National Director: Dr. Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D.
Drew University Theological School
12 Campus Drive, Madison, NJ 07940
Phone: (973) 408-3848
Dr. Michael J. Christensen (M.A., Yale, Ph.D., Drew), is the National Director of the Shalom Initiative and Affiliate Associate Professor of Spirituality at Drew University. Formerly Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Drew (1996-2007), he teaches courses in spirituality and social justice in the College and Theological School. An ordained United Methodist minister in the California-Nevada Annual Conference, he has published more than a dozen books and many articles. Dr. Christensen is a certified field traumatologist (International Traumatology Institute,
University of South Florida) with expertise in urban ministry, disaster response, international community development, and community mental health. In recent years, he designed and implemented a psycho-social training program for Chernobyl victims in Belarus and Ukraine (World Vision and USAID), a train-the-trainer program for “Family Coping Skills” seminars in the aftermath of September 11 (Greater New Jersey Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church), and a pastoral and congregational care training program in response to HIV/AIDS in Malawi, Africa (CitiHope International). He lives with his wife, Rev. Rebecca Laird, and their two teenage daughters in Madison,
New Jersey.Associate Director: Annie Allen, MPA, M.Div.
Drew University Theological School
12 Campus Drive, Madison, NJ 07940
Phone: (973) 408-3848
Annie has had a life-long calling for social justice and especially the improvement of race relations and religious pluralism. She brings 30 years of experience in higher education, government and community organizing in the areas of civil rights, multicultural education, inter-faith dialogue and human relations. She is proud mother of Gregory age 24 and Jeffrey age 22. She lives in Pompton Lakes NJ, with her Mom Nancy.Sr. Program Associate: Mr. Will Dent (NCJ)
701 Stone Crossing St. NE, Canton, OH 44726 Phone: (330) 455-6385, Fax: (330) 455-3913 Will Dent serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association for Better
Community Development, Inc. (Better known as ABCD, Inc.), a 34 year old faith based Community Development Corporation based in Canton, Ohio, and related to the United Methodist Church. He serves as a Training Consultant in Economic Development and Fundraising with the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church and is a member of the Training Faculty of the Communities of Shalom Initiative. Topics include:fund development; churches forming non-profit corporations;strategic planning & social entreprenuership to name a few. Formerly he represented the Midwest area on the Board of Directors of the National Community Economic Development.Sr. Program Associate: Rev. Dr. J-P Duncan
c/o Communities of Shalom 327 Twelfth Ave. Scranton, PA 18504
J-P is Communities of Shalom coordinator in the Wyoming Annual Conference, and
pastor of the Abbott United Methodist Church in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He has helped to organize two non-profit Shalom teams in Pennsylvania: the Methodist Urban Ministries, in Wilkes-Barre, and the Shalom Community Development Corporation of Greater Scranton – the latter of which he is President and CEO. As a consultant for the General Board of Global Ministries he has led workshops or trained Shalom teams in Texas, Missouri, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York. He has received specialized training in: Community Economic Development from the NeighborWorks® Training Institute; Dismantling White Privilege, from Huperetai; and Religious Resources and Roadblocks to Addressing Domestic Violence from the FaithTrust Institute. He is presently working on his doctoral thesis at Drew: Using the Narrative Approach to Provide a Conceptual Tool for Interfaith Ministry.National Trainer: Amy Moritz, MBA, MAR
Center for Transforming Communities 258 N. Merton, Memphis, TN 38112Amy is the Director of the Center for Transforming Communities (CTC) in Memphis, TN. The Center for Transforming Communities exists to foster, embody and promote the values, principles and practices that contribute to the emergence of God’s gift of shalom, experienced as a holistic, healing and distinctly alternative culture, in the heart of diverse neighborhoods and communities across the Memphis Metro area. Amy spent the first half of her career life in a Fortune 100 corporation and the second half has been spent in the field of faith-based community economic development. Her experience includes workforce development, community credit union, microenterprise, community land trusts, and healthcare for the underinsured. Her specialties are fund development and the formation of new initiatives. Amy is most drawn to work with groups of people who are faithfully discerning the new thing to which God is calling them. Building on their vision and passion, Amy seeks to help groups transform this into something actionable and concrete.National Trainer: Rev. N. David (Dave) Cooper, MDiv, MSW, CPM
Shalom-Makers P.O. Box 61, Doswell, VA 23047 Committed passionately to organizing and developing communities to become socially, economically, physically and spiritually whole by applying faith-based, Asset Based Community Development and community organizing principles and techniques to achieve community-led outcomes, Dave Cooper is a skilled and successful Shalom-Maker. As a Program Associate and National Trainer for the Drew University Communities of Shalom Initiative, and as a Shalom-Makers consultant, Dave Cooper convenes, connects, provides leadership for, educates and coaches the development of partnerships among diverse faith- based, organizational, civic and institutional partners to strengthen capacity, competence, and commitment to weaving together a fabric of common destiny. Dave brings to his work over 25 years of successful experiences and training in executive leadership and program/ project development and management. He has served as executive director of faith-based, nonprofit, urban mission organizations to develop programs for food security and pre- development of nearly 400 units of affordable housing. Undergirding his recent achievements are years of experience delivering multi-million dollar, heavy construction projects as a project manager and estimator. Dave is also deeply committed to the transformation of the criminal justice (corrections) system into one that is restorative for the communities in which victims, perpetrators of crime and the families of both live, work, learn and recreate. Dave lives near Richmond, Virginia, enjoys hiking, cycling, the ocean and mountains, is married, and has one child and two grandchildren. National Shalom Minister: Michael Oliver, M.Div.
Drew University Theological School
12 Campus Drive, Madison, NJ 07940
(973) 408-3848, moliver@drew.edu
Michael is a PhD student in Theology at Drew University studying the resources and obstacles within theology for the pursuit of social justice. He first began his work with Communities of Shalom in the summer of 2008 as an intern with the Newark Interfaith Coalition for Hope and Peace. He brings experience working within a missional community, a desire to see people experience God’s goodness and grace in tangible ways, and a heart for enacting social change. He believes that God’s love and grace abounds to all, and understands his minstry as witnessing to this love, mercy, lives with his wife and two small children in Shrewsbury, NJ.National Committee:
Bishop John R. Schol, National Committee Chair 7178 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite D, Columbia, MD 21046Dr. Michael Christensen, National DirectorDrew University Theological School12 Campus Drive, Madison, NJ 079402010 Quadrennium * Mr. Byrd Bonner 223 Springwood Lane, San Antonio, TX 78216 * Mr. Will Dent 701 Stone Crossing Street, NE, Canton, OH 44726* Rev. Dr. J-P Duncan 1140 Amherst Street, Scranton, PA 18504* Rev. Robin Hynicka 55 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107-2531* Rev. John Culp 1500 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210* Rev. Ken P. Ehrman 7084 Howard Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55346* Ms. Mary H. Gates 3420 Skycroft Circle, Minneapolis, MN 55418-1719* Mrs. Jerald McKie 475 Riverside Drive, Rm 320, New York, NY 10115* Ms. Videte Bullock Mixon 1200 Davis Street, Evanston, IL 60201* Mr. Jay Brown 1145 S. Beecham Road, Williamstown, NJ 08094* Dr. Chris BoeselDrew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ 07940* Dr. Maxine Clarke BeachDrew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ 07940* Dr. Patricia Morton604 Allison Road, D-251, Piscataway, NJ 08854* Rev. Tanya BennettDrew University, 36 Madison Ave., Madison, NJ 07940* Dr. Rob Duncan3724 Sheffield Avenue, Muskogee, OK 74403
