CLGS

Victor Anderson is Professor of Ethics at Vanderbuilt University.

Maurice Charles a same gender loving priest in the Episcopal Church, recently returned to doctoral study in Theology and the History of Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School where he earned his MDiv in 1990. He received a BA in Psychology, cum laude, from Case Western Reserve University in 1987. From 1996-2002 Maurice worked as Associate Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University where he actively supported African American LGBTQ students through revitalizing Black and Queer at Stanford and convening Black administrators across the university for the purpose of responding to the needs and challenges of this population. His current research interest is the historic relationship between theological anthropology and the ethics of war.

Toni Dunbar is a 30-year resident of the Bay Area and brings 16 years of experience in urban ministry, church-based community services and non-profit program development to her role as Chaplain and Spiritual Life Coordinator at the San Francisco Center for Social Ministry, Inc. She has served with honor on several local, state and national alliances, boards and consortia promoting the role of the African American church in combating HIV and AIDS.

Toni's zest for life, love of ministry, and passion for youth, inspired by her mentor in youth services Minister Tracey L. R. Abernathy, motivates her to live out her favorite quote by Alice Walker, "Anything we love can be saved."

Ibrahim Abdurrahman Farajajé is Chair of the Islamic Studies Task Force of the Graduate Theological Union as well as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Cultural Studies/Islamic Studies at the Starr King School of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California A Berkeley native, Dr. Farajajé was one of the first of two African-descent men to graduate from Vassar College in New York, from which he received the BA with general honors in Religion.

Coming to the GTU from the historical African American Howard University School of Divinity where he developed a cycle of courses in the Study of Islam, Dr. Farajajé' has spent periods of time in India, Syria, Lebanon, Bosnia, and Morocco, and has returned most recently from Beijing, China where he participated in an international conference and made an official visit to the National Chinese Muslim Association and the Chinese Muslims Academy.

In addition to his work to organize a National Muslim response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, he is the muqaddam (local circle leader) for the Amina Teslima Tekke of Northern California for the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order. His major publication for this year is the film, "Oceans of Mercy: African American Sufi Muslims in the San Francisco Bay Area."

Wanda Floyd, a native of Henderson, North Carolina, is founding pastor of Imani Metropolitan Community Church of Durham, North Carolina. Within the larger LGBTQ community, Rev. Floyd has served on the Board of Directors for the Lesbian and Gay Health Project, Resource Center for Women in the Ministry of the South, North Carolina Lambda Youth Network and on the Board of Directors for Triangle PFLAG.

Wanda is currently co-chair of WOW 2003, an ecumenical conference for open and affirming churches in the USA and Canada, and on the Committee for the Black Week Church of Prayer for the End of AIDS 2003. Reverend Floyd celebrated seven years with her partner, Sheryl Griffin on July 28, 2002.

Horace Griffin is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Sea-Bury Theological Seminary located on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and is also the Director of the Chicago Collegiate Seminarians Program, a program for college students interested in seminary and some form of parish or social ministry. Horace received his BA in Religion from Morehouse College in 1983, MDiv degree from Boston University in 1988, and the MA and PhD degrees in Religion and Personality from Vanderbilt University Graduate Department of Religion in 1995.

A former Baptist minister, he is presently a Christian Pastoral Theologian and author of several publications. His area of specialization in Pastoral Theology is gender and sexuality, and for the past two years, has been working on a book project titled Their Own Receive Them Not: African American Lesbians and Gays in Black Churches.

Ken Hamilton is a black, same-gender-loving, Afri-guided man who is presently studying erotic spiritualities and postcolonial theory with Dr. Ibrahim Farajaje. He has been engaged in Ritual Ministry and Rite of Passage work in the black community, and has been especially concerned about how spiritual nihilism is affecting youth of the black community.

His interest in HIV/AIDS is focused in the pandemic's affect on the African American community, and he wants to explore "positive spiritual articulations," including radical sex approach of many black churches. Finally, he is a man who holds to "namaste" the divine presence in each and every person, and in the community as a whole.

Ann Jefferson is a 22-year resident of the Bay Area, transplanted from Columbia, Missouri, and is Worship Director at and Program Coordinator of the Certificate of Ministry Studies Program at Pacific School of Religion. Ann's theological and ministry roots run deeply in Baptist church tradition (National, Southern, and American). Since 1992 she has been an active member of City of Refuge Community Church, United Church of Christ. Within this congregational setting which proclaims the "radical inclusivity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," her ministerial gifts have been celebrated and flourished. For the past four years she has served as the Facilitator of the church's Ministry of Worship and Liturgy team, and was installed as Associate Pastor of Worship and Liturgy in November 2002. She also works as the part-time Music Director at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City where she is a resident.

Randall (Randy) Miller is currently a PhD candidate in Ethics and Social Theory at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. His areas of academic interest lie broadly within the intersection of public discourse, social change and theories of justice. Randall is currently in the writing stage of his dissertation tentatively titled, "Colored Justice: A Reconsideration of Martin King's Justice Ethic." During his tenure at the GTU, Randall has worked closely with the Center for Ethics and Social Policy and served on the Bay Area Advisory Board of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion. Randall completed Masters work at Emory University.

In his "other life," he serves as the Grants Director for the Vanguard Public Foundation, a thirty-year old community foundation dedicated to supporting organizations fomenting progressive social change. Prior to Vanguard, Randall worked as the Program Officer for the Community Health Investment Fund of the Alameda Alliance for Health, and as the Executive Director of the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention, a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to the eradication of HIV/AIDS in communities of color.

Ashley Moore is the founding director of the San Francisco Transcendence Gospel Choir.

Beatrice (Bea) Morris is a PhD student at the Graduation Theological Union, Berkeley, California where her area of study is Post-colonialism and Ecofeminist theology/spirituality. Together, as a (bi-focal) lens, she examines the writings of African American novelists. Bea is also a clinician, and has had nearly 20 years experience in the HIV/AIDS epidemic under many guises (usually simultaneously): County HIV Testing Coordinator, primary medical provider, clinical trials coordinator, and grant-writer.

Lynice Pinkard is a practicing family therapist and Program Director for the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Critical Incident Response Team, which provides therapeutic intervention for families affected by gun violence. She also serves as Assistant Pastor of First Congregational Church of Oakland. Ms. Pinkard is co-founder and former Associate Pastor of City of Refuge United Church of Christ.

She received her BA degree from Hampton University, and holds MDiv and MA degrees from the Pacific School of Religion, as well as the MS in Counseling Psychology from California State University, Hayward. Her current research and scholarship focus on the intersection of sexual, racial, and spiritual identity.

Juan Y. Reed was ordained a priest in 1991 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Chicago where he serves as Vicar. He has led this urban congregation in the renewal of its congregational life and mission, which has resulted in an extensive renovation of its worship space and the articulation of a prophetic vision and mission. Part of that ministry is being welcoming of African American GLBT people and the unique gifts they bring to the church. The church has established the Good Ground Institute dedicated to its mission of linking spirituality and social transformation. Good Ground offers monthly lectures and forums on spirituality and social justice issues. Its most recent offering was a five part series, Lift Every Voice: Affirming Gay and Lesbian People in African American Churches, which featured African American scholars and pastors. He is a spiritual director and a frequent retreat leader.

Fr. Reed has an MDiv degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and an MSW degree from the Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work. He is a candidate for the Doctor of Ministry degree with a concentration in Spirituality at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He has been involved in HIV/AIDS services for over 20 years, and is currently a member of the AIDS Task Force of the Diocese of Chicago area. He is a recent past president of the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

Robert Scott, MD was born in Chicago, and earned his BS at Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, MS and MEd at University of Illinois, and MD at University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Scott is serious about practicing medicine in the country's most diverse region, the Bay Area. His successful yet challenging practice propelled him to the fore as a leading advocate for HIV/AIDS treatment and research.

As a co-founder of the AIDS Project of the East Bay, the largest and oldest AIDS service organization in Alameda County, he maintains an active presence as President of the board. A member of numerous national and local organizations, an usher at Allen Temple Baptist Church, and an avid collector of Shona stone art, he has done incredible mission work in Africa and is the proud father of a son, Melvin.

Reverend John J. Selders, Jr. is the founding organizing pastor of Amistad United Church of Christ in Hartford, Connecticut, Care Coordinator of Zezzo House (an 18-unit housing project), and Lead Principal for The Human Connection Project. John's academic and theological reflection took place at Life Christian Bible College, Webster University and Eden Theological Seminary.

John has exhibited extraordinary commitment and dedication to a number of efforts that have afforded him the opportunity to travel across the country speaking, lecturing and conducting workshops in the areas of race, anti-racism and internalized oppression. He is also an HIV/AIDS educator and activist with numerous citations for his work, and currently serves on a number of boards while working with several local and national organizations. John is a talented award-winning songwriter, musician and performer with local, national, and international credits. He is the loving spouse of Pamela and father of two, Alisia (daughter) and Jay (son).

Ron Swisher is a native of Californian who has lived here all of his life. He graduated from the University of San Francisco with a BA in political science in 1968 and received his MDiv from Pacific School of Religion in 1973. He has been a United Methodist minister for 30 years serving in Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco; he has been pastor at Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland for five years, his home church where he was baptized and where his mother has been for some 60 years. He has received a number of honors, and notes that he was on the National Board for the development of Africa University in Zimbabwe, served as District Superintendent of the Methodist church in Sacramento, and was Minister of Congregational Life at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco.

Jonathon Thunderwood is a native of Norfolk Virginia and pastored By The Way Baptist Church for three years, focusing on marginalized people, in addition to the fifteen years' work in the HIV/AIDS field. Jonathon is also an advocate for the transgender community with emphasis on female to males, and is a part of the ministry team at the City of Refuge United Church of Christ.