*EL '04 mailer, final - Pacific School of Religion

Earl Lecturers and Preachers
Karen Baker-Fletcher is associate professor of theology at Perkins School of Theology
in Dallas, TX. She joined their faculty in 2001. From 1993 to 2001 she was associate professor
of theology and culture at Claremont School of Theology in California, and before
that she was assistant professor of theology and culture at Christian Theological Seminary
in Indianapolis. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and two masters
and a doctorate from Harvard University. Her books include Sisters of Dust, Sisters of
Spirit: Womanist Wordings on God and Creation (1998), My Sister, My Brother:
Womanist and Xodus God-Talk (2002), and Dancing with God: The Trinity from a
Womanist Perspective (2007).
Daniel A. Buford is a self-described “Harlem Renaissance Man”: a sculptor, writer,
community organizer, and associate minister of the Allen Temple Baptist Church in
Oakland. His art has been featured in Christianity Today and The 2000 International
Review of African American Art Journal. He is a founding organizer and trainer of the
People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, based in New Orleans, and has conducted
Undoing Racism workshops throughout the United States, South Africa, and Puerto Rico
since 1980. He is vice president of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, a peace and
justice think tank in Berkeley.
Clarence L. Johnson is a fourth-generation member of the Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ). He earned his Masters of Divinity degree from Christian Theological Seminary
in Indianapolis. From 1972-1977 he was the first director of black ministry for the
Department of Ministry Division of Homeland Ministries of CC (DOC). After serving as
pastor in Jackson, MS, in 1982 he served Mills Grove Christian Church (DOC) in Oakland
from 1982 until 1986. He returned there as transitional minister in February 2006 and on
July 22, 2007 was named senior minister/pastor. His clergy memberships include: Pastors of
Oakland, Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, and African-American/Korean-American
Fellowship of Churches.
Ken Medema was born with sight limited to distinguishing between light and darkness
and seeing fuzzy outlines of major objects, yet he helps his listeners see the world. Ken has
been singing for more than three decades in every venue imaginable—for audiences of
from 50 to 50,000 people, at churches, colleges, and corporations. Using his unique gifts,
Ken hears with his heart stories from people or themes from events or speeches and then
sings back these stories to audiences of all ages. In 1985 he founded Brier Patch Music,
an independent recording, publishing, and performance-booking company that creates
musical expressions celebrating all aspects of the human experience, with an emphasis
on spirituality and such universal concerns as peace, justice, and the environment.
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