The daughter of a foreign correspondent, Kate Braestrup spent her childhood in Algiers, New York City, Paris, Bangkok, Washington, DC and Sabillasville, Maryland. Educated at the Parsons School of Design, the New School and Georgetown University, Kate has her master’s degree from Bangor Theological Seminary and has received honorary doctorates from Unity College and Husson University.
Kate married Trooper James Andrew “Drew” Griffith in 1985. Trooper Griffith was killed in the line of duty in 1996 in a car accident, leaving Kate a widow with four young children.
In 1997, Kate entered Seminary and was ordained as a community minister in 2004. Since 2001, she has served as chaplain to the Maine Warden Service, joining game wardens as they search the wild lands and fresh waters of Maine for those who have lost their way, and offering comfort to those who wait for the ones they love to be rescued.
Kate is the bestselling author of the award-winning Here If You Need Me (Little-Brown, 2006) named one of TIME Magazine’s ten best books of 2006, and Marriage and Other Acts of Charity (Little-Brown, 2009), Beginner’s Grace (Simon and Schuster, 2010) and Anchor & Flares (Little-Brown, 2015). Her work has appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times Sunday Magazine, More, O (the Oprah Magazine) and Good Housekeeping. She has told stories for PBS’ The Moth, gave a TED talk, and she is a sought-after public speaker around the country and abroad. Kate is the devoted grandmother to five grandchildren and four step-grandchildren.

Reverend Dr. Heber Brown, III has been an ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus for more than twenty years. He’s served multiple congregations including fourteen years as senior pastor of Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He’s been blessed to preach across the country and is equally known for his commitment to living the gospel in the public square. Rev. Brown believes deeply in the ministry of social justice; having established multiple organizations that address youth development, food security, the prison industrial complex and more. God has blessed him to teach at many universities and receive various awards in recognition of his service to God and community. Rev. Brown earned his B.S. degree in Psychology from Morgan State University, a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Union University and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He serves on numerous boards including Bread For The World, Black Farmer Fund and Future Harvest. Rev. Brown has garnered numerous awards and is the author of the forthcoming book, Nothing More Sacred: Radical Stories Of Black Church Faith, Food and Freedom

Diana Butler Bass, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and commentator on religion and contemporary spirituality. Her latest book, A Beautiful Year, won the 2026 Wilbur Prize, her unprecedented third.
Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world—from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, and entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, to writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently. She does this with intelligence, joy, and a good dose of humor as noted by Glennon Doyle, John Fugelsang and the late Marcus Borg among other admirers.
Diana is the author of twelve books, and her bylines include The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, The Atlantic, USA Today, Huffington Post, Spirituality and Health, Reader’s Digest, Christian Century, and Sojourners. She has been seen on CBS, CNN, PBS, NPR, CBC, FOX, Sirius XM, and in TIME, Newsweek and Rolling Stone among many international outlets. Her weekly religion column (1993-2003) was distributed nationally by The New York Times Syndicate. Diana currently co-hosts “The Convocation Unscripted,” a podcast on religion and politics, and writes The Cottage, a top-five Substack newsletter in “Faith & Spirituality.”
Diana holds a doctorate in religious studies from Duke University and her work has received numerous awards across many organizations and universities including Publishers Weekly’s Best Religion Book of the Year. She and her husband live in Alexandria, Virginia, with their dog, Paddy, and their sometimes-successful backyard garden.

free

The Rev. Dr. Scott Black Johnston is senior pastor of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, NY. He previously served as pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA, and is a former professor of homiletics at Austin (TX) Theological Seminary.

Scott holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He co-authored Theology for Preaching: Authority, Truth and Knowledge of God in a Postmodern Ethos (Abingdon Press, 1997) and has numerous other published articles, sermons, and chapters in books. Scott is a frequent preacher on Day1 Radio (formerly The Protestant Hour) and at various church conferences around the country. He and his wife Amy, a nurse practitioner, have been married for two decades and are the parents of Izzy and Ollie.

Margaret Grun Kibben, DMin, is Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives. She was the U.S. Navy’s 26th Chief of Chaplains, serving as the director of religious ministry for the Department of the Navy, advising the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard on all matters pertaining to religion in their respective services. She led a community of 2,500 active and reserve officers and enlisted religious ministry professionals. Prior to this assignment, Chaplain Kibben served as the 18th Chaplain of the Marine Corps and Deputy Chief of Chaplains.
A native of Warrington, Pennsylvania, and an ordained Presbyterian minister, Kibben earned degrees from Goucher College, Princeton Theological Seminary, the Naval War College, and was a senior fellow of the United States Institute of Peace. Her assignments included the U.S. Naval Academy, the USS San Diego, U.S. 3rd Fleet, and service in Afghanistan, as well as multiple roles with the Marine Corps. Her personal awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Navy Commendation Medal. Upon her retirement from active duty, Kibben established Virtue In Practice, LLC, a business dedicated to moral, ethical, and spiritual executive leader advisement. She also served as a consultant to the Department of the Navy’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

Margaret Grun Kibben, DMin, is Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives. She was the U.S. Navy’s 26th Chief of Chaplains, serving as the director of religious ministry for the Department of the Navy, advising the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard on all matters pertaining to religion in their respective services. She led a community of 2,500 active and reserve officers and enlisted religious ministry professionals. Prior to this assignment, Chaplain Kibben served as the 18th Chaplain of the Marine Corps and Deputy Chief of Chaplains.
A native of Warrington, Pennsylvania, and an ordained Presbyterian minister, Kibben earned degrees from Goucher College, Princeton Theological Seminary, the Naval War College, and was a senior fellow of the United States Institute of Peace. Her assignments included the U.S. Naval Academy, the USS San Diego, U.S. 3rd Fleet, and service in Afghanistan, as well as multiple roles with the Marine Corps. Her personal awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Navy Commendation Medal. Upon her retirement from active duty, Kibben established Virtue In Practice, LLC, a business dedicated to moral, ethical, and spiritual executive leader advisement. She also served as a consultant to the Department of the Navy’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.