Our keynote speaker, Dr. Randy Woodley, PhD, is an activist/scholar, distinguished speaker, teacher and wisdom keeper who addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith/spirituality, justice, race/diversity, regenerative farming, our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. His expertise has been sought in national venues such as Time Magazine, The Huffington Post and Christianity Today. Dr. Woodley currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox University/Portland Seminary. Randy was raised near Detroit, Michigan and is a legal descendent of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Randy co-hosts the Peacing it all Together podcast with Bo Sanders. Dr. Woodley and his wife are co-sustainers of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice/Eloheh Farm, a regenerative teaching center and farm in Yamhill, Oregon. The Woodleys have been innovators and activists for over three decades. They have four grown children and five grandchildren. His books include: Decolonizing Evangelicalism: An 11:59pm Conversation, The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity.

Joey is a Scottish transplant to the PNW via Washington, DC and San Diego, and is passionate about the prophetic power of faith communities to transform the world. He works as a faith-rooted community organizer in the Seattle-Tacoma region and focuses on accompanying faith leaders in their ongoing spiritual, political and social formation through the praxis of organizing. He began his formation as an organizer with mostly Spanish-speaking Catholic communities in San Diego, holds a degree in Theology from Oxford University, and writes about the relationship between faith and global development, most recently as the co-author of the book Faith, Secularism and Humanitarian Engagement.

Joey lives in Tacoma, WA with his partner, Emily, and two boys, Rowan and Finlay.

John Core has 15 years’ experience at state, county, and city levels working with emergency managers on HAM Radio disaster communications, including two years as Oregon Section Manager. He has 25 years in Air pollution regulatory programs. John’s connections with our government disaster response partners helps key officials understand what role the Church can play when disaster strikes. When that day comes, John will be at the center of the action as a Oregon Synod Disaster Response Initiative member, volunteer, and as part of Emergency Operations for the State of Oregon handling Emergency Communications.

Sara lives in Milwaukie with her husband, Josh, dog Copper and their young son. Sara has a long history working in outdoor ministry, education and performing arts. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and holds the title Reverend along with mom, wife, neighbor citizen, sister, friend, and sometimes screw-up. She serves as co-pastor/leader/organizer and founder of Storyline Community. She's passionate about justice for women and children and advocating for housing rights for all her neighbors and neighbors to be.

Anna's background is in Marriage and Family Therapy + some seminary, and she is a certified mediator. She lives in Oak Grove with her husband and two children. Anna gets all lit up by systemic thinking and big-picture movement, and loves breathing the daily life's work of humanizing, connecting, and restoring our relationships and souls. She thrives on seeing people reconnect to their neighborhoods and get captivated by the pursuit of justice and goodness in their community. Anna serves as co-pastor/leader/organizer and founder of Storyline Community- a community collective and community of faith that helps neighbors and institutions work together to know and meet the needs of their neighborhood.

Charlene brings decades of experience and knowledge in the areas of disaster preparedness and response to the Oregon Synod Disaster Response Initiative. An experienced leader in Disaster work, she has represented the synod with partners including ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response, Lutheran Community Services Northwest, and the Oregon Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (ORVOAD). She is currently a lead on the team assisting families impacted by the spring Umatilla flooding. Charlene is retired from Pacific Power and the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office. She spends her time volunteering with the Astoria Lions Club, United Way of Clatsop County, and many others. She is a member of the North Coast Symphonic Band and is an ensemble musician at her home congregation of First Lutheran in Astoria.

Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar was raised in the mountains of NW Montana in a small logging town and still believes in the power of rivers, basketball and banjos to heal the soul. Her faith was formed by the love the Lutherans have given her, the questions Stanford University has given her, the courage Harvard Divinity School has given her, the perspective El Salvador has given her and the spiritual practices the Benedictine sisters of Beech Grove, Indiana have given her. She is unashamedly curious about American history, meditation, travel, orcas, trillium, human biology and systems theory. These days she finds meaning in music, mindfulness meditation and meandering the neighborhood with her husband Drew and their Goldendoodle Oliver. She was elected as Bishop of the Oregon Synod on Mother's Day weekend in 2019.

Juan Carlos La Puente moved to Portland from Peru in 2014 with his wife, Rae Anne and daughter, Isabel. He has deep experience in supporting organizations and institutions in how to root their work for justice and peace into a relational culture that fosters community dialogue and discernment. Since 2016 he has been working with leaders in the Oregon Synod and internationally, doing theology to enlighten community dialogue and discernment in communion with our ancestors. He is called to walk a path discovered together when we are able to open our hearts, our stories, our vulnerabilities, and our dreams. From that openness, we share our longing to be truthful facing the threats to Life. He is honored to walk this path alongside people who have been accompanying one another through the Oregon Synod (congregations, projects, initiatives, and more) as Bishop's Associate.

Luis Manriquez is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine where he leads Health Equity development efforts in the Department of Academic and Community Partnerships.

As a medical student, he founded the Health Equity Circle, an inter-professional student group that equips students to take action on health equity with community partners using the tools of community organizing. Health Equity Circle students have worked with community partners to increase funding for affordable housing by $67 million dollars, support a $327 million dollar bond for early childhood education programs, protect medical interpretive services from budget cuts, and legislation requiring workers to have access to sick and safe leave at their jobs.

Luis is a family physician in practice with BAVI Health in Spokane. He loves practicing full-scope family medicine from delivering babies, to seeing patients in the hospital, emergency department and clinic. He is also working on developing clinical programs to bring patients and clinic staff together to address social determinants of health in collaboration with community partners. He is passionate about eliminating health inequities and making Washington the healthiest and most equitable state in the nation.

Melissa was born in Goettingen, Germany while her parents studied theology. She was raised throughout the New England Synod, the daughter of two Lutheran pastors, where she learned the power of community to nurture active, curious, relentless faith in an incarnate, relational God. This faith would agitate her at Boston College (BA in English), through work in a Lutheran Community Services group home, and at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, CA (MDiv, 2008). She currently serves as Bishop's Associate in the Oregon Synod.

Erika is originally from the Garden State and moved to Portland after college to cut her teeth as a community organizer and live in intentional spiritual community through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps NW. While in Portland, Erika learned how to tell her story and preach the good word alongside the beautiful souls at the Leaven Community. Erika graduated from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California, and most recently served The Bridge, a coffee house ministry in St. Charles, Missouri. She is married to Tom, a graphic artist, who is required to call her “The Rev.” She enjoys cooking, reading, singing lullabies to her son, Theo, and spoiling her pup.

Jan Wierima became interested in Charlene’s and John’s work some years ago while on staff in the Synod Office. Now, in semi-retirement, she has committed much of her time and efforts to the Oregon Synod Disaster Preparedness Initiative. She specializes in educational and strategic group process design, facilitation, grant writing/management, and partnership development. Jan is leading the outreach and engagement with congregations, including the September launch of the Oregon Synod Congregation Disaster Preparedness and Response Network.