People

Kirsten Sanders (PhD, Emory University) is a theologian interested in Christology and questions of material embodiment. She is working on book on Christology and human difference. She lives with her three children and husband in Wenham, MA, where you can usually find her playing with her dogs or working in her vegetable garden if the weather is good, and reading theology if it’s not.

For more on Kirsten, visit her site at:

https://www.kirstensanders.com/

See her latest articles at:

Mere Orthodoxy, Comment Magazine, Sapientia, Christianity Today, Hedgehog Review

Wesley Hill is associate professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan and an assisting priest at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His PhD in New Testament is from Durham University in the UK. He is the author of Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality (Zondervan, second edition 2016), Paul and the Trinity: Persons, Relations, and the Pauline Letters (Eerdmans, 2015), Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian (Brazos, 2015), and The Lord’s Prayer: A guide to Praying to Our Father (Lexham, 2019). A contributing editor for Comment magazine, he writes regularly for Christianity Today, The Living Church, and other publications.

Myles Werntz (Ph.D., Baylor University) is Associate Professor of Theology in the Abilene Christian University Graduate School of Theology. Having taught in various seminaries over the last ten years, he has published and taught widely on the ways in which Christian commitments of ecclesiology and ethics are mutually dependent, and has written widely in these areas, particularly on church’s relation to society, and Christian ethics of war and peace. He is currently beginning work on a long-term project which resources the Christian tradition for current immigration debates.

He is the author and editor of eight books, most recently From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Christian Vision of Life Together, and A Field Guide to Christian Nonviolence (with David Cramer). He lives with his wife, Sarah Martin-Werntz, and their children, in Abilene, Texas.

In 2018, Dr. Michelle Knight completed her dissertation on the narrative function of the Song of Deborah and Barak in the book of Judges, before joining the faculty at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. While working toward her PhD, she taught Hebrew language and Old Testament courses as a Guest Professor at Wheaton College and an Adjunct Professor at TEDS. Michelle is an active member of the Institute for Biblical Research, the Society of Biblical Literature, and especially the Evangelical Theological Society, where she serves as Program Unit Chair for the Old Testament Theology section at the annual meeting. Her current research interests include literary criticism, theology of the Old Testament, the book of Judges, and poetry in biblical narrative.

Dr. Knight and her husband, Kenyon, have a son, Oliver. In her spare time, she enjoys singing at her church, reading with her son, and seeing movies.

A strategic partner for Kinisi, Adam spends his days as Minister of Worship Arts at North Shore Community Baptist Church in Beverly, MA. He brings a passion for the local church and cooking good food to the collective, where he primarily works on managing the web and social media presence. He lives in Hamilton, MA with his wife, Shauna.

adamkurihara.com

Renzo is the Social Media Manager for Kinisi. He recently completed his MA in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological seminary where he focused on intercultural theology, the history of liturgy in the Black Church, and Pentecostal missions to Peru, where he was born. He currently works as an admissions counselor at Gordon College and hopes to pursue a PhD in theology in the future. In his free time he likes to play soccer, write spoken-word poetry, and talk about Eugene Peterson.

IG @reazonthepoet

Shauna is the spiritual director for Kinisi and a spiritual director, artist, and retreat leader. She is Gordon Conwell's current Artist in Residence, and recently completed her Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation (MASF). She believes in "Creating beauty that cares for the soul," and uses the integration of art and beauty in her practice as a spiritual director. Shauna has taught classes and led workshops on Soul Care, Beauty as Soul Care, and Understanding who God has created you to be. As a lover of beauty, Shauna is also a lover of beautiful, or sacred spaces, and has been influenced by this love in her art.

Shauna and her husband Adam currently live in South Hamilton and love going to antique stores, exploring beautiful places, and hosting people for dinner or dessert in their home.

shaunakurihara.com | IG

Professor of Theology at Northern Seminary

“Over and over again, I see how God’s people are hungering for solid Biblical and theological truth, and I see how good teaching in that truth changes lives. I’m excited about the work of the Kinisi Collective in giving God’s people access to deeply informed, faithful teaching about the beauty and goodness of the Christian faith. At this moment, we need the resistance to cynicism and secularism that this kind of work can bring.”

@bethfelkerjones

“It was encouraging to interact with people from different perspectives. I learned a lot from the other pastors, but also those who seemed to be burned out or frustrated by the church … It was great to have a teaching that was simultaneously brief and very insightful (if only I knew how to do both of these things...). The group was welcoming even though I didn't know many people prior to the evening. It was really nice to talk with people who don't go to my church. I love my church, but it was nice not to feel "on" for once or to just be able to listen to critique without feeling like people are attacking me personally or I have to explain something. It was nice to just listen and not have to respond. I thought it was good that it was clarified not to "air dirty laundry" of past church experiences. While there should be a time and place for that, it could easily spiral into slander and it isn't super helpful.”

Nathaniel Lee, Associate Pastor, Center Grace Church (Twitter • IG)

“Talking about Kinisi being a third way of hope is exciting. When church conversation comes up in public, it seems lots of people hope for it to go back to the way it was—hustle culture, consumer church metrics, celebrity culture, white dominant, sermon centric ministry, etc.—and have their entire understanding of Jesus wrapped up in that form, or they want to ditch it completely because they think the church has nothing good to offer. How do we hold onto and pass on the essence/spiritual reality of the Truth proclaimed by the Church--Christ and true life as union with God--while having humility/discernment/wisdom to see it come alive in various forms/embodiments that are honoring to humanity? … I would imagine that's the question of the third way and I hope that Kinisi can think through it.”

Kinisi Dinner #2 Guest

“Kinisi is practicing what it preaches insofar as it is fostering and facilitating an environment for people to practice community as they discuss it. Simply put, it is an embodied expression of Friday's discussion/teaching as we were invited to learn with our bodies and hearts, not just our minds. Physical context is an often overlooked factor to Christian community and teaching/discussion over a meal in someone's home on a Friday evening feels more (overused word, but alas, here it is) authentic.

The home was beautiful, the vibe super hospitable, the ethos of the group was encouraging. The conversation was laid back, and yet constructive. The food and desserts were wonderful. Those key-lime bars changed my life. I almost wanted to recommit my life to Jesus after eating those things.”

Kinisi Dinner #1 Guest

This conversation is part of a bigger conversation happening all over amongst believers who have already been pondering some of these questions given the current state of the church and climate of our culture. For me, it was validating to hear others affirm their love for the church in spite of its brokenness. It was also clear that Kirsten has so much to teach and so much to share... it just again, left you begging for more without feeling like it was a classroom. I felt like it was hopeful and refreshing to have the body gathered in that setting. Hopeful because in many ways, it felt like the church coming together as they should.”

Christina Frost
Kinisi Dinner #1 Guest