Instructors

May May Latt was born and raised in Burma, also known as Myanmar. She graduated with her MDiv in 1995 at Myanmar Institute of Theology (MIT), and joined the faculty to teach courses in Old Testament. She came to the United States to study at Boston University School of Theology in 1997, graduating with her master's in 1999. She received her PhD in Hebrew Bible from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in 2012. She returned to teach at MIT in 2012 and 2014 and at Lisu Theological Seminary of Myanmar in 2016. Currently, she serves as supplemental faculty at Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas, the Metadata Analyst in Biblical Studies and Archeology at Atla, and the minister at Milwaukee Myanmar Christian Church in Wisconsin. Dr. Latt most recently authored lessons for the November 2021 issue of <em>Journeys: Judson Bible Lessons, </em>on topics of stewardship, perseverance, order, and thanksgiving.

Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf is the senior minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston in Illinois and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, where he earned his Doctor of Theology in 2021. In ministry, he is focused on issues of justice, and he is particularly involved in conversations about reparations from interfaith and Christian perspectives. His scholarship focuses on developing a practical theological account of the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s. You can follow him on Twitter at @RevMichaelWoolf.

Michael Adam Beck is currently the Director of the Fresh Expressions House of Studies at United Theological Seminary. Director of Re-Missioning for Fresh Expressions US, and Cultivator of Fresh Expressions for the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. He serves as the copastor of Wildwood UMC and St Marks UMC with his wife Jill, where they direct addiction recovery programs, a jail ministry, a food pantry, an interracial unity movement, and house a faith-based inpatient treatment center. Wildwood and St Marks are traditional congregations AND a network of thirteen fresh expressions that gather in tattoo parlors, dog parks, salons, running tracks, community centers, burrito joints, and digital spaces. Michael cultivates missional innovators in an individual, regional, statewide, and national capacity. He also teaches as an adjunct professor at several educational institutions. He coaches entrepreneurs across the theological spectrum and has consulted with hundreds of churches, districts, denominations, networks, and dioceses. As a practitioner of missional leadership, he has started and developed businesses and planted missional communities most of his life. Michael has done this for over a decade while pastoring in the local church. His coaching and consulting work are not theoretical only, but experiential. He believes in maintaining a <em>practitioner’s ethos</em>: “I eat my own cooking and share experimental recipes.” Beck earned a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Doctorate in Semiotics and Future Studies at Portland Seminary. He’s the author of seven books, including <em>Deep Roots, Wild Branches: Revitalizing the Church in the Blended Ecology</em>; <em>Deep & Wild: Remissioning Your Church from the Outside In,</em> <em>A Field Guide to Methodist Fresh Expressions</em><em>;</em> <em>, </em>and coauthor of <em>Contextual Intelligence: Unlocking the Ancient Secret to Mission on the Front Lines</em> with Leonard Sweet, <em>Fresh Expressions in a Digital Age: How the Church Can Prepare for a Post-Pandemic World</em> with Rosario Picardo, as well as <em>The 21st Century Christian: Following Jesus Where Life Happens</em> with Michael Moynagh. His newest book, <em>Painting With Ashes</em> is now available for pre-sale. Learn more at <a href="https://michaeladambeck.com">https://michaeladambeck.com</a>.

Rev. Kei Okada, MDiv, BCC, currently works as Program Manager for End-of-Life Spiritual Care at Visiting Nurse Service of New York, Hospice and Palliative Care. Kei is a Board Certified Chaplain in BCCI, an affiliate of the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), and an ordained minister of American Baptist Churches, USA. Born in New York and raised in Kanazawa, Japan, he is a Christian mystic and an artist, having spent 8 years in visual and performing arts before studying at Union Theological Seminary. Then he came to receive a calling to the vocation of chaplaincy 28 years ago. His focus in recent workshops and writings in U.S. and Japan has been on creative integration of intersensory and intra-/interpersonal end-of-life consciousness and semantics in spiritual care.

Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre is Professor of Social Ethics and Latinx Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He has served as the elected 2012 President of the Society of Christian Ethics and served as the Executive Officer for the Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion (2012-17). In 2020 the American Academy of Religion bestowed upon the Excellence in Teaching Award. Dr. De La Torre is a recognized international Fulbright scholar who has taught courses at the Cuernavaca Center for Intercultural Dialogue on Development (Mexico), Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (Indonesia), University of Johannesburg (South Africa), Johannes Gutenberg University (Germany). Additionally, he has lectured at Universidad Bíblica Latinoamericana (Costa Rica), The Association for Theological Education in South East Asia (Thailand) and the Council of World Mission (Mexico and Taiwan). Advocating for an ethics of place, De La Torre has taken students on immersion classes to Cuba and the Mexico/U.S. border to walk the migrant trails. Among multiple yearly speaking engagements, he has also been a week-long speaker at the Chautauqua Institute, and the plenary address at the Parliament of World Religions De La Torre has received several national book awards and is a frequent speaker at national and international scholarly religious events and meetings. He also speaks at churches and nonprofit organizations on topics concerning the intersection of race, class, gender, and sexuality with religion. In 2020, the American Academy of Religion bestowed on him the Excellence in Teaching Award.

The founder of <a href="http://themissionalnetwork.com">The Missional Network</a>, Alan is also pastor, teacher, writer and consultant with more than 40 years experience in church leadership, consulting and seminary education. The Missional Network (TMN) is an organization committed to supporting church leaders as they shape church culture around the mission of God. Their team of consultants, teachers, facilitators and church leaders cultivate safe spaces, robust resources and processes to reorient local Christian communities for the sake of the gospel and the transformation of God’s world. TMN has worked with numerous church systems, leaders, and denominations (including the American Baptist Churches USA) around the world as they cultivate systems that support congregations joining with God at work in their local contexts.

As President and Consultant with <a href="http://themissionalnetwork.com">The Missional Network</a>, Sara Jane works with the team to develop resources, facilitate process and support churches and church systems. She holds a MCS in Theology from Regent College, Vancouver, BC. The Missional Network (TMN) is an organization committed to supporting church leaders as they shape church culture around the mission of God. Their team of consultants, teachers, facilitators and church leaders cultivate safe spaces, robust resources and processes to reorient local Christian communities for the sake of the gospel and the transformation of God’s world. TMN has worked with numerous church systems, leaders, and denominations (including the American Baptist Churches USA) around the world as they cultivate systems that support congregations joining with God at work in their local contexts.

<span data-contrast="auto">Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock is Senior Vice President and Director of the Shay Moral Injury Center at Volunteers of America and a commissioned minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is the first Asian American woman to earn a doctorate in philosophy of religion and theology. An award-winning author, Dr. Brock has published numerous works, including </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War</span></i><span data-contrast="auto"> (2012), </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">Saving Paradise: How Christianity Traded Love of This World for Crucifixion and Empire</span></i><span data-contrast="auto"> (2008), and </span><i><span data-contrast="auto">Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us</span></i><span data-contrast="auto">. </span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span> <span data-contrast="auto">Dr. Brock was a professor of religion and women’s studies for 18 years and held the Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Hamline University from 1990 until 1997. Then she became Director of the Fellowship Program at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, which provides yearlong fellowships to distinguished scientists, social scientists, scholars, writers, artists, and humanitarians. From 2001-2002, she was a fellow at the Harvard Divinity School Center for Values in Public Life, and from 2002-2012, she was a visiting scholar at the Starr King School for the Ministry at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, as well as serving from 2006-2008 as senior editor in religion at The New Press. In 2012, she co-founded the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School. She joined Volunteers of America in 2017 to create moral injury recovery programs.</span><span data-ccp-props="{}"> </span>

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-18011" src="https://ccl.ministrelife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Julie-Vaughn-square-768x768-2-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />Rev. Dr. Julie Vaughn is Founder of Hope Angels Ministry, a pastoral care organization with a mandate of serving, caring for, and empowering the wellbeing of others through pastoral care. Hope Angel’s mission is to provide positive impact by responding uniquely, creating opportunities, making a difference, respecting all, transformation and empowerment. A board certified chaplain, Dr. Vaughn recently completed her Master of Arts in Bioethics and Health Policy (MABe) at Loyola University and currently is enrolled in the doctoral bioethics program. Dr. Vaughn has been a member of the Ethics Committee for the past decades and has co-chair for three years. Her passion empowers others to offer their gifts, talents, and services through positive impact.

Chaplain, Captain Richard F. Blanchette Jr. is a chaplain for the United States Air Force (USAF) at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. Chaplain Blanchette has served 17 years in the USAF, four of which as a chaplain. Previously he served 13 years enlisted in the mental health career field as a technician and as a Certified Alcohol Drug Abuse Counselor.  In 2009, Chaplain Blanchette left military service to pursue his calling into ministry.  While attending Denver Seminary, Ch Blanchette served as Case Manager/Counselor at the Springs Rescue Mission and as a seminary student intern for the Highland Park Baptist Church, CO. Upon graduating in 2012, Ch Blanchette was ordained in the American Baptist Churches USA. He was later called to serve as lead pastor at the First Baptist Church of Goodland, KS in 2014. Ch Blanchette answered the call to serve as an Air Force Chaplain in 2017. Chaplain Blanchette and his wife, Casey, have been married for 22 years, and they have two children, Hailey (age 20) and Richie (age 17). They have a dog named Tov.