Meet the members of ACWC
Co-Chairs
Joann Lee
Joann was ordained as a teaching elder in November 2009. She was born in New York City to Korean immigrant parents and grew up in Houston, TX. She has a Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Psychology from The University of Texas in Austin. Joann and her spouse Mike met in 8th grade and live nearby her church in Saint Paul with their two dogs Bailey and Logan. They welcomed their first child Austin in January 2014.
Darcy Metcalfe Mudd
Darcy Metcalfe Mudd is in her fourth year serving with ACWC, and is currently serving on Leadership Team. Some of her special interests involve advising churches putting together Youth Protection Policies and also advocating for gender justice in social policy issues. She is a 2012 graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is currently serving as Solo-Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Perrysburg, Ohio, where she resides with her husband Bill.
Jacob Parsons-Wells
Jacob began serving on ACWC in 2012. He is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist living in Louisville, KY. He has a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Master of Arts in Religion, both from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Marshall University in Huntington, WV. He currently works as the Treatment Supervisor for a non-profit agency that provides residential treatment for adolescent girls with a trauma history. When he's not working, he enjoys spending time with his partner, son, and the family beagle.
Members
Barbara Adams-Smelter
Barbara is an independent business owner who served as Moderator for the Synod of the Trinity in 2013. She is a church organist who was ordained as a ruling elder in 1985 and as a deacon ten years later. She has served as clerk of session and on several Presbyterian committees. She joined ACWC in 2010, and serves as their liaison to the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns.
Kerri Allen
Rev. Kerri Allen is a PhD Student and hospital chaplain. Prior to responding to a call into ministry Kerri had a first career as a political appointee at multiple levels of government, including serving as a Legislative Assistant in the United States Senate, with an expertise in healthcare policy. Now, as a student in theology and ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Kerri uses her experiences to focus on disparities in the United States healthcare system. Originally from St. Paul, MN, when Kerri is not buried in a book or writing a paper, she enjoys hiking, travel, watching sports, cooking, or spending time with one of her 15 nieces or nephews.
Louise Davidson
Louise is an ordained elder and served as the Presbyterian Women (churchwide) vice moderator for Justice and Peace (2006-2009).
As such, she served for three years on ACWC. She has served Presbyterian Women in her congregation, presbytery, synod and nationally in various positions. She worked to establish congregational and presbytery Justice and Peace committees and formerly served on the General Assembly's Peacemaking Advisory Committee.
Sheila Louder
Sheila Louder currently serves as Vice Moderator Justice and Peace Concerns, Presbyterian Women, Churchwide Coordinating Team, Inc. and as ACWC’s liaison to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy. She is a ruling elder at New Life Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), College Park, GA. She was a moderator of PW Presbytery of Greater Atlanta and at New Life. She was the founder of the Inez Wagner Food pantry at New Life in 1997 and serves as the coordinator. Sheila facilitated the PW Churchwide Coordinating Team Sisters Stand and Walk Together Program, Synod of South Atlantic (2010-2013). She served as an Ambassador representing Presbytery of Greater Atlanta in 2005, Moderator of Committee of Women of Color/Justice for Women, Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, president of Presbyterian Village Auxiliary, Austell, GA of Presbyterian Homes of Georgia, and a board member Bread for the World, Atlanta. Sheila was a commissioner to the 218th General Assembly in San Jose, CA. She is a graduate of Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, and served as president of the Atlanta Chapter National Alumnae Association where she was awarded the Outstanding Community Service Award in 2008. Sheila has been married 42 years to Bill Louder and they are the parents of three young adults Jason, Melanie and Steven.
Mary McClintock Fulkerson
An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Mary McClintock Fulkerson is Professor of Theology at Duke University Divinity School. Her first book, Changing the Subject: Women’s Discourses and Feminist Theology, examined the liberating practices of non-feminist church women and feminist academics through the lens of poststructuralism and feminist literary criticism. Her recent book, Places of Redemption: Theology for a Worldly Church explores the practices of an interracial church (United Methodist) that includes people with disabilities. In contrast with theology's typical focus on beliefs, this project offers a theory of practices and place that foregrounds the affective bodily reactions and communications that shape all groups, particularly around perceptions of “otherness” related to race and dis-ability. Fulkerson’s book,The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theology, co-edited with Sheila Briggs, is a collection of essays on feminist theology organized around the theme of globalization. Currently a member of the steering committee of the Duke Human Rights Center’s Pauli Murray Project, Fulkerson is involved in its mission to use the stories of an activist African American woman to raise local community consciousness around justice issues. Her most recent book is Theological Perspectives for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Public Intellectuals for the 21st Century, which she co-edited with Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz and Rosemary Carbine.
Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty
The Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty is chair of the department of theology at Bellarmine University and professor of theology. The church's role in addressing issues of social and economic justice has long been Hinson-Hasty's concern. She is frequently called upon to preach and speak on faith and public life in a variety of settings. Recently, she served as a research consultant for the World Council of Churches' North American Regional Forum and Hearings on Poverty, Wealth, and Ecology. In addition to numerous articles and other publications, she is author of Beyond the Social Maze: Exploring the Theological Ethics of Vida Dutton Scudder (2006) and co-editor of Prayers for the New Social Awakening (2008) with Christian Iosso and To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians (2008) with Rebecca Todd Peters. One of Hinson-Hasty’s forthcoming publications is a book on Dorothy Day (forthcoming September 2014). Among other honors, she has distinguished herself as a Fulbright Scholar (Hungary 2010) and received the Wilson Wyatt Faculty Fellowship for excellence in teaching and scholarship (2010). She and her partner, Lee, are both alums of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Susie Wiggins
Rev. Susan Carter Wiggins joined ACWC following the 220th General Assembly (2012). She is an ordained Teaching Elder currently serving as Transitional Minister for First Presbyterian, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Prior to this call, Susie served as Chaplain Resident at Baptist Health in Little Rock, AR, and served the Presbytery of Arkansas as a pulpit supply pastor, preaching in over twenty-five congregations during the year. In addition to serving on the ACWC, Rev. Wiggins serves on the Disaster Preparedness and Response Committee for the Presbytery of Arkansas. Rev. Wiggins earned both her Master of Divinity and Master of Marriage and Family Therapy at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Prior to seminary, Rev. Wiggins was in the broadcast industry in Little Rock for over twenty years. Rev. Wiggins is passionate in advocating for women and girls, and in helping them to find their voices. She is the mother of two adult children, and two beautiful granddaughters, all who live in Central Arkansas, and she is the widow of Ralph J. Wiggins.
