Tom Long
Dr. Thomas G. Long is the Bandy Professor of Preaching at Candler School of Theology. He has previously taught preaching at Princeton, Columbia, and Erskine Seminaries. He is the author of numerous books and articles on preaching and worship as well as biblical commentaries on Matthew and Hebrews.
He served as the senior homiletics editor of The New Interpreter’s Bible, and he is an editor-at-large for The Christian Century. His latest books are Accompany Them with Singing: The Christian Funeral (2009), Preaching from Memory to Hope (2009), and What Shall We Say? Evil, Suffering, and the Crisis of Faith (2011). His wife, Kimberly, also a Presbyterian minister, is Professor of Worship at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta.
Audio - Tom Long
Danny Wuerffel
Danny Wuerffel remains one of the greatest college football players ever to play the game. In 1996 he received The Heisman Trophy, the highest honor bestowed on a college football player. He led the University of Florida to four SEC titles and one national title and is the only Heisman Trophy recipient also to receive the Draddy Trophy, the nation’s top football scholar-athlete award. After several years in the NFL, Danny began working with Desire Street Ministries in New Orleans in 2004. Emerging out of God’s heart for the poor, this ministry exists for the purpose of transforming neighborhoods through spiritual and community development. Desire Street currently partners with ministry leaders in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Montgomery, Lakeland, Atlanta, and Dallas. Danny and his wife Jessica live in Atlanta with their two sons, Jonah and Joshua and daughter, Macy.
Audio - Danny Wuerffel
Sharon Austin
Dr. Sharon Austin was the first woman to be ordained in historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, home church of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and in 1984 became the first woman to serve on the staff of that church. Since joining the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1997, Sharon has served three congregations as the first woman and the first African-American in each. Sharon is a graduate of Berry College, Candler School of Theology and Barry University. Since 2008 she has served as District Superintendent of the South Central District of the Florida Annual Conference. Sharon is the daughter of a pastor. She and her husband Michael have been married for thirty-four years and have four young adult children, Desiree, Genise, Erin and Nicholas.
Audio - Sharon Austin
Jim Harnish
Dr. Jim Harnish graduated from Asbury College, Asbury Theological Seminary, and has honorary doctorates from Asbury Theological Seminary and Bethune-Cookman University. Since 1992, he has served as the Senior Pastor of Hyde Park UMC in Tampa, one of the prevailing churches in the Florida Annual Conference. Since his ordination as an elder in 1974, Jim has served the Florida Annual Conference in many ways, including as a delegate to the past seven General Conferences and the upcoming 2012 General Conference in Tampa. Jim is the author of numerous books and journal articles and has served as a mentor to many colleagues in ministry over the years. Jim and his wife Marsha have been married for forty-two years. They have two daughters and three grandchildren.
Audio - Jim Harnish