101 culturally diverse Christian voices

“I’m just tired of only hearing white, mainstream evangelical voices,” a good friend lamented to me recently. “Why aren’t voices from other backgrounds listened to in the same way as the white voices?” I heard the weariness of consistent exclusion in his question, and frankly, wondered the same thing myself.

When I saw Rachel Held Evans’ list of 101 Christian Women Speakers a few months ago, I was struck most by their lack of representation and recognition in the mainstream white evangelical Christian culture.  Looking at the speakers at so many Christian conferences and gatherings, it would appear that white males are the only people qualified to speak from a place of faith. Rachel’s list showed us that this was not so.

As I researched this list, I was struck by how many great voices from diverse backgrounds are speaking in the public sphere through all sorts of mediums – writing, music, art, speaking.  It is my hope that this list will broaden the conversation even further and be a resource to help distribute the collective voice beyond only one dominant cultural perspective in the public Christian sphere.

A few things to note about this list:

1. This is not a ‘best of’ list.  It is a list to highlight the vast array of voices from culturally diverse backgrounds speaking actively about faith. My goal is mainly to show that such voices are plentiful and active in order to encourage the white Christian body at large better access to finding and listening to more perspectives as a norm – not an afterthought, exception or token.
2. This is not a list of conference speakers. I attend professional conferences, but tend to steer clear of Christian ones.  I learned long ago that the group-think/yay-rah environment of Christian conferences wears my soul out quickly.  If I go on a retreat, it’s usually a silent one or at least a very small one without personality-driven agendas. Many of the people on this list do speak, but some of them write or paint or sing as well.  Their perspectives can be listened to through their writings, their creative work, and their voices.
3. That being said, I value public voices deeply, but I tend to listen to them instead one at a time through books, blogs, and organizations. As a result, I tried to include people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and perspectives who have this type of public voice.  Sometimes I gave preference to people with a stronger online presence not because they’re ‘better’ voices, simply because they’re easier to follow and hear from in a public context.  I also gave preference to some lesser-known voices over very-established ones like Tony Campolo, Luis Palau, Cornel West, Desmond Tutu, John Perkins, Ravi Zacharias, and Tony Evans.  That being said, I did also include some voices that have been around for quite some time but may not be as widely recognized like Ruth Padilla, Ajith Fernando, Samuel Escobar, Ken Fong, Noel Castellanos, and Michael Oh.
4. Since I live in the US and the vast majority of my readers are from the US, much (though not all) of this list is also based in the US.  Singular vision and polarized conversation may very well be a problem more unique to the American church, and for this particular weakness we need lists such as these. For practical reasons, I did not include voices who communicate primarily in languages other than English. I am sorely aware of the privilege this reinforces, but also found it the most useful way to create a list like this.
5. There is no intentional theological bent or classification for this list.  The voices represent a range from conservative to liberal, Catholic to protestant and I made no attempt to include or exclude voices because of their particular theological perspectives. The only qualification I looked at was if the person publicly identified as a Christian. That being said, it is likely ‘imbalanced’ in some fashion or another and is also most probably heavier on evangelicals and/or protestants because this is my own background as well as the protestant perspective running many conferences and powerful publishing companies.
6. This list, of course, is woefully incomplete, and like Rachel, I encourage others to form their own lists of valuable voices that diverge from the mainstream. Additionally, please feel free to leave others’ information I may have missed (or your own!) in the comment section below. The louder the collective voice, the more clearly it is heard. I’d love to see others create their own lists – global theologians, regional voices (I could have made a similar list of 101 culturally diverse voices in LA alone!), or ethnic group specific voices.
7. If you are included in this list and I have listed incorrect or incomplete information, please let me know and I’d be happy to correct it.

 

Khristi Adams @KhristiLauren

Author, Campus Pastor, Documentary Filmmaker, Youth Advocate

Watch a promo for her book.

Watch her speak.  

Watch “Chivalry is Dead” documentary. 

Southern California

 

Robin Afrik @afrikadvantage

Speaker, national consultant and strategist on issues surrounding reconciliation/diversity, international adoption, multi-cultural families’ and identity formation. 

http://afrikadvantage.com/

Check out her work here.

Holland, Michigan 

 

Dr. David Anderson @AndersonSpeaks

Pastor. Author. Radio Show Host

http://www.andersonspeaks.com/

Check out his books here.

Washington, DC

 

Ramez Atallah @RamezAtallah

General Director, The Bible Society of Egypt 

http://rameza.wordpress.com/

Listen to him speak.

Egypt

 

Sami Awad @Sami_Awad

Founder and Executive Director of Holy Land Trust

http://www.holylandtrust.org/

Listen to him speak here.

Palestine

 

Leroy Barber @LeroyBarber

Executive Director, Word Made Flesh

http://www.wordmadeflesh.org/

Listen to him speak here.  

Check out his book here.

 

Eric D. Barreto @ericbarreto

Theology professor, Luther Seminary

http://www2.luthersem.edu/ebarreto/ebarreto/About.html

Check out his writing here. 

Listen to him speak here.

Saint Paul, Minnesota

  

Cheryl Bear

First Nations Musician and speaker

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheryl-Bear/70132140328

Listen to her music here.  

Listen to her speak here.

Check out her book here.

Canada

 

Grace Biskie @gracebiskie

Blogger/author, advocate, community activist 

http://gracebiskie.com/

Read more of her writing here.

Kalamazoo, Michigan

  

Edward J. Blum @edwardjblum

Author, teacher, student of race, religion, culture, politics

http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~histweb/faculty_and_staff/faculty_bios/e_blum.htm

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

San Diego, California

 

 

Amena Brown Owen @amenabee

Writer. Poet. Hip hop head.@spelman woman

http://www.amenabrown.com/

Check out her book here.

Listen to her spoken word here.

Atlanta, Georgia

 

Austin Channing Brown @austinchanning

Learner. Listener. Trainer. Writer. On a mission to make the racial divide smaller.

http://austinchanning.com/

Read more about her here.

Chicago, Illinois

  

Velynn Brown @gospelrainsong

Blogger, Poet

http://velynnbrown.com/

Pacific Northwest

 

J. Kameron Carter @jkameroncarter

Writer, intellectual.  Professor of theology and black church studies at Duke University. 

http://jkameroncarter.com/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

North Carolina

  

Noel Castellanos @NoelCCDA

CEO of Christian Community Development Association

http://www.ccda.org/about/staff

Check out his books here.  

Watch him speak here.

Chicago, Illinois

 

Elias Chacour

Former Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth. Writer, reconciler between Arabs and Israelis

Check out his books here.  

Watch him speak here.  

Israel 

 

Mark Charles @wirelesshogan

Native American writer

http://wirelesshogan.blogspot.com/

Watch his videos here.

Navajo Nation

 

Peter W. Chin @peterwchin

Pastor of Peace Fellowship in D.C. 

peterwchin.com

Read his writing here.

Listen to him speak here.

Washington, D.C.

  

Eugene Cho @EugeneCho

Christ Follower. Husband. Father. Pastor. Humanitarian. Activist. Founder of One Days Wages, Q Cafe, and Seattle Quest Church

http://eugenecho.com/

Listen to his TedTalk.

Check out his upcoming book.

Seattle, Washington

 

 

 James Choung @jameschoung

author of True Story & Real Life, national director @IVWitness, founder @vineyardU, speaker, professor

http://www.jameschoung.net/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Los Angeles, California

 

Christena Cleveland @CSCleve

Author of DISUNITY IN CHRIST: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart.

http://www.christenacleveland.com/

Check out her book here.

Listen to her speak here.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

 

Rev. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, Ph.D.

Dean of Esperanza College, Eastern University

http://www.eastern.edu/about/university-leadership/rev-elizabeth-conde-frazier-phd

Listen to her speak here.

Check out her books.

Pennsylvania

 

Orlando Crespo

Pastor, theologian, writer

https://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/author.pl/author_id=1407

Check out his book here.

Listen to him speak here. 

New York

 

Linson Daniel @Linson_Daniel

Area Director for @INTERVARSITYusa. Teacher. Blogger. Podcaster. Musician. 

http://www.linsondaniel.com/

Listen to his podcast.

Dallas, Texas

 

Ruth Padilla Deborst

Theologian and educator

http://www.stjames-cambridge.org/padilla-deborst/

Read an interview here.

Watch her speak here.

 

Miguel De La Torre @DrDeLaTorre

Professor of Social Ethics and Latino/a Studies at Illiff School of Theology, writer, speaker

http://www.drmigueldelatorre.com/

Listen to him speak here.  

Check out his books here.

Denver, Colorado

 

Mark DeYmaz @markdeymaz

Founding Pastor: Mosaic Church (AR); Executive Director: Mosaix Global Network; multi-ethnic church movement leader: author, columnist, consultant.

http://www.mosaix.info/

Listen to him speak here.  

Check out his book here.

Little Rock, Arkansas

 

Joshua Dubois @joshuadubois

Author of bestseller, The President’s Devotional; @thedailybeast columnist; led @whitehouse faith office

http://joshuadubois.com/

Check out his book here.  

Listen to an interview with Joshua here.  

Washington, DC  

 

Dennis Edwards @RevDrDre

Teacher, mentor, pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church.

http://dennisredwards.com/

Listen to him speak here.  

Minneapolis, Minnesota

 

Samuel Escobar

Writer, theologian

Watch him speak here.

Check out his books here.

 

Helen Soosan Fagan @drhelenfagan

Teacher, global leadership scholar, diversity consultant

http://helenfagan.com/

Watch her TedTalk here.

Lincoln, Nebraska

 

Richard Allen Farmer @timsdad

Bible expositor, concert artist, worship leader

http://richardallenfarmer.com/

Watch him speak here. 

Dallas, Texas

 

Ajith Fernando

Writer, theologian, preacher, former country director of YFC Sri Lanka 

https://www.facebook.com/AjithFernandoYFC

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.  

Sri Lanka

 

Anton Flores @ANTONofALTERNA

co-founder of Alterna, a Christian missional community that offers accompaniment, advocacy, and hospitality to Latin American immigrants

http://www.alternacommunity.com/

Read his blog here.

Listen to him speak here.

LaGrange, Georgia

 

  

Ken Fong @KenUyedaFong

Pastor, Evergreen Baptist Church

http://www.ebcla.org/

Check out his books.

Watch videos from his church here.  

Los Angeles, California

 

Makoto Fujimora @iamfujimura

Artist, writer, creative catalyst

http://www.makotofujimura.com/

Check out his book here.  

Watch him speak here.

New York

  

Nicole Baker Fulgham @nicolebfulgham

public school advocate, faith-motivated justice seeker, founder of The Expectations Project

http://www.theexpectationsproject.org/about-us/leadership/

Check out her book here.  

Listen to her speak here.  

Washington, DC

 

Marilyn Gardner @marilyngard

Writer, blogger on cultural issues and third culture kids

http://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com/

Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

Ivy George

Academic in Sociology & Social Work at Gordon College, speaker, writer

Ivy is an especially captivating speaker.  Watch her speak here.

Check out her books here.

Massachussetts

  

Edward Gilbreath @EdGilbreath 

 Author of Reconciliation Blues and Birmingham Revolution.

http://www.edgilbreath.com/

Listen to him speak here.

Check out his books here. 

Chicago, Illinois

 

Justo Gonzalez

Theologian, writer, academic

Check out his renowned theological books here.  

 

  

Derwyn L. Gray @DerwinLGray

Jelani Greenidge @jelanigreenidge

Writer, communicator, comedian, thinker, speaker, musician

http://jelanigreenidge.com/

Listen to his music here.  

Check out his comedy here.  

Listen to him speak here.  

Portland, Oregon

   

Gustavo Gutierrez

Peruvian theologian, author, endowed professor at Notre Dame

http://theology.nd.edu/people/faculty/gustavo-gutierrez-o-p/

Check out his books here.

 

 

Erna Hackett @ErnaSings

Songwriter, Blogger, Social Justice leader, Intervarsity staff member

http://feistythoughts.com/

Listen to her music here.  

Los Angeles, California

 

Linda Hargrove @llhargrove

Fiction Writer

http://llhargrove.com/

Check out her books here.

Watch a trailer for her book here.

North Carolina

  

Lisa Sharon Harper @lisasharper

Director of Mobilizing @Sojourners. author, political activist

http://sojo.net/biography/lisa-sharon-harper

Check out her books here.  

Listen to her speak here.  

Washington, DC

 

Gary Haugen @garyhaugen

President & CEO of International Justice Mission

http://www.ijm.org/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Washington, DC

 

Young Lee Hertig

Co-founder and Executive Director of Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity

http://www.isaacweb.org/

Check out her book here.  

Pasadena, California

 

Peter Hong

Pastor of New Community Covenant Church

http://thenewcom.com/who-we-are/our-staff/

His sermons are rich and deep.  Listen here.  

Chicago, Illinois

 

Munther Isaac @MuntherIsaac

Christian Palestinian professor at Bethlehem Bible College

http://muntherisaac.blogspot.com/

Watch him speak here.

Jerusalem, Israel

 

Greg Jao @GregJao

Urbana emcee, IVCF National Field Director, author of Your Mind’s Mission

http://www.intervarsityleads.org/

Check out his book here.  

Listen to him speak here.  

New York

 

Katelyn from By Their Strange Fruit @BTSFblog

Blogger on race and christianity

http://bytheirstrangefruit.blogspot.com/

Columbus, Ohio

  

Skye Jethani @skye_jethani

Christian author, speaker, editor, pastor. 

http://www.skyejethani.com/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Chicago, Illinois

 

Rachel Pieh Jones @RachelPiehJones

Writer, development worker in Djibouti

http://www.djiboutijones.com/

Djibouti

 

Kathy Khang @mskathykhang 

Reader. Writer. Speaker. Follower of Jesus. Regional multiethnic ministries director @intervarsityusa.

http://morethanservingtea.wordpress.com/

Read an interview with Kathy.

Check out her book here.

Chicago, Illinois

 

Grace Ji-Sun Kim @Gracejisunkim

Author, visiting researcher at Georgetown University. 

http://gracejisunkim.wordpress.com/

Check out her books here.  

Listen to her speak here. 

 

Helen Lee @HelenLeeAuthor

Author, journalist, speaker, blogger

http://helenleeauthor.com/

Check out her books here.

Listen to her speak here.

Chicago, Illinois

 

Terry LeBlanc

Director, My People International; Chair, North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies; Indigenous Studies Program Director at Tyndale University College & Seminary

http://www.mypeopleinternational.com/index.html

Watch him speak here.

Canada

 

Grace Hwang Lynch @HapaMamaGrace

Writer, Consultant, Blogger, News Editor at BlogHer @BlogHerNews

http://hapamama.com/

San Francisco Bay area, California

 

Zaida Maldonado Pérez

Professor of church history and theology at Asbury Theological Seminary

http://www.asburyseminary.edu/person/dr-zaida-maldonado-perez/

Check out her books here.

Kentucky

 

Vishal Mangalwadi

Lecturer, philsopher, writer, social reformer, political and cultural columnist

http://www.revelationmovement.com/

Check out his books here.

Watch him speak here.

 

Loida Martell-Otero

Professor of Constructive Theology at Palmer Theological Seminary

http://www.palmerseminary.edu/about/faculty/loida-martell-otero

Read her books here.

Pennsylvania

 

 

Fouad Masri @CrescentProject

Pastor and founder of the Crescent Project

https://www.crescentproject.org/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Indianapolis, Indiana

 

Ramon Mayo @mayotron

Writer, missionary, blogger on diversity, the church, and racial justice

http://ramonmayo.com/

Check out his book here.

Chicago, Illinois 

 

Erwin McManus @erwinmcmanus

Writer, speaker and lead pastor of Mosaic Church

http://www.erwinmcmanus.com/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Los Angeles, California

 

Idelette McVicker @idelette 

Writer. Activist. African-Canadian. Founder & Editor of SheLovesmagazine.com 

http://www.idelette.com/

Listen to her speak here.

Vancouver, Canada 

 

Paul Louis Metzger @paulouismetzger

Professor at Multnomah University, Director of the Institute for the Theology of Culture, Author, Speaker

http://new-wineskins.org/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Portland, Oregon

 

 

Osheta Moore @osheta

Urban church planter and blogger

http://oshetablogs.wordpress.com/

Cambridge, Massachusetts

 

Salim Munayer

Instructor at Bethlehem and Galilee Bible College

http://www.bethbc.org/academics/faculty/dr-salim-j-munayer

Check out his books.

Listen to him speak here.

Jerusalem, Israel

 

Samuel Naaman

President of the South Asian Friendship Center in Chicago, professor of World Missions and Evangelism at Moody Bible Institute

http://www.safcbookstore.com/staff/

Chicago, Iliinois

 

Trillia Newbell @trillianewbell

Freelance journalist, Christian writer, author of United: Captured by God’s Vision for Diversity (Moody, 2014)

http://www.trillianewbell.com/

Check out her book here.

Listen to her speak here.

Nashville, Tennessee 

 

Kelly Nikondeha @knikondeha

Writer. Thinker. Lover of Jesus, justice & jubilee. Adopted & adoptive mother of 2. Doing theology in transit. 

http://kelleynikondeha.com/

Listen to her speak here.

Arizona & Burundi

 

Michael Oh @ohfamily

Executive Director / CEO of the Lausanne Movement as well as founder & board chairman of CBI Japan (http://cbijapan.org ).

http://www.lausanne.org/

Listen to him speak here.

Nagoya, Japan

 

Enuma Okoro @TweetEnuma

Writer. Speaker. Consultant.

http://enumaokoro.com/

Check out her books here.

Watch a book trailer here.

Listen to her speak here.

 

Jacqueline Ottmann

Aboriginal scholar at University of Calgary

http://jacquelineottmann.com/

Check out her research here.

Calgary, Canada

 

Eboo Patel* @EbooPatel

Founder and President, Interfaith Youth Core. *While Eboo is a Muslim, not a Christian, he works frequently with Christians in interfaith dialog.  

http://www.ifyc.org/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Chicago, Illinois

 

Soong-Chan Rah @profrah

Pastor, author and academic at North Park Theological Seminary

http://www.profrah.com/

Check out his books here.

Listen to him speak here.

Chicago, Illinois

 

Vinoth Ramachandra

Writer, Secretary for Dialogue & Social Engagement for IFES

http://vinothramachandra.wordpress.com/

Check out his books.

Watch him speak here.

Colombo, Sri Lanka

 

Patricia Raybon @PatriciaRaybon

Writer

http://www.patriciaraybon.com/

Check out her books here.

Listen to her speak here.

Colorado

 

Deidra Riggs @DeidraRiggs

visionary at JumpingTandem, managing editor at TheHighCalling.org, monthly contributor at (in)courage.me

http://www.deidrariggs.com/

Listen to her TedTalk here.

Lincoln, Nebraska

 

Natasha S. Robison @ASISTASJOURNEY 

Speaker, writer

http://www.natashasrobinson.com/

Listen to her speak here.

North Carolina

 

Robert Chao Romero @ProfeChaoRomero 

 

Gabriel & Jeanette Salguero @NalecNews

President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition

http://www.na-lec.org/

Listen to Gabriel speak here.

New York

 

 

Brenda Salter McNeil @RevDocBrenda

Reconciliation Trailblazer, Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies & Teaching Pastor at Quest Church

http://saltermcneil.com/

Check out her books here.

Listen to her speak here.

Seattle, Washington

 

Alexia Salvatierra 

Pastor, writer, advocate, consultant, community organizer

http://www.alexiasalvatierra.com/bio.html

Check out her book here.

Listen to her speak here.

California

 

Arlene Sanchez-Walsh @AmichelSW

Professor of American religious history and Latina/o religion

 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/amsanchezwalsh/

Check out her book here.

Los Angeles, California

 

Tamara Shaya Hoffman @tamarashaya

Media Communications Specialist. Conflict Analyst. Development Advocate. Strategist. Storyteller. Leader.

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/tamara-shaya/6/893/793

Washington, DC

 

Priscilla Shirer @PriscillaShirer

Bible teacher and speaker

http://www.goingbeyond.com/

Check out her books here.

Listen to her speak here.

Texas

 

Andrea Smith

Intellectual, professor at University of California Riverside, Co-founder of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence

http://mcs.ucr.edu/andrea-smith-associate-professor/

Check out her books here.

Listen to her speak here.

Southern California

 

Emfrem Smith @efremsmith

Montgomery, Alabama

 

Jemar Tisby @JemarTisby

Co-Founder of @RAANetwork, Student at @RTSJackson, Black & Reformed Christian

http://www.jemartisby.com 

Jackson, Mississippi

 

Nikki Toyama-Szeto

Senior Director of Biblical Justice Integration and Mobilization at International Justice Mission

http://www.ijm.org/node/2392

Check out her books.

Watch her speak.

Washington, DC

 

Richard Twiss

Speaker, activist, educator, author on Indigenous communities.  Founder of Wiconi International. 

(Richard passed away earlier this year, but leaves a rich legacy of work with us)

http://www.wiconi.com/

Watch some videos here.

Check out his writing here. 

 

 

Kathy Tuan-Maclean

Area Director, Boston Graduate/Faculty Ministries, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wordynerdy/

Watch her speak. 

 

Canon Andrew White @vicarofbaghdad

Vicar of St. George’s Church in Baghdad

http://frrme.org/

Check out his books.

Listen to him speak.

Baghdad, Iraq

 

 

Marcos Witt @MarcosWitt

Christian musical artist

https://www.facebook.com/marcoswitt

Listen to his music here.

Houston, Texas

 

Randy Woodley @randywoodley7

  

 

 

Jenny Yang @JennyYangWR

Vice President of Advocacy and Policy @WorldRelief and co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate.

Read more about Jenny.

Watch her speak.

 

Naomi Zacharias @Naomi_Zacharias