Attending Following Christ 2008 gives you an unparalleled opportunity to hear from world-class thinkers and practitioners from a range of disciplines — and to join with 1,500 other delegates in powerful worship. Here are the names and faces we’ll see at the podium in our plenary sessions.

Plenary Speakers

Anne C. Bailey (MP3 audio download), a social historian in the departments of History and Africana Studies at SUNY Binghamton, is dedicated to the study of African American history and African Diaspora Studies. Her research has centered on the history of the Atlantic slave trade and its impact on Africa and its worldwide diaspora. Her books include African Voices of the Atlantic Slave Trade: Beyond the Silence and the Shame, which looks at memories of the slave trade from the African perspective, and two works of historical fiction for children. Born in Jamaica, her work has been informed by extended stays in Paris, London, and West Africa. After immigrating to New York City, she studied at Harvard University and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. (Sources: annecbailey.com and SUNY-Binghamton.)

Carmen Acevedo Butcher (MP3 audio download) is an associate professor of English and Scholar-in-Residence at Shorter College in Rome, Georgia, and the author of books, articles, and lectures on medieval literature, Christian mystics, and linguistics. Her books include God of Mercy: Ælfric’s Sermons and Theology; A Little Daily Wisdom (formerly Incandescence: 365 Readings with Women Mystics), Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader, and Man of Blessing: A Life of St. Benedict; and Problems in the Origins and Development of the English Language and Answer Key (with John Algeo). Dr. Butcher was the 2006 Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year for Georgia and has been a Fulbright scholar and lecturer twice. She has met Queen Elizabeth and looks forward to meeting you. (Source: carmenbutcher.com.)

Francis Collins (MP3 audio download) is the former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. He led the successful effort to complete the Human Genome Project. Dr. Collins received a B.S. from the University of Virginia, a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University, and an M.D. from the University of North Carolina. Following a fellowship in Human Genetics at Yale, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan, where he remained until moving to NIH in 1993. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. On November 5, 2007, Collins received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civil award, for his revolutionary contributions to genetic research. (Source: NHGRI.)

Andy Crouch (MP3 audio download) (M.Div., Boston University School of Theology) is editorial director of the Christian Vision Project at Christianity Today International. He served as executive producer for the documentary films Where Faith and Culture Meet and Round Trip. He also sits on the editorial board for Books & Culture and has been a columnist for Christianity Today. His writing has appeared in several editions of The Best Christian Writing and The Best Spiritual Writing. He was editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly and for ten years served as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard University. A classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz, and gospel, Crouch has also led musical worship for congregations of 5 to 20,000. (Source: InterVarsity Press.)

MaryKate Morse (MP3 audio download) is a professor of leadership and spiritual formation and the director of strategic planning and of hybrid and special programs at George Fox University Seminary. She holds the B.S. degree in English and Secondary Education, Longwood University; M.A. in Biblical Studies and M.Div., Western Evangelical Seminary (now George Fox Evangelical Seminary); and Ph.D. in Leadership, Gonzaga University. A recorded Quaker minister and a trained spiritual director, Morse has expertise and research interests in healthy spiritual leadership, leadership development and formation, deep change processes in individuals and in groups, power and influence, team and gender issues, spiritual direction, and prayer. (Source: George Fox University.)

Jeff Van Duzer (MP3 audio download) serves as the dean of the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University and associate professor of business ethics and business law. Prior to this appointment, Jeff was a partner with the international law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, where he practiced for more than 20 years, concentrating in commercial finance and natural resources. Jeff received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, majoring in rhetoric, and received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School. Jeff is married to Margie Van Duzer and has two sons, Andrew and Nate.

N. T. Wright (MP3 audio download one, two, and three) is Bishop of Durham and former Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey and dean of Lichfield Cathedral. He taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities. Wright’s full-scale works The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, and The Resurrection of the Son of God are part of a projected six-volume series entitled Christian Origins and the Question of God. His four addresses at Following Christ 1998 became The Challenge of Jesus and are available as free MP3 downloads (along with the rest of the FC98 and FC02 plenary addresses). (Source: InterVarsity Press.)

Worship Leader

Brian Moss is the Director of Worship, Music, and the Arts at John Knox Presbyterian Church in Seattle, Washington. He has been writing, recording, and performing music for over fifteen years and has toured with Michael Card, Jeff Johnson, and others. His most recent CD is a recording of old hymns to new music entitled, Not What My Hands Have Done. He is currently continuing work on the Prayerbook Project, a collection of new songs inspired by the Psalms. The first installment, Prayerbook, No. 1, contains songs from Psalms 1-15 and are available for download at his site.

Worship Band

Jeff Brumley – bass
Darren Horn – keyboards
Judy Lee – cello
Jeffrey McCormack – drums
Molly McCue – vocals
Mark Mohrlang – vocals and guitar
Brian Moss – vocals and piano
AnnaMaria Pasley – vocals

Emcee

Kathy Tuan-MacLean is the mother of three “tweens” and wife to one husband. In her free time, she also serves as the Area Director for InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries in Boston. She took the nine-year route to earn a Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Human Development and Social Policy, delivering her first baby thirteen days after turning in the final draft of her dissertation on interracial friendships. The main purpose of this achievement has been to give her great empathy for doctoral students, with whom she has worked for eleven years at Harvard. Her main hobby has been attempting to write a spiritual memoir for the past five years, and her main addiction is decaf non-fat peppermint mochas from an unnamed coffee conglomerate.