Mitch believes that in a rapidly changing world, creativity isn’t a luxury for the few, it’s a God-given necessity for all of us. He loves helping leaders, teams, and whole communities uncover the creative spark God has already woven into them and put it to work for Kingdom-shaped impact. Mitch has partnered with everyone from local churches and college campuses to architecture studios and law firms, walking alongside them as they cultivate spaces where holy imagination and innovation can thrive. At the heart of his approach is a simple conviction: innovation begins with people. When we understand how God has made us, stay curious about the world, and dare to see challenges through a different lens, new possibilities open up. When he’s not exploring the intersections of faith and creativity, Mitch and his wife, Elizabeth, are joyfully chasing after their two-year-old son, Rowan - who reminds them daily that wonder is a spiritual discipline.

Rev. Dr. Lakisha R. Lockhart is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, author, former Zumba instructor, Womanist and coolest auntie around. She believes in the power of play, movement, aesthetics, and creative arts in life and in theology, using the body as a locus for theological reflection. She is a consultant, immediate past executive secretary for the Religious Education Association, and in her professorial role as Associate Professor of Christian Education at Union Presbyterian
Seminary she is not only a teacher, but a facilitator, rope jumper, game-player, advocate and catalyst for critical consciousness and engagement in educating in faith and actually living into that faith through various spiritual and artistic practices for liberation. This southern lady hails from Columbus, GA by way of Waynesville, MO. She received her B.A. in Philosophy and Religion from Claflin University, M.Div with a concentration in Pastoral Care and Counseling from Wesley Theological Seminary, M.A. in Ethics and Society from Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D. in Theology and Education from Boston College.

Elizabeth Christie has been working in the field of children’s and family ministries for over two decades. Originally from the New York Annual Conference, she now lives in the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference. She has served in a wide variety of ministry settings as both staff and consultant, and frequently speaks at district, annual conference, and national gatherings of United Methodists. Elizabeth has written resources for Discipleship Ministries, the Breakthrough Sermon Series, and the General Commission on Race and Religion, and she finds great joy in helping make lifelong faith formation transformational for all. Elizabeth’s particular passion is creating ministries that are inclusive of all of God’s children. She currently serves as Canon for Early Christian Formation at The Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and is the children’s ministry consultant for Practical Resources for Churches, writing their resources for intergenerational ministry and running their children's ministry cohort. Elizabeth has been married to Tom, a college librarian, for over 25 years, and together they share life with their seven amazing children.