Courageous Leadership

Faith Leaders, week, we are inviting you to wrestle with and reflect on this question: If people of faith do not step up and try to make a difference in how divided we are, who will?

Join us remotely via Zoom on Wednesday, January 17, as we learn from Rev. Brenda Smith and Deacon Tammy Devine. There is a lack of civility in our country that is painful to see and even more painful to experience. What is the solution? This week's presentation will challenge us to think about how we, as people of faith, can be leaders in our homes and communities to address this.

Rev. Brenda Smith was born in Harlem, New York, and attended New York Public Schools. She has been a pediatric nurse, taught pediatric nursing at Capital University, and has been an ordained pastor in the ELCA since 1995. She served New Hope Lutheran Church in Jamaica, New York, and was the Program Director for Faith Practices and Book of Faith at the ELCA Churchwide Office from 2008 to 2020. Retired and living in Maryland, her current passion is working with friend and colleague, Deacon Tammy Devine, to address racial justice by connecting compassion and civility.

Deacon Tammy Devine is honored to walk with God’s people as they seek to live and lead well. She is passionate about health, healing, and wholeness. As a Professionally Certified Coach, she draws upon her experience and additional training as an End of LIfe Coach, Spiritual Coach, Positive Intelligence and Boundless Compassion Facilitator. Most recently, she has been engaged in growing her personal work around Racial Justice. This has taken the form of, with Rev. Brenda Smith, co-facilitating conversations with cohorts for self-discovery of their own racism and connecting it with their faith.