2nd Annual Shalom Summit

Shane Claiborne – Author, Speaker & Activist

Shane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and best-selling author.  Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia.  He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living “as if Jesus meant the things he said.” Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war. Now grace fuels his passion to end the death penalty and help stop gun violence.

Shane’s books include Jesus for President, Red Letter Revolution, Common Prayer, Follow Me to Freedom, Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream, Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, Executing Grace, his classic The Irresistible Revolution, Beating Guns, and his newest book, Rethinking Life (to be released February 2023).

Rev. Dr. Fred D. Smith Jr.

Rev. Dr. Fred D. Smith Jr., has over 30 years of training and experience as an educator, strategist, facilitator, and innovator in public theology, especially in the field of faith and health.   Rev. Dr. Fred D. Smith Jr. is named as Fletcher Seminary’s Houston Regional Director. Under Rev. Dr. Smith’s leadership, Fletcher Seminary will develop innovative partnerships in the Houston metro region and serve as the local face of Fletcher Seminary to churches and prospective students.

As Faith and Health Consultant and Senior Scholar for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System, Dr. Smith participated in the development of the Memphis Model. As Educational Consultant to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center FaithHealth Division, he consulted on the development of FaithHealthNC and developed the FaithHealth Fellows program for the state of North Carolina. Other leadership roles included Associate Director of the Interfaith Health Program where he participated in the development of such programs as Not Even ONE-Kids and Guns; Whole Communities Collaborative; Faith and Health Consortium; The Institute for Faith and Public Health Collaboration. He retired as Professor of Urban Ministry and Associate Director of the Practice of Ministry and Mission at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC where he developed and taught masters and doctoral level courses in Urban Ministry, Faith and Health, Black Church Studies, Practical Theology, and Children and Poverty. Dr. Smith is also a retired United Methodist Elder from the Western Pennsylvania Conference where he was pastor of Fellowship United Methodist Church.

A native of Oakland, California he earned a BA in Economics from Harvard University, a MDiv from Perkins School of Theology at SMU, and a Ph.D. in Practical Theology from Emory University. Publications include Black Religious Experience: Conversations on Double Consciousness and the Work of Grant Shockley (with Charles R. Foster); “A Prophetic Religious Education for the Twenty-First Century: Black Boys Shall See Visions” in Theological Literacy for the Twenty-First Century ed. by Rodney L. Petersen with Nancy M. Rourke; “AfricentricChristian Education: A Historical Perspective” in Africentric Approaches to Christian Ministry ed. by Ronald E. Peters and Marsha S. Haney.