David L. Bartlett was the J. Edward and Ruth Cox Lantz Professor Emeritus of Christian Communication at Yale Divinity School, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, and an ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches USA. Bartlett had a long career, holding both academic and pastoral positions. As an ordained minister of the American Baptist Churches USA, he served as the Senior Minister for congregations in Minnesota, Illinois, and California. He was also on the faculty at schools such as American Baptist Seminary of the West, Graduate Theological Union; The University of Chicago Divinity School; Divinity School; Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia; Yale Divinity School; and Columbia Seminary. He was Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Yale Divinity School for eleven years. At both Yale Divinity School and Columbia Theological Seminary, he was a distinguished faculty member and was honored as professor emeritus. He also served as theologian in residence at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. He wrote eighteen books, two of which he coauthored with his wife, Carol.

Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church (2006), won an Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association. Her last book, Learning to Walk in the Dark (2014), was featured on the cover of TIME magazine. She has served on the faculties of Piedmont College, Columbia Theological Seminary, Candler School of Theology at Emory University, McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, and the Certificate in Theological Studies program at Arrendale State Prison for Women in Alto, Georgia. In 2014 TIME included her on its annual list of Most Influential People; in 2015 she was named Georgia Woman of the Year; in 2016 she received The President's Medal at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Mercer University and is working on her fourteenth book. For more information, visit www.barbarabrowntaylor.com.