Speakers & Programming
faith & resistance 2027
Faith & Resistance is bringing together minds and voices from here and across the country.
Our Keynote Speakers
Kellie Carter Jackson is the Michael and Denise Kellen ‘68 Associate Professor of Africana Studies and the Chair of the Africana Studies Department at Wellesley College. She is the award-winning author of We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance. We Refuse was listed as one of the best books of 2024 by eight different publications and organizations. She is also the author of the award-winning book, Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence. The Washington Post listed Force and Freedom as one of 13 books to read on African American history. Her essays have been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, CNN, The Nation, and a host of other outlets. She has been featured in numerous documentaries for Netflix, PBS, MSNBC, and AppleTV. She has also been interviewed on Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, MSNBC, Democracy Now, NPR, and countless podcasts. Kellie Carter Jackson loves a good podcast! She co-hosts the podcast, “This Day (A History Show),” with Jody Avirgan and Nicole Hemmer. She lives outside of Boston with her husband and three children.
Greg Boyd is an internationally recognized theologian, preacher, teacher, apologist and author. He has been featured on the front page of The New York Times, The Charlie Rose Show, CNN, National Public Radio, the BBC and numerous other television and radio venues. Greg received his Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary (summa cum laude 1988), his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School (cum laude 1982), and his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota (1979). He was a professor of theology for 16 years at Bethel University (St. Paul, MN) where he received the Teaching Excellence Award and Campus Leadership Award. Greg is the co-founder of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minnesota where he serves as Senior Pastor, speaking to thousands each week. Greg has authored or co-authored 22 books and numerous academic articles, including his best-selling and award-winning Letters From a Skeptic and his recent books Crucifixion of the Warrior God and Cross Vision. His apologetic writings and public debates on the historical Jesus and the problem of evil have helped many skeptics embrace faith, and his writings and seminars on spiritual transformation have had a revolutionary, freeing impact on thousands of believers.
Doug Pagitt is a possibility enthusiast. Through creative, entrepreneurial and generative efforts, he works to enlist people to join in the hopes, dreams, and desires God has for a more beautiful world. A proud, concerned and hopeful American, Doug Pagitt is a social activist. He is Co-founder and Executive Director of Vote Common Good, a national political non-profit dedicated to inspiring, energizing, and mobilizing people of faith to engage in civic life. Pulling from his experience as an author, pastor and business owner, Doug consults for and trains churches, denominations, politicians, businesses and non-profits throughout the United States on issues of culture, leadership, social systems, Christianity and Progressive Evangelicalism.
Doug has authored 10 books on spirituality, Christianity and leadership, including: Flipped (Random House 2015), The Inventive Age Series (SparkHouse 2012), and A Christianity Worth Believing (Jossey-Bass 2008). His latest book, Outdoing Jesus: Seven Ways to Live Out the Promise of Greater Than (Eerdmans 2019), is a hopeful and provocative commentary on biblical good news exemplified through present-day ordinary people making extraordinary contributions.
Rev. Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim (she/her) was born in Korea, was educated in Canada, and now teaches in the United States as professor of Theology at Earlham School of Religion. She is the author or editor of 21 books, most recently, When God Became White: Dismantling Whiteness for a More Just Christianity. She is the host of Madang podcast which is hosted by the Christian Century and is an ordained Presbyterian Church (USA) minister. More of her writing and work can be found on her blog site Loving Life. Please follow her work and subscribe to her Substack: Loving Life.