… for Black people’s possibilities in the

By Jessica Love Georgia native Lahronda Little’s call to ministry began in the seeded, colorful rows of her grandparent’s garden. “I always start with my grandparents garden,” Little said. “Everything that I know about God was formed in that context…Everything I’m doing right now goes directly back to those years in the garden with my

By Jessica Love Growing up in Seoul, South Korea, Hee Jin Lee’s love for music drew her to the church. “I loved music and singing songs,” she said. “I was raised in a non-Christian family, and one of my friends asked, ‘Hee Jin, do you want to join a choir; why don’t you go to

By Jessica Love South Korea native Sun-Ah Kang vividly remembers the moment God called her to be a champion for women in ministry. “When I was in high school, I went to this retreat and the guest speaker was a male, very old, retired pastor,” Kang recounted. “He talked about how sin came to the

By Jessica Love The daughter of a single mother with breast cancer, Hayoung Kang’s own traumatic experiences inspired her call to ministry. Now, as an Angella P. Current-Felder Women of Color (WOC) Scholar, she is empowered to create political theology and philosophy to help others navigate trauma. The Angella P. Current-Felder Women of Color (WOC)

By Jessica Love Rev. Patricia Bonilla learned at an early age how important it is to see color and acknowledge differences. “In high school, I was one of two Mexican students in my whole grade,” she said. Now Bonilla, who is an ordained deacon in the Northern Illinois Conference, is researching and celebrating those differences

By Jessica Love Dr. Lisa Dellinger recently earned her Ph.D. in theology, history and ethics from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, making her the 49th graduate of the Angella P. Current-Felder Women of Color Scholars program. Dellinger, who is working toward ordination as a United Methodist elder in the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, is