Todd grew up disliking church. His family attended every week, but he found it boring, pretentious, and hypocritical – so much so that for a time he would sit in his parents’ car out in the church parking lot for up to an hour, crouched down in the floorboard to avoid being seen, rather than go to Sunday School. But, typical of the kind of wonderful irony that defines the gospel story, once he began reading Scripture seriously in college, he was riveted by the radical message of love, grace, and salvation that Jesus both taught and embodied. That cynical, privileged kid from Winston-Salem, NC is now an ordained pastor in his 15th year of pastoral ministry.

Todd’s mother is very proud of his Doctor of Ministry degree from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University and his Master of Divinity degree from the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, in addition to his Master of Arts degree in Latin from the University of Georgia, and doesn’t hold the skipping Sunday School thing against him. Todd is currently working on a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Todd has led racially and economically diverse churches in the US and Canada, and believes the local church should fully integrate men, women, and children of all ages, races, persuasions, and backgrounds into its fellowship and seek to bridge social, economic, and ethnic divides locally and globally. His ministry is dedicated to preaching, teaching, and pursuing the kind of undomesticated gospel that would have impressed his younger self.

By working with and ministering to people on the margins, Todd has seen firsthand various blatant and subtle guises that both racism and classism assume in North America, and has come to recognise the systemic and institutional structures that reinforce and propagated these divisions. He is deeply convicted that we cannot come close to following Jesus’ great commandment to love God with our whole selves and love our neighbours as ourselves and allow these disparities to remain unnamed and unchallenged.

Kristen grew up loving church. She sang in the choir, taught the girls’ missions class, and in college earned a second major in ancient Greek so she could translate the Bible for herself. She also has undergraduate and graduate degrees in film and television production stashed in a closet under the stairs in the house she shares with Todd, their twin daughters, and menagerie of pets. Kristen is passionate about communicating, and has worked in public television and at various religious organizations producing documentary and advocacy media. As a partner in Todd’s ministry, she has taught children, youth, and adults in Bible studies, and found creative ways to use art in worship as a means to bridge cultural divides. Kristen has a heart for those marginalized by society and the church. She believes that not only does everyone deserve a seat at the table, but that sometimes those tables need to be turned over and reset entirely.