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AI-Generated Worship Curator

Rev. Jay Cooper is the founding Pastor of Violet Crown City Church, a United Methodist community of faith in Austin, TX. Jay has served in ministry for 25 years, leading churches in New Jersey, Arizona, and Texas. In addition to local church ministry, he worked for two years in Guatemala as a missionary and then trained international missionaries while living in New York City. Jay graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and earned a Master of Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Jay is a proud Longhorn, husband, and father to an amazing daughter and stepdaughter.

Live Artist

Jennifer Monet Cowley has been painting and drawing since the age of 5. Her talent was recognized at an early age through her artwork collected by her parents and grandparents. In high school, she studied fashion design and commercial art. Upon entering college, she focused on architectural design, but her love for art prevailed. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art and Performance from the University of Texas at Dallas. Jennifer works in various mediums: colored pencils, pastels, gouache, acrylic, watercolors, and collage. Jennifer also designs and paints wearable art. In addition to being an artist, she is a curator as well. While employed as Curator at Dallas’ African- American Museum at Fair Park, Jennifer curated several groundbreaking art exhibitions. Sammetria Goodson, an attorney and advocate for the arts, has remarked that Jennifer’s curating concepts are groundbreaking and rival some of the best in the world. Overall, Jennifer is an artist whose versatility and skills empower her to create distinctive works and concepts that give her a unique style and voice that is all her own.

Moderator

Dr. Michael Greene was born in New Haven, CT. He attended Columbia University, did graduate work in public policy at Cornell, and was awarded a doctorate in economics from the University of New Hampshire. Mike also holds a doctorate in Religious Ethics from ÃÛÌÒ½´Methodist University and is an ordained clergy person in the United Methodist Church. He has lived and worked in Roanoke, VA., and Washington, DC. Mike resides in Dallas, Texas, although he still considers Washington, DC—his home. Mike’s interests include the economic thought of Martin Luther King, Jr., the economics of race, health economics, economic rights, and modern monetary theory.  Mike is the Director of the Black/Africana Church Studies Program at ÃÛÌÒ½´Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. Mike has a long history of involvement in social justice and human rights struggles. Mike blogs can be found

Guest Lecturer

Noreen Herzfeld is the Nicholas and Bernice Reuter Professor of Science and Religion at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict, where she teaches courses at the intersection of religion and technology. Dr. Herzfeld holds computer science and mathematics degrees from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in theology from The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. She is the author of The Artifice of Intelligence: Divine and Human Relationship in a Robotic World (Fortress, 2023), In Our Image: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Spirit (Fortress, 2002), Technology and Religion: Remaining Human in a Co-Created World (Templeton, 2009) and editor or co-editor of Encountering AI: Ethical and Anthropological Explorations (Pickwick, 2024), Religious and Cultural Implications of Technology-Mediated Relationships in a Post-Pandemic World (Lexington, 2023), and Religion and the New Technologies (MDPI, 2017). Herzfeld is also a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Philosophical and Religious Studies (ZRS) in Koper, Slovenia.

Moderator

Dr. Hunt is the Director of Global Theological Education at the Perkins School of Theology and Professor of Christian Religions and Interreligious Relations at ÃÛÌÒ½´Methodist University. He is also an affiliate faculty member at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development, where he teaches in the Human Center and Interdisciplinary Study Program. He hosts the YouTube channel and Podcast Interfaith Encounters. He is a Fellow of the Hunt Institute for Engineering and the Humanities and is on the Graduate Liberal Studies Advisory Council and Doctor of Liberal Studies Steering Committee. He authorizes numerous books and articles on Malaysian Church History, Missions, and Islam, including Islam in Southeast Asia, Muslim Citizens of the Globalized World, and The Gospel Among the Nations, a Documentary History of Inculturation. His most recent book is Muslim Faith and Values: A Guide for Christians. Upcoming with Wipf and Stock is Authentic Humanity in an Artificial Intelligence Age.

Guest Lecturer

Cole Arthur Riley is a writer and poet. She is the author of the NYT bestsellers, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us and Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human. Her writing has been featured in The Atlantic, Guernica, and The Washington Post. Cole is also the creator and writer of Black Liturgies, a project that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body.

Moderator

Rev. Victoria Robb Powers is the Senior Pastor at Royal Lane Baptist Church and is the first female to serve as the senior pastor of a Baptist church in the DFW Metroplex. She is a graduate of Baylor University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in religion and philosophy. In 2012, Victoria graduated from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University with her Master of Divinity. After two years of serving as a hospital chaplain at Baylor Scott & White, Victoria has spent the last ten years in congregational ministry, eight of those years in the United Methodist Church. Victoria previously served as Board Chair for the Baptist House of Studies at Perkins School of Theology where she remains a board member. Her passions include reading and writing, and her first children’s book was published by Tommy Nelson, an imprint of HarperCollins, in 2023.