The Abingdon Creative Preaching Annual 2015
Jenee Woodard is the creator of “The Text This Week,” an online lectionary, worship, and scripture study resources index. She lives in Jackson, Michigan.Dan R. Dick (Nashville, Tenn.) is the Research Coordinator for The General Board of Discipleship of The United Methodist Church. Among the books he has written areRevolutionizing Christian Stewardship for the 21st Century,Equipped for Every Good Work: Building a Gifts-based Church(with Barbara Dick),Beyond Money: Becoming Good and Faithful Stewards, andVital Signs: A Pathway to Congregational Wholeness. A sought-after speaker and consultant in leadership development and strategic planning, Dan works with annual conferences and congregations across the United Methodist connection as well as a wide variety ecumenical groups.Dr. Rev. Safiyah Fosua has roots in bothKansasandOklahoma.  Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois; a Master of Divinity degree from Oral Roberts Seminary inTulsa,Oklahoma; and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the United Theological Seminary of Dayton, Ohio, in Afrocentric Pastoring and Preaching.  Safiyah writes weekly lectionary-based preaching helps and articles for the General Board of Discipleship’s worship web page and has written for Upper Room publications, Cokesbury’s Daily Bible Study, Urban Ministries, Inc., and contributed to the Women of Color Study Bible.   Among her published works are Mother Wit: 365 Meditations for African-American Women (1996), Jesus and Prayer (2002), and a tract titled Learning New Habits (2005).  Safiyah also served as the associate editor of the Africana Worship Book, series (2006-2008) and the Companion to the Africana Worship Book (2008).   Currently, Safiyah is a member of the Africana Hymnal Study Committee for theUnitedMethodistChurchand a writing coach for GBOD’s Open Source Liturgy Project empowering writers to produce ecumenically-grounded contextual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic liturgies for use in local church worship. Dr. Fosua is a clergy member of the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.  Her pastoral experience includes ministry in the large downtown church, the unique ministry of the rural circuit, and the ministry challenges of the small inner-city congregation.  Safiyah Fosua is married to Rev. Dr. Kwasi I. Kena. Prior to her current appointment as Director of Preaching Ministries for  the General Board of Discipleship, Safiyah and her husband, Kwasi, spent a number of years as missionaries inGhana,West Africa. The couple has two adult sons, and two grandchildren.Dr. Kwasi Issa Kena has taught numerous collegiate courses in communication, social science, and religion, and has written curriculum resources for Urban Ministries Inc. Dr. Kena and his wife, Dr. Safiyah Fosua (author of Mother Wit), formerly served as missionaries to Ghana, West Africa and were jointly appointed to start an African-American United Methodist Church in Waterloo, Iowa, which became the Jubilee United Methodist Church.Linda Lee is a  graduate of United Theological Seminary (M. Div. and D. Min.). She made history in 2000 when she was the first African American woman to be elected bishop in the North Central Jurisdiction. Lee was elected on July 14, 2000, in Middleton, Wisconsin, and was assigned to her home area of Michigan, an unusual action that had not occurred for 40 years and required special action of the jurisdictional conference. After one quadrennium of service in Michigan, Lee was assigned to the Wisconsin Area in 2004.Lee served as chair of the Black Clergywomen of the United Methodist Church (1996-98) and has been a member of a number of annual conference committees, including the Board of Ordained Ministry. She has served as a speaker for numerous schools, retreats and conferences and is a two-time delegate to General Conference. She is a contributing writer in several publications and has served as an adjunct professor of spirituality at Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit.She will retire from the episcopacy in September 2012 and will join Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary as Bishop-in-Residence starting in March 2013.The Marbury E. Anderson Associate Professor of Biblical Preaching, and Director, The Center for Biblical Preaching, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MNMary J. Scifres serves as a consultant in leadership, worship, and evangelism from her home in Laguna Beach, California, where she and her husband, B. J., reside with their son Michael. Her books includeThe Abingdon Worship Annual, The United Methodist Music and Worship Plannerand its ecumenical counterpart Prepare!, and the worship evangelism book Searching for Seekers.Mark W. Stamm is Assistant Professor of Christian Worship at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.