Aaron Susek is a church planter in Gettysburg, Pa; a lover of Phillies baseball, Flannery O’Connor and Eugene Peterson, slow-smoked barbecue, and all things jazz who frequently trades those in for fun times with his beautiful wife Amy and three wildly energetic young daughters (Callie, Megan, and Kate). Apart from occasionally blogging about food and theology (www.outoftheashes.wordpress.com) and composing materials for church, his major literary accomplishment thus far is a homespun children’s story (Where’s Shoobie?) given to his daughters for Christmas.
Aletheia Schmidt is a complicated girl who simply loves Jesus. She studied Spanish at Messiah College and received an MA in Counseling from Philadelphia Biblical University. She worked in resident life at Indiana Wesleyan University and is currently doing the same thing at Messiah. Aletheia has traveled to five continents, lived on three, and hopes to visit Australia soon. Then Antarctica (penguins anyone?). Aletheia has published in Relevant and Setting the Conflict Compass. She also co-wrote Processing Tools for Less than a Latte. A lover of smoothies, painting, movies, decaf soy lattes, icicles on trees, kids’ books, windy summer evenings, bike riding, going out for breakfast, sitting on the kitchen floor. and sleepovers with her sisters, she blogs at www.accordingtoaletheia.com.
Allison Duncan is a freelance writer and a communications specialist at a Catholic university in Pennsylvania. A graduate of Eastern University with degrees in English and theology, she enjoys participating in her Anglican church, exegeting Scripture, reading the classics and children’s books, pondering and talking about anything theological (which really encompasses everything there is), and writing about things she is learning. She also loves writing in calligraphy, gardening, going to farmers’ markets, and baking muffins. She recently started a blog at shiningfromshookfoil.wordpress.com.
Angie Hinton lives in Marion, IN with a community of friends who know how to laugh and are willing to wrestle through the hard questions. She has an M.A. in counseling from Huntington University and counsels at Exit 59 Church through Wabash Friends Counseling Center. Angie also works in the School of Theology and Ministry at Indiana Wesleyan University doing group and individual counseling with students preparing for church ministry. Writing is an important part of the way she processes the world and faith, and she counts it a privilege to share that process with others.
Ann McGhee lives in Laurel, Maryland. She is married to her lifelong love, Kevin, and has two wonderful daughters, Bryden and Kelsey. A Talbot Seminary graduate, she has worked in ministry for 30 years as a minister in three churches and as an Adjunct Professor at Capitol Bible Seminary. Currently she serves as Minister of Community Life at Bethany Community Church. She is an avid skier and enjoys outdoor photography.
Bethany (Musser) Meola was born and raised in central PA. She has lived in suburban Philadelphia (college), Denver and Central America (missionary work), and is now happily settled in the Washington DC area. Bethany earned a master’s degree in bioethics and now works as a catechetical writer for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. She enjoys being a newlywed, gardening, and writing about the sacramentality of daily life.
Catherine Schmidt (graphics) calls Bellevue, WA home, but studies art at the Rhode Island School of Design. Catherine has traveled widely, has friends on several continents and speaks French. She dabbles in all sorts of literary and artistic endeavors and has helped design websites and book covers.
David Baer directs Overseas Council (www.overseas.org), an organization dedicated to advancing Christian leaders through partnerships with majority world theological seminaries. Due to studies at Wheaton College, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the University of Cambridge, David has a particular interest in the Old Testament. He has written on the Septuagint and the biblical prophets, and regularly blogs at www.canterbridge.org. After living for sixteen years in Costa Rica, where he taught at and eventually served as the president of ESEPA Seminar, he still thinks breakfast is lacking when there’s no gallo pinto on the plate. David loves dogs, especially Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and rescues them when he can.
Jared Begg is passionate about helping people grow deeper with God and live well-ordered lives of Christian maturity. Currently he is honored to be able to fulfill that calling as a Resident Director at Indiana Wesleyan University, after earning his MA in Spiritual Formation from Biola (Talbot School of Theology). Jared and his wife, Candice, recently completed the adoption of their first son, Isaiah, bringing him home from India on December 4th 2010. God has been using him greatly as a catalyst in their spiritual growth. Jared’s blog is at http://www.metamorphablog.com/blog/34626 .
Jordan Swisher is a poet, playwright, and actor living in New York City. He studied theatre at Messiah College and has been published in The Minnemingo Review. Jordan served as a panel judge for a Poetry Out Loud competition, and was awarded an honorable mention in the Carrie A. Guhl Student Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets. A collaborator on the audio magazine Oddcast (http://oddcast.tumblr.com/), and the Visual Noir Owl (http://owlnoir.tumblr.com/post/6375769870). Jordan also blogs at http://writeswish.wordpress.com/
Nathan Shorb grew up in Pennsylvania, studied education at Taylor University, and fulfilled his dream of being a teacher during the first five years of adulthood. A curve in the journey took him with his wife and son to Paris as church planters at the start of 2011, with another son joining the family six months after arriving. When Nate isn’t memorizing new verb conjugations or discovering another park, he’s listening to music, watching films, or writing to make sense of it all at http://nateshorb.blogspot.com.
Sue Schmidt–After living in Maryland, Chile, Costa Rica, Sue and her husband Dan now call Harrisburg home. Her three grown daughters (and brand new son-in-law) live close enough to keep in touch. With a passion for living life to the full, Sue is never happier than when she’s encouraging people to grow into the best versions of themselves. She blogs at www.letschoosejoy.com about what makes life meaningful. Other things that bring delight are reading, quilting, kayaking and hosting gatherings of friends and family.
Wade Owlett (photographer), a thirty-something English teacher from rural Pennsylvania, likes to feel dirt between his toes and enjoys August nights when the stars seem to be more twinklier and the coyote howls more deliberate.
Dan Schmidt (editor) has worked with some talented communicators on this project, and is glad to have a hand in shaping the collection. In addition to editing, he has written fiction (Playa Perdida, and the forthcoming Prime Target) and non-fiction (Follow the Leader, Unexpected Wisdom and Taken by Communion). The Facebook page ‘Toucanic Media’ tracks his writing projects; Dan also blogs at www.toucanic.net .
