People Featured in the Film
Dr. Don Argue
is an Assemblies of God pastor and educator who has served as president of the National Association of Evangelicals (1992–1998), North Central University (1979–1995), and Northwest University (1998–2007). He also served on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. As NAE president, he was tasked with changing the perception of the organization as being a tool of the Religious Right. He sought to form connections with more moderate Protestant groups. He described the NAE as “too old, too white, and too male” and pushed the organization to be more active in the area of racial reconciliation. Under his leadership, in 1996 the NAE issued an “Evangelical Manifesto” promoting a renewed call for Christian unity and partnership in the evangelical movement.
Dr. Vincent Bacote
(Ph.D., Drew University) is Professor of Theology and Director of the Center for Applied Christian Ethics at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He is the author of several books, including Reckoning with Race, Performing the Good News: In Search of a Better Evangelical Theology (2020), and The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life (2015), and has contributed to works such as Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues (2019) and Black Scholars in White Space (2015). Dr. Bacote has served as assistant theology editor for Christianity Today, written for Comment Magazine, and contributed to periodicals including The Banner, Books and Culture, Think Christian, Christian Scholars Review, and The Journal for Christian Theological Research. He is a fellow at the Center for Public Justice and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum. An avid tennis player and occasional bass guitarist, he lives in the Chicago area with his family.
Dr. Melvin E. Banks, Sr.
(1934–2021) was a pioneering Christian publisher and founder of Urban Ministries, Inc., the largest Black faith-based publishing company in the United States. He was a Wheaton College alumnus and also studied at Moody Bible Institute. Banks earned a B.A. in theology and a master’s in biblical studies from Wheaton in 1960. Recognizing the Eurocentric focus of Christian publishing, Banks developed books, Bible studies, videos, and vacation Bible school materials portraying biblical figures as people of color, creating resources specifically for the Black Christian community. For his contributions, he received the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Kenneth N. Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, and Wheaton College awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1992. The Wheaton College Welcome Center is named in his honor and features a graphic display that celebrates his legacy.
Rev. William “Bill” Hiram Bentley, Ph.D.
(1924–1993) was an American evangelical leader and former president of the National Black Evangelical Association. He was known for his advocacy of Black evangelical ministry, leadership development, and engagement in national conversations on race, faith, and social justice within the church. He was married to Ruth Lewis Bentley.
Dr. Ruth Lewis Bentley
(Wheaton College ’55, M.A. ’58) is a distinguished Christian educator, counselor, and advocate for racial justice who has significantly shaped Wheaton College and the broader evangelical community. She earned her B.A. and M.A. in Christian education and ministry from Wheaton College, where she excelled academically despite facing racial discrimination as one of the few African American students in the 1950s. After graduating, she became the first Black woman on staff with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She later earned a Ph.D. in counseling in higher education from the University of Alabama in 1966, completing a Fulbright Fellowship and conducting research in Australia before traveling through 30 countries on her return. Dr. Bentley served on the Wheaton College Board of Trustees from 1988 to 2002, where she worked to advance racial inclusion and support minority students. She established the William Hiram Bentley Award for Ministry, named in honor of her late husband, to support African American graduate students in ministry. She was honored as Wheaton’s 2022 Alumna of the Year for Distinguished Service to Alma Mater for her decades of leadership and advocacy.
William “Bill” Bright
(1921 –2003) was an American evangelist. In 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles, he founded Campus Crusade for Christ as a ministry for university students. Campus Crusade for Christ expanded to other colleges and universities and eventually became an international organization. He developed several evangelistic tools including “The Four Spiritual Laws” used by legions of evangelists throughout the world.
Jimmy Carter
(1924–2024) was an American statesman and humanitarian best known for serving as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Carter was a member of the Democratic Party and an evangelical Christian. Before his presidency he was 76th governor of Georgia (1971–1975) and served in the Georgia state legislature (1963–1967). After leaving the White House, Carter devoted his life to diplomacy, human rights, and public health. In 1982 he established The Carter Center, a nongovernmental, nonprofit institution aimed at “Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.”
Carl Ellis, Jr., Ph.D.
is a theological anthropologist who has been a pastor and a faculty member at Westminster Seminary and Redeemer Seminary. In 1969 he joined Tom Skinner Associates as a senior campus minister and played a key role in recruiting Skinner as a keynote speaker at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Urbana 70 missions conference. He currently serves as Provost’s Professor of Theology and Culture at Reformed Theological Seminary. Dr. Ellis studied under Francis Schaeffer at LÁbri in Hermoz sur Olon’, Switzerland, completed his MAR (Theology) at Westminster Theological Seminary, and holds a D.Phil. from Oxford Graduate School. He is the author of Free at Last? The Gospel in the African-American Experience. Learn more about him here.
Rev. Elward D. Ellis (1949–2012) was a prominent Christian minister, pioneer for racial justice, and leader in global missions. His work as the first Director of Black Campus Ministries for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship left an enduring mark on the organization and the broader evangelical world, helping to bridge the gap between diverse communities and the global church. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Ellis began his ministry leadership as a student at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he helped establish an InterVarsity chapter and partnered with other young Black leaders such as Carl Ellis (no relation) to recruit evangelist Tom Skinner as a keynoter at the Urbana 70 missions conference. During his time in the South, he demonstrated an early commitment to racial integration, becoming one of the first African American members of the predominantly white Blacknall Presbyterian Church in Durham, North Carolina, despite facing opposition. He later attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he continued to emerge as a leader, advocating for the inclusion of Black students in worldwide missions. He joined the staff of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in 1980 and spent seven years pioneering the Director of Black Campus Ministries position. Colleagues and friends remember him as a "prophet of truth and love" who lived out the difficult work of reconciliation, often at great personal cost. His influence remains a cornerstone of InterVarsity's history of multiethnic ministry.
Lisa Fields
is the founder and CEO of the Jude 3 Project, a leading apologetics organization equipping the Black community to understand and articulate Christian faith. A Christian apologist, speaker, author, and film producer, she engages faith, theology, and culture through innovative and accessible content. Under her leadership, the Jude 3 Project has produced initiatives such as Courageous Conversations, an interdisciplinary apologetics conference, multiple church-based curricula, the Why I Don’t Go YouTube series, an HBCU tour addressing whether Christianity is a “White man’s religion,” and the Jude 3 Project Podcast, which explores topics spanning mental health to biblical history. Fields is the author of When Faith Disappoints and the forthcoming When Heroes Fall (2026), and a contributor to Cultural Engagement and Urban Apologetics. She has also produced the documentaries Unspoken and Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom, the latter featured on PBS. Her work has been recognized by Christianity Today and other organizations. She holds a B.S. in Communications and Religious Studies from the University of North Florida and an M.Div. in theology from Liberty University. Additionally, she serves as an advisor and board member for several national faith-based organizations.
Rev. Billy Graham
(1918–2018) was an American evangelist, an ordained minister in the Southern Baptist tradition, and a supporter of civil rights. He became widely recognized in the mid-to-late twentieth century through his preaching tours and broadcasts, which brought live sermons to audiences around the world. Over a career that lasted more than sixty years, Graham emerged as one of the most prominent evangelical Christian leaders in both the United States and internationally. Biographers have described Graham as one of the most influential Christian figures of the twentieth century. Beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s, he drew enormous crowds, often filling stadiums and large public venues where he delivered his messages. Many of these events were transmitted by radio and television, allowing his sermons to reach millions, with some broadcasts continuing into the twenty-first century. From 1947 until his retirement in 2005, Graham led annual evangelistic crusades that became a defining feature of his public ministry.
Dr. Henry Greenidge
is a pastor, worship leader, and pioneer in multiethnic church ministry within the Evangelical Covenant Church. He helped plant Irvington Covenant Church (now Portland Covenant Church) in Portland, Oregon in 1988, one of the first intentionally multiethnic congregations in the denomination. For his leadership, he received an honorary doctorate from North Park Theological Seminary in 2007 and the Irving C. Lambert Award for excellence in urban ministry in 2008. Dr. Greenidge has long been involved in worship leadership and the African American Ministers Association in the Covenant and has continued to advocate for racial reconciliation, intercultural engagement, and community ministry throughout his career.
Rev. Brenda Grier-Miller
is a native of Brooklyn, New York. She was educated in the New York City public school system and studied Early Childhood Education before earning a Bachelor of Science in Social Work from Adelphi University and a Master of Science in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University in 2000. Now retired, Rev. Grier-Miller served Oberlin College for 24 years as Associate Dean of Student Support Services and Class Dean, with a focus on supporting first-generation, low-income, and disabled students. She accepted Christ in her youth and, responding to a call to ministry, was ordained as a senior minister at the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn in 2003. Her work has centered on youth, families, and community development through social work, youth ministry, and creative programming. She has also served on several community and faith-based boards. Rev. Grier-Miller has been married for forty-two years to Albert G. Miller and is the mother of four children and grandmother of four grandchildren.
Rev. Aaron M. Hamlin
is an American evangelical leader best known as one of the co‑founders of the National Negro Evangelical Association (NNEA), which later became the National Black Evangelical Association (NBEA), an organization formed in 1963 to foster fellowship, ministry cooperation, and networking among Black Christian leaders committed to evangelism and church growth. His role at the founding gathering helped establish a platform for Black evangelical voices and leaders in the United States during a pivotal time for both the church and society. Hamlin also served as executive director of the NBEA and was active in leading its national conventions and initiatives.
Verna Dorsey Holley
is a retired choral music teacher and musician. She attended Dwyer Elementary School and graduated from Northern High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in music education from Wayne State University and a master’s degree in music from Michigan State University. Holley spent her career in the Lansing Public School System, serving as fine arts director at J.W. Sexton High School before retiring. She later continued teaching piano privately and became pianist and music director for the Earl Nelson Singers, an integrated ensemble founded in 1963 that performs traditional sacred songs and early gospel-style music. Her work has also been connected with the Okemos String Program. She is a member of several professional and community organizations and lives in Lansing with her husband, Melvin Holley. They have three adult children: Mark, Timothy, and Millicent.
Rev. Howard O. Jones
(1921–2010) was an African American pastor, evangelist, and missionary. He served congregations in Harlem and Cleveland and became the first African American associate evangelist with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, traveling widely in the U.S. and Africa. Jones also led the long-running radio program Hour of Freedom and authored Gospel Trailblazer, documenting his ministry and efforts to promote racial reconciliation in evangelicalism. Rev. Jones also served as one of the early presidents of the National Negro Evangelical Association (later renamed the National Black Evangelical Association). He was the author of several books including his autobiography, Gospel Trailblazer.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
(1929–1968) was an American Baptist minister and civil rights leader who played a central role in the U.S. civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advocated for racial equality through nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience, challenging Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination. As a prominent Black church leader, King organized and led campaigns for voting rights, desegregation, labor rights, and social justice. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, served as the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and helped organize major nonviolent protests, including those in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. That same year, he was a principal leader of the March on Washington, where he delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. King also played a key role in the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches in 1965. The movement he helped lead resulted in major legislative achievements, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
Rodney Glen King
(1965–2012) was an American man whose beating by police became a defining moment in discussions of police brutality in the United States. On March 3, 1991, King was severely beaten by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department following a high-speed pursuit related to driving while intoxicated. The incident was recorded by a bystander, George Holliday, who filmed the beating from a nearby balcony and shared the footage with a local television station. The video, which showed King being struck while on the ground, was broadcast nationally and internationally, sparking widespread public outrage and drawing global attention to issues of police violence and accountability.
Dr. Stanley Long
is an educator, ministry leader, and retired pastor who served as an executive leader with Tom Skinner Associates and the American Tract Society before joining the faculty of Nyack College. He earned multiple academic degrees, including a Doctor of Divinity from Nyack College. Dr. Long has served on several boards, including the National Black Evangelical Association, Urban Ministries, Incorporated, and Fuller Theological Seminary. His work with the American Tract Society reflected its mission, founded in 1825, to publish and distribute Christian literature. He is married and is the father of three children, the grandfather of five grandsons, and the great-grandfather of one great-granddaughter.
Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin
Reverend Dr. Nicole Massie Martin is president and CEO of Christianity Today as well as the founder and executive director of SoulFire International Ministries. She serves on boards for the National Association of Evangelicals, Fuller Theological Seminary, the Salvation Army, and the Center for Christianity and Public Life. Dr. Martin holds degrees from Vanderbilt, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and is the author of three books including her latest, Nailing it: Why Successful Leadership Demands Suffering and Surrender.
William Paul “Bill” McCartney
(1940–2025) was an American college football coach and evangelical leader. He was converted to evangelical Christianity in 1974 at a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting in Brighton, Michigan. McCartney served as head football coach of the University of Colorado Buffaloes from 1982 to 1994, compiling a career record of 93–55–5 and winning three consecutive Big Eight Conference titles from 1989 to 1991. His 1990 team was named national champion by the Associated Press, and he received Kodak Coach of the Year honors. In recognition of his coaching career, McCartney was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013. In 1990, McCartney founded Promise Keepers, an evangelical Christian parachurch organization focused on men’s ministry.
Rev. Dr. Walter McCray is a pastor, theologian, and educator known for his work in biblical teaching and leadership development. He is the founder of Blacklight Fellowship, an organization dedicated to equipping believers through culturally informed, biblically grounded discipleship. Dr. McCray’s ministry emphasizes Scripture, spiritual formation, and empowering faith communities through teaching and mentorship.
Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil
is an author, speaker, consultant, and president of Salter McNeil and Associates. She teaches at Seattle Pacific University, where she directs the Reconciliation Studies minor, mentoring students, partnering with the John Perkins Center for community-based initiatives, and overseeing internships to provide practical reconciliation experience. She also teaches Master of Divinity students in the seminary program, preparing them for ministry in diverse, multiethnic contexts. Dr. McNeil has received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from North Park University (2008) and an honorary doctorate from Eastern University (2017). She has lectured widely at Christian colleges and universities in the U.S. and Africa. She serves on the Board of Directors of Wycliffe Bible Translators, USA, and is an ordained clergy member of the Evangelical Covenant Church.
Dwight Lyman “D. L.” Moody
(1837–1899) was an American evangelist, publisher, and Christian educator known for his influential revivalist work. He founded the Moody Church, Northfield School and Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts (now Northfield Mount Hermon School), Moody Bible Institute, and Moody Publishers. Moody left a successful boot-and-shoe business to devote his life to ministry, initially serving Union troops during the Civil War through the YMCA’s United States Christian Commission. In Chicago, he established one of the nation’s leading evangelical centers, which remains active today. Working alongside singer Ira Sankey, Moody conducted revival tours across the United States and the British Isles, attracting large crowds with his dynamic preaching. One of his best-known quotes is: “Faith makes all things possible…Love makes all things easy.”
Dr. Joy Jittaun Moore
is a pastor, theologian, and professor from Chicago, Illinois, where she grew up on the South Side. She earned a B.A. in education and mathematics from the National College of Education at National Louis University in 1982 and a Master of Divinity from Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1989. She completed a Ph.D. in Practical Theology at Brunel University in partnership with the London School of Theology in 2007, having been awarded a John Wesley Fellowship (2001–2005). Dr. Moore has held numerous academic and ministry roles. She served as director of student life at Asbury Theological Seminary (1999–2001), chaplain and director of church relations at Adrian College, and taught at Duke Divinity School. At Fuller Theological Seminary (2012–2017), she was assistant professor of preaching and founded the William E. Pannell Center for African American Church Studies in 2015. She later served as associate professor of practical theology at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University (2017–2018) and pastored a historic African American United Methodist congregation in Flint, Michigan. In 2019, she joined Luther Seminary as professor of biblical preaching. An ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, Dr. Moore also served as president of the Wesleyan Theological Society from 2021 to 2022.
Dr. Albert “A.G.” Miller
is an American pastor, scholar, and author who serves as Midwest District Minister and pastor of the Oberlin House of the Lord Fellowship in Oberlin, Ohio, a congregation he helped grow from a Bible study in his home into a vibrant church. He was ordained as a senior minister with The House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in 1981 and also serves on the denomination’s National Board of Elders. Dr. Miller had a long academic career, teaching American and African American religious history as Associate Professor of Religion at Oberlin College for 27 years before retiring in 2018. He holds B.S.W. and M.S.W. degrees in social work from Adelphi University and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University, with further study at Union Theological Seminary and Iliff School of Theology. He is the author of Elevating the Race: Theophilus G. Steward, Black Theology, and the Making of an African American Civil Society, 1865–1924 and has contributed scholarly articles on religion and culture. Dr. Miller is married to Rev. Brenda Grier-Miller and they have four adult children and grandchildren.
Elijah Muhammad
(born Elijah Robert Poole, later Elijah Karriem; October 7, 1897, Sandersville, Georgia – February 25, 1975, Chicago, Illinois) was an American religious leader and head of the Nation of Islam from 1933 until his death. Under his leadership, the Nation of Islam grew from a small Detroit-based movement into a nationwide organization with tens of thousands of members. Muhammad promoted Black nationalism and a distinctive theology, teaching that white people were created by a Black scientist named Yakub and describing multiple gods, each a Black man named Allah, with himself as a messenger. His leadership and teachings were influential during the civil rights era and shaped the development of the Nation of Islam in the United States.
Berlin Martin “B.M.” Nottage
(1889–1966) was a pioneering Black evangelist and church planter who, along with his brothers, helped spread the gospel in major U.S. cities in the early to mid‑20th century. Born on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, he and his brothers Whitfield and Talbot Burton (T.B.) Nottage came to faith in Christ as a teenager and soon began witnessing locally before relocating to the United States. By 1913, Nottage was deeply involved in evangelistic work in New York City’s Black neighborhoods, helping establish Grace Gospel Chapel in Harlem. Over the next two decades, he and his brother T.B. traveled widely across the United States, sharing the gospel and establishing new assemblies in cities such as St. Louis, Birmingham, and Muskegon. In 1930, they helped launch Grace Gospel Hall in Chicago. In 1932 Nottage moved to Detroit, where he founded Bethany Tabernacle and continued his evangelistic ministry, contributing to the establishment of several other assemblies in the area. Known for his preaching and deep knowledge of Scripture, he became a respected speaker and authority on evangelism within Black communities. Nottage remained active in ministry at Bethany Tabernacle until his death in 1966 at age 76.
Talbot Burton “T.B.” Nottage
(1885–1972) was a Bahamian-born evangelist and church planter who, along with his brother Berlin Martin “B.M.” Nottage, played a key role in spreading the Christian gospel in Black communities across the United States. T.B. Nottage began his ministry in his teenage years in the Bahamas before relocating to the U.S., where he partnered with his brothers in establishing churches and assemblies in cities such as New York, St. Louis, Birmingham, Muskegon, and Chicago. In 1932, he moved to Detroit, where he continued his evangelistic work and contributed to the founding of Bethany Tabernacle and other local congregations. Known for his preaching and deep scriptural knowledge, Nottage remained active in ministry until his death in 1972 at the age of 87.
Whitfield Nottage
(born circa 1883–1986) was a Bahamian-born evangelist and church planter, one of the three Nottage brothers who helped spread the Christian gospel in Black communities across the United States. Whitfield came to faith as a teenager in the Bahamas and later joined his brothers, Berlin Martin “B.M.” Nottage and Talbot Burton “T.B.” Nottage, in establishing churches and assemblies in cities such as New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit. He was active in evangelistic ministry, helping plant and support congregations, and was known for his dedication to preaching and discipleship within urban Black communities. Specific details about his later life and date of death are not well-documented.
Dr. William “Bill” E. Pannell
(1929–2024) was an American evangelical leader, theologian, and professor of preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary. He was a pioneering advocate for racial justice within evangelicalism, challenging the movement’s racial dynamics and calling for greater inclusion and equity. Pannell authored several influential books, including My Friend, the Enemy (1968), which explored issues of racism within evangelical circles. Throughout his career, he was recognized as a critical voice for justice and reconciliation, mentoring generations of pastors and students in preaching, theology, and ethical leadership.
Dr. John M. Perkins
is an American Christian minister, civil rights activist, and author. He and his wife, Vera Mae Perkins, founded the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation, where he serves as president emeritus. Perkins is also co-founder of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), promoting holistic community development, racial reconciliation, and Christian social action.
Rev. Ronald “Ron” C. Potter
is a theologian, historian, lecturer, and ordained minister specializing in the modern Black evangelical movement. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Interdenominational Theological Center and pursued doctoral studies in Theological Ethics at Drew University. Rev. Potter has taught and lectured at numerous institutions, including Harvard Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary, Covenant Theological Seminary, Morehouse College, and Vanderbilt University. He serves on the board of the National Black Evangelical Association and is a speaker with the John & Vera Mae Perkins Foundation. He resides in Jackson, Mississippi, and is active in the American Academy of Religion and the Obsidian Society.
Dr. Vanessa Wynder Quainoo
is a scholar and administrator at Wheaton College, where she serves as Chief Intercultural Engagement Officer and on the Senior Administrative Cabinet. In this role, she provides leadership in advancing biblical diversity and inclusion across campus, fostering racial unity, intercultural understanding, and inclusive pedagogy. Her work includes collaborating with faculty, staff, and students to integrate Christian faith with culturally responsive teaching, addressing issues of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic class. Dr. Quainoo holds a B.A. in Speech Communication from Wheaton College, a Master’s in Oral Performance from Western Illinois University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst. She previously served on Wheaton’s Board of Visitors from 2014 to 2018 and specializes in social rhetoric and race discourse.
Dr. Dwight A. Radcliff Jr.
is a pastor, theologian, and educator serving as academic dean and director of the William E. Pannell Center for Black Church Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He joined Fuller in 2019 as assistant professor of mission, theology, and culture and became academic dean of the Pannell Center in 2020. Dr. Radcliff earned his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Fuller Seminary, receiving awards including the Parish Pulpit Fellowship, Hooper/Keefe Preaching Award, Pannell Fellowship, and King Fellowship. He completed post-master’s studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and the University of Oxford. His dissertation, The Message: A Hip Hop Hermeneutic as a Missiological Model, has been published and presented widely. With over 20 years of pastoral experience, he serves as senior pastor of The Message Center in Gardena, California, alongside his wife, DeShun Jones-Radcliff. He has also taught at Vanguard University, Azusa Pacific University, and the Southern California School of Ministry, and lectures internationally on urban church planting, theology, preaching, and social justice. Previously, he served as a deputy and chaplain with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Dr. Soong-Chan Rah
is a theologian, educator, and pastor who joined Fuller Theological Seminary in 2021 as the Robert Boyd Munger Professor of Evangelism. Previously, he served as the Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary, focusing on multicultural ministry, church growth, and evangelism. He holds a Th.D. in theology and ethics (with a secondary focus in American evangelical history) from Duke Divinity School, an MDiv and DMin in urban ministry leadership from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a ThM from Harvard University, where he studied the immigrant church. Dr. Rah has authored or coauthored multiple award-winning books, including The Next Evangelicalism, Many Colors, Prophetic Lament, Return to Justice, Unsettling Truths, and Forgive Us. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church, he is a member of the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education, the American Academy of Religion, and the American Society of Missiology. He speaks widely on church witness, cross-cultural ministry, and social justice at conferences, seminaries, colleges, churches, and ministry gatherings worldwide.
Rev. Derrick Rollerson
is the founder and executive director of the Westlawn Youth Network (WYN) and serves as Executive Pastor of Weslawn Gospel Chapel in Chicago. Born in the North Lawndale community, where his parents helped plant Weslawn Gospel Chapel, he has deep roots in the neighborhood and a lifelong commitment to its youth. Pastor Rollerson has been in full-time ministry since 1980, beginning with six and a half years at Chicagoland Youth for Christ. In 1986, he became Youth Pastor at Westlawn Gospel Chapel, where he founded the Westlawn Youth Network. Since 1987, he has also served part-time with the Chicago Urban Reconciliation Enterprise (CURE). Married to Eilleen since 1981, they have raised three adult children and continue to serve the Lord together. Pastor Rollerson enjoys competitive table tennis, dominoes, and badminton.
Rev. Mark Soderquist is a pastor at Westlawn Gospel Chapel and board president of the Westlawn Youth Network. He earned a B.A. in Business Administration from Taylor University in 1980 and a Master’s in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton Graduate School in 1987. Mark served five years with Operation Mobilization, working in England, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan. In 1990, he founded Urban & Ethnic Ministries within International Teams, partnering with ethnic churches in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Boston, and Detroit. His work focuses on urban ministry, race, diversity, justice, poverty, and the role of the church in city contexts. He also serves on multiple nonprofit boards and a private foundation supporting minority-led urban nonprofits. Since 1990, Mark and his wife Jennifer, a singer, composer, worship leader, and college volleyball coach, have ministered in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. They have two sons and have led numerous international short-term mission trips to Central America, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and Hong Kong.
Rev. Tom Skinner
(1942–1994) was an American evangelist and author known for his dynamic preaching and leadership in urban ministry. The son of a Baptist pastor in Harlem, New York, Skinner spent part of his teen years as a member of a notorious Harlem street gang before becoming a Christian after hearing a radio preacher proclaim the gospel. He went on to found the Harlem Evangelistic Association and Tom Skinner Associates through which he gained a reputation as “the Black Billy Graham.” His books included provocative entries such as How Black Is the Gospel and the classic autobiography Black and Free. He reached diverse communities with his message of faith and empowerment. Rev. Skinner was widely recognized for his contributions to Christian education, church growth, and outreach programs before his death in 1994.
Kwame Ture; born Stokely Carmichael (1941–1998) was a Trinidadian-American activist and key figure in the U.S. civil rights and global pan-African movements. He moved to the United States at age 11 and became politically active while attending the Bronx High School of Science. Ture was a leader in the Black Power movement, serving with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party as “Honorary Prime Minister,” and the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party (A-APRP). He participated in the 1961 Freedom Rides, worked for voting rights in Mississippi and Alabama under mentors like Ella Baker and Bob Moses, and co-founded independent Black political organizations including the Lowndes County Freedom Organization. Inspired by Malcolm X, he popularized the philosophy of Black Power through speeches and writings.
Dr. Jemar Tisby
is a historian, author, and speaker focused on the history of racism and the church in America, holding a Ph.D. in history from the University of Mississippi. He is the founder of The Witness: A Black Christian Collective and has written widely on racial justice, reconciliation, and the intersection of faith and culture. His bestselling books include The Color of Compromise, How to Fight Racism, and The Spirit of Justice. Learn more about him at jemartisby.com.
Rev. Brandon Washington
grew up in Dallas, Texas, and holds M.A. degrees in Systematic Theology and Apologetics & Ethics from Denver Seminary. He serves as a pastor at Embassy Christian Bible Church with a focus on community, discipleship, and missional living. He and his wife, Cheri, have two children, Reese and Ellis. He is the author of A Burning House: Redeeming American Evangelicalism by Examining Its History, Mission, and Message.
C. Jeffrey Wright
is CEO of Urban Ministries, Inc. (UMI), a leading African American Christian media and publishing company serving churches and denominations that was founded by Melvin Banks in 1970. Wright oversees UMI’s widely used commentary and teaching resources and serves on several nonprofit and academic boards. Previously, he held senior leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers Squibb. He is a contributing author to Non Profit Leadership in a For Profit World and Chasing Paper and lives in Chicago with his wife, Lakita Garth Wright.
Casper John “Jack” Wyrtzen
(1913-1996) was an American evangelist, youth ministry leader, and radio broadcaster from Queens, New York. He founded the Word of Life Fellowship, a global evangelical organization focused on youth outreach, Bible camps, and international missions. Wyrtzen was known for his dynamic preaching, large-scale youth rallies, and leadership in developing Christian educational programs, leaving a lasting impact on evangelical youth ministry in the United States and abroad.
Malcolm X
(1925–1965) was an African American Muslim minister, human rights activist, and prominent leader in the civil rights movement. He advocated for Black empowerment, self-determination, and the promotion of social and economic justice for African Americans. Initially a leader in the Nation of Islam, he later embraced Sunni Islam and a global perspective on racial justice. Malcolm X became an enduring symbol of resistance against racial oppression and remains one of the most influential figures in 20th-century American history.