We’re familiar with water as an essential and defining feature of baptism, yet few baptismal theologies treat it like an active participant in the sacrament. For the most part, water’s role would only be noteworthy in its absence (while I’ve been in many worships that used different communion elements, I’ve never seen someone get baptized with anything else). For soon-to-be-Dr. Kristen Daley Mosier, however, this oversight disregards the sacredness of water within the ritual and contributes to theologies that diminish its worth in the rest of our lives. “As I was studying baptismal theology, it started to dawn on me that it’s all about water and yet, we’re not talking about particular waters,” the graduating Ph.D. student tells me. “I started to wonder: Why is that? And what happens when we do talk about particular waters?”

To investigate this further, she wrote her dissertation, Led Down into the Streams: a Baptismal Journey through Water and Spirit,” examining baptismal theology through a watershed lens, a process that opened new frontiers for both her understanding of the sacrament and appreciation of our ecological interconnectedness. “The work of Ched Meyers Watershed Discipleship came into play in asking, ‘What role does water play?” she says. “Not just sacramentally, but also ecologically and possibly even subjectively, as we see a shift from thinking of nature as inanimate to considering it through the notion of subjectivity—that we are partnering with water to bring persons into the community of Christ and into the Church.”

 While some of these philosophical dimensions may be new, honoring water is not. “The earliest existing treatise we have was written by Tertullian,” she notes. “In it, water has this beautiful, expansive role—at one point he stops himself because he’s been talking about water so much and says, ‘Oh, but I’m not writing a theology of water,’ before I go too far with that let’s return to Jesus.’” In short order, however, the holiness of water was downplayed and diminished. “By the time Ambrose is writing, he’s saying that only water that has been consecrated can be used for baptism,” she explains. “there’s a complete separation of the waters for everyday use and for religious use—a separation we’ve inherited, made worse by the Enlightenment and many of our modern thinkers.”

While there’s nothing wrong with ritual blessing, or consecrating baptismal waters, treating ordinary water as if it were profane carries significant ecological risk. “When we minimize elements of creation within our worship spaces, we risk devaluing them altogether,” Daley Mosier explains. In the Bible, we read that water is present in God’s very act of creation. It is an integral part of creating and sustaining life in a theological sense, in addition to the quite literal one. When governments and/or corporations abuse the watershed, God’s people suffer. And that harm affects the baptismal act, too.

As part of her studies at Garrett, Daley– Mosier worked with Dr. Andrew Wymer to interview pastors in Flint, Michigan about how baptismal practices were impacted by the Flint Water Crisis. “We asked the question: Would you ever consider baptizing using water from the Flint river?” she remembers. “Very quickly they said ‘No,’ and there was usually a bit of a chortle with the ‘No,’” as if the idea of baptizing people in the community’s natural water was absurd. These issues of environmental racism and ecological injustice are too often absent in scholarly work where they should be present. “I’m reading re-wilding conversations and all this ecotheology that says, ‘let’s take our sacraments back outdoors,” she notes. “Then I hear the Flint clergy saying, ‘Our people would never get baptized in the Flint River because it has a storied history of being very unclean.’ It’s haunting.’”

                  Ultimately part of the work to prevent future water crises is reestablishing relationship with local watersheds. It’s a relationship to which Daley Mosier became increasingly aware throughout this academic journey. “One of the things about doing a watershed-oriented research project is that I realized just how connected I am to my own watershed—it was a primary reason that my spouse and I moved back to Seattle after I did my coursework,” she says. “My dad was a fisheries consultant, and so I grew up checking stream habitat for fish, traipsing along behind him looking for frogs.” A glow spreads across her face alongside the memory, the contentment of someone who hears and knows her call. In addition to working with two local churches, she is connecting with Earth Ministry / Washington Interfaith Power & Light to use her theological training and find ways to serve with them, and others, in advocating for environmental justice. “I know it will be a quilted career,” she says with a smile. “This is what it means to do theology in place.”

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Adriana (Dri) Rivera, M.Div. is an educator with a love for the stories of the city and her people. She earned a Bachelors in Secondary English Education from Indiana University Bloomington in 2016. A lifelong learner, Dri was a 7th grade English teacher in East Chicago, Indiana for five years, as well as a lay leader in children’s and youth ministry. Raised in the Puerto Rican Pentecostal church (IDDPMI), she inherited a strong passion for Scripture and service, as well as a sensitivity to the activity of the Holy Spirit. Adriana began her seminary journey at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago through the Certificate in Latinx Theology and Ministry. There she was able to take bilingual courses that were available to Latinx clergy and lay leaders who might not have had access to the traditional seminary experience. She has also hosted and attended workshops on community organizing, international missions, mental health, and integrating technology into the church experience. Her academic journey continued into the Master of Divinity program, which she earned in May 2021. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Christian Education and Congregational Studies with concentrations in Latina feminist theology and critical pedagogy. As a poet and part of the Puerto Rican diaspora, Adriana is interested in how language and stories (testimonios) can be used for decolonial and life-giving purposes in classrooms, congregations and communities.

Papers and Publications

“Virtualizing the Church: Why Aren’t People Connecting?”
In this workshop, participants were invited to design original asset maps to identify personal, spatial, physical, and technical resources that churches have used to facilitate their virtual endeavors. The session included a large group lecture and small group reflective conversations via Zoom. Participants were able to share resources and commitments that were developed throughout the series.

“Why Are There Bodies in the River? Faith-Based Community Organizing”
In this workshop, participants were introduced to the basic tenets and movements of faith-based organizing. They were then invited to describe the strengths and pain points of their communities while analyzing power structures in those same spaces. Participants then created action steps using SMART goals to address pain points.

Listen to “The Girl Became Flesh” (May 2020) on YouTube 
This poem reimagines Proverbs 8, Genesis 1 and John 1 with a feminist focus, celebrating women as light and life bearers in a world where women’s bodies are often commodified and consumed. This poem was included in McCormick’s “Divine Wisdom Festival” in the summer of 2020 as an example of alternative methods of proclamation.

Listen to “Races, Raíces” (October 2020) on YouTube 
Written for Hispanic Heritage Month, my favorite line is “I am more than a conqueror” which not only acknowledges my theological convictions but also acknowledges the decolonial identity work I do every day as I wrestle with my Puerto Rican heritage; a beautiful mix of indigenous Taino, African human trafficking survivors, and European colonizers. I am more than the colorist and racist beliefs that still infiltrate Latinx culture and even Latinx churches.

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Tasha Mitchell was born and raised in a sunny beach community in Southern California but has spent the past 17 years living throughout the United States. She is a two-time alumna of Howard University, where she earned a B.S. in Psychology and an M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology. While she developed a robust professional career primarily in child advocacy and public service, she has also served for over 13 years in various church leadership roles.

In yielding to her pastoral calling, Tasha completed her M.Div. at Vanderbilt Divinity School with a triple concentration in Religion and Economic Justice, Spirituality and Social Activism, and Black Religion and Culture Studies. She also earned the Kelly Miller Smith Institute Certificate in Black Church Studies. Her current research interest seeks to explore the deleterious role of capitalism in Western Christianity, elucidate the immense suffering this relationship has caused, and create a moral imperative for Christians to divest from this system. Tasha’s ultimate vocational aspiration is to pursue the scholar-practitioner model. She desires to develop her craft as a public theologian and pursue justice-seeking, community-driven ministry that is culturally sensitive, relevant, ethical, equitable, and sustainable.

At the present time, Tasha resides in the vibrant Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago, IL. She enjoys traveling, watching sports, spending time outdoors, entertaining, eating good cuisine, and being creative in the kitchen. Tasha is also a huge fan of all things DIY.

Papers and Publications

Mitchell, L.N. (2007). “Drugs, sex, and alcohol: A comparative review of contemporary college trends and the private morality of christian students.” Howard University Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program Journal of Research, 12, 47-50.

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Born in Detroit, Michigan, Emanuel was acutely aware of his exile from Puerto Rico from an early age. He grew an awareness of his double mestizaje as one who was neither completely from the United States or the Island. This experience as part of the Puerto Rican diaspora is central to Emanuel’s research and ministry interests. He is pursuing doctoral studies to construct a theology of mestizaje that recaptures the history of colonization, reshapes conceptions of metiza/o identity, and informs ecclesial pursuits of justice. Emanuel’s desire is to serve the Church through non-traditional educational ministries. He does this as founder and president of World Outspoken and co-host of the Mestizo Podcast. Prior to enrolling at Garrett, Emanuel was a professor of theology at Moody Bible Institute, where he taught courses both on campus and online. He completed his MA in Systematic Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, with a thesis titled “Seeking Zion: The Gospel and the City We Make.” In his thesis, Emanuel studied the theological assumptions that shaped the 1909 Plan of Chicago. This plan served as an examples of how visions of the built environment shape the material conditions in which people live their lives. Emanuel’s interests continue to be shaped by his personal story and previous academic experiences.

Papers and Publications

“Doing Urban Ministry,” One Volume Seminary, Moody Publishers, forthcoming

“In the Heights and the Hope of Exiles,” Think Christian, July 2021 

“Erasing Afro-Latinos part 1 & 2,” World Outspoken, September 2020  & 

“Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies Book Review,” International Journal of Christianity and English Language Teaching (IJC&ELT, ISSN 2334-1866, online), Biola University, June 2018

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Andrea Clark Horton is a gifted teacher, speaker and pastoral counselor whose passion is equipping and empowering God’s people to live triumphant lives. Andrea currently serves as Staff Chaplain for Women’s Health at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Her work with women in this setting has introduced Andrea to a passion for researching and understanding what role narrative and storytelling play in black women’s overall health and how it may contribute to treatment for emotional distress and anxiety related illnesses.

​​Prior to her work as a chaplain, Andrea worked as the director of an outreach program to homeless and otherwise disconnected young adults in the Rogers Park and Edgewater areas of Chicago and in the northern suburb of Evanston, Illinois. Andrea spent the first decade of her post-graduate career as an attorney for the Chicago Board of Education. She is a past recipient of the National Bar Association’s Nation’s Best Advocates: 40 Under 40 Award.

​Andrea earned her Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies with a minor in Women’s Studies from Oberlin College in 1998 and went on to earn a Juris Doctor from Loyola University Chicago in 2003. She earned her Master of Divinity with a concentration in Urban Ministry from 91PORN in 2016. She is the mother of an awesome 7 year-old son, Grant Clark Horton. She makes her home in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago.

Papers and Publications

“Rewriting Herstory: Narrative and Storytelling as Vehicles for Creating Healthy Self-Objects in African American Women,” March 2019. Research presentation to the American Academy of Religion/Southwest Commission on Religious Studies Regional Conference.

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Yichen Liang is a PhD student in Biblical Studies, concentrating on the New Testament. Born and raised in Beijing, China, she received a bachelor’s degree in English and International Studies from China Foreign Affairs University. She then received her Master of Divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology and the Master of Theological Studies from 91PORN. She continues her doctoral studies at Garrett-Evangelical in Biblical Studies, focusing on the New Testament. Her research interests include the Johannine literature, particularly the Gospel of John and its reception history, metaphorical expressions, and the cross-cultural interpretation of the New Testament from her Chinese perspective. Her master’s thesis discussed the metaphor of light in the Gospel of John in dialogue with the Chinese classic text, Zhuangzi.

Papers and Publications

“A Metaphorical and Cross-Cultural Reading on the Metaphor of Light in the Gospel of John and the Zhuangzi.” MTS Thesis, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2020.

Presentations

“The White Aesthetics in the Skin-Whitening Phenomenon among Korean and Chinese Women,” Pacific Asian North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry, Methodist Theological School of Ohio. Columbus, OH, March 2017.

“Whitened Faces: A Historical and Theological Analysis of Skin-Whitening among Korean and Chinese Women,” Duke Graduate Conference in Theology, Duke University, NC, September 2016.

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Susanna has been known to refer to herself as an “accidental Wesleyan” and could perhaps add “unanticipated Church historian” to that description as well. In 2015, she stumbled across 91PORN, as if by random chance, during a visit to Chicago from England. She felt a stirring in her spirit, and to cut a long story short, five years later Susanna graduated with a Master of Divinity degree and a 3.94 GPA. In a manner reminiscent of John Wesley’s own “reasonable enthusiasm,” and his theology on providence in particular, Susanna believes God has weaved the unexpected educational path that led her to the research areas of Wesleyan pneumatology and the 18th century Evangelical revivals. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, Susanna’s undergraduate degree in political studies is from Cardiff University. If that were not already an unusual starting point for a Church historian, her educational background also detoured via a Post-graduate Certification in Education, qualifying her to teach Mathematics to 11-18 year-olds. Interspersed with various endeavors in Christian ministry – including work in evangelism through the arts and community theatre – Susanna’s unconventional journey to doctoral studies is a testament to her transferable skill set, diverse life experience, and adventurously expectant approach to discernment. Susanna hopes that her work will add to the academy by broadening the research into historical movements of the Holy Spirit. Even more so, however, she is passionate about serving the Church. If we are moving into – indeed, in the midst of – a new era of reformations, Christian theology is evolving. Perhaps, as Medieval mystic Joachim of Fiore predicted, we are leaving a bi-millennial emphasis on God the Son, and heading into a two-thousand-year period where primacy in worship is toward God the Spirit. In any case, greater understanding of the Holy Spirit can only help to strengthen and prepare the Church for all God has in store. Susanna is excited to be a part of that ministry.

Papers and Publications

Love the Sinner (2020)

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Myron Krys (pronounced “Chris”) Florence is a native of Decatur, Georgia. He earned his bachelor of fine arts from the Art Institute of Atlanta in interactive media and then pursued his first masters from Savannah College of Art and Design also in interactive media. From there, he received two additional masters, a master of divinity and a master of arts in practical theology with a concentration in pastoral care from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia, where he graduated with honors and received the seminary’s highest award, the Harvard A. Anderson Graduate Fellowship, as well as the Buechner Award in Preaching. His honor’s project/master thesis, entitled, “Seek Justice: How the Prophetic Preaching of Martin Luther King, Jr. Can Speak to African American Churches Today,” sought to call socially inactive churches into action for African Americans, connecting faith to social justice. His current research interests include finding ways to help people who have been traumatized in the church heal from harmful theologies.

When he is not studying, Myron Krys is a singer/recording artist and a member of Toastmasters International, where he perfects his speaking and leadership skills. He enjoys every element of art from fine art and design to acting and performance. He is currently pursuing ordination in The United Methodist Church.

Papers and Publications

Author, I Love Me: Learning to Love the Me I See in the Mirror (Six Week Bible Study), 2017.

“Wednesday, December 16, 2015: Psalm 147:1-11” in The Journey, 2015 Advent Devotional (Columbia Theological Seminary)

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Marshaé grew up in the Pacific Northwest among the evergreens and mountains but is currently living in Chicagoland. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Willamette University double majoring in Psychology and Spanish. Marshaé spent 11 years in college campus ministry engaging in spiritual care and leadership development among students of color. Later, Marshaé completed a Master in Theological Studies with an emphasis in Religion, Personality and Culture, graduating with Honors and as a member of Theta Alpha Kappa National Honors society for Religious Studies and Theology. She is currently working on a PhD in Pastoral Theology with a focus on Decolonial projects of spiritual care for Black queer femme identified people. She is interested in the topic of religious syncretism or queering religion, resiliency, and cohesive self-identity. Additionally, she is being trained as a clinical therapist, with an emphasis on spiritually integrated care for LGBTQIA people of color. In her free time, Marshaé is making travel plans, catching a show with her partner, painting, or maintaining her balcony garden. Marshaé considers herself a nature connected, body positive, artist, theologian. Marshaé is passionate about the thriving of marginalized people. She hopes for people to be celebrated, in every ethnicity, ability, gender, sexuality, and body shape, as image bearers of an immensely creative God.

Papers and Publications

In Search of our Authentic Selves: The Impact of the Strong Black Woman Image on Black Millennial Women’s Relationships, Coping and Authenticity – A Thesis

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Kristen Daley Mosier completed her MDiv at Fuller Seminary Northwest (Seattle) in 2012, and holds a BA in art history from Western Washington University. Based in the Pacific Northwest, her research interests explore intersections of creation, spirit, materiality, and place. She is particularly interested in developing a theology of water that connects persons, places, and the experience of baptism through the life of the Holy Spirit. Kristen lives in the Seattle area with her spouse, with whom she serves the community of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, located in the Cedar River Watershed.

Papers and Publications

“Sacramental Tensions in the Columbia River Watershed: Toward a Bioregional Ethic,” Religion and Ecology section at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, 2018.

“Voicing All Our Praise: Vineyard and Musical Communities of Practice” in Liturgy 33, no. 4 (2018).

“No-No Boys Don’t Make Us Remember,” Theology and Philosophy of Religion section at the Pacific Northwest American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting, Parkland, Washington, 2018.

A review of Andy Park, Lester Ruth, and Cindy Rethmeier, Worshiping with the Anaheim Vineyard: the Emergence of Contemporary Worship in Pneuma 39, no. 3 (2017): 379-381.

“What Are We Waiting For? Deconstructing What Is to Come, and Asking Who Is to Come, as a Basis of Eschatological Anticipation,” Theology and Philosophy of Religion section at the Pacific Northwest American Academy of Religion Regional Meeting, Seattle, Washington, 2013.

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