EcoPreacher Cohort

Rev. Nicole Diroff is ordained in the United Church of Christ. Having served as Program Director for The BTS Center since 2020, with primary responsibility for coordinating the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Center’s programmatic offerings, Nicole recently assumed a new role as Associate Director, effective July 1, 2024. She holds expertise in facilitation, data management, and strategic planning. Nicole is a certified Maine Master Naturalist, serves as Chair of the Spiritual Formation Committee at Williston-Immanuel United Church and Co-Chair of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee for the Scarborough Public School District. She lives with her family in Scarborough, Maine.

Derrick Weston is a writer, filmmaker, podcaster, speaker, and educator whose most recent work has focused on the intersection of food and faith. He serves as the Director of Theological Education and Training for Creation Justice Ministries. Derrick is the co-host of the Food and Faith podcast and producer of Spoon, Spade, and Soul, a podcast highlighting food and land-based ministries in the Episcopal church. Additionally, he is the producer of the short film series "A Wilderness Like Eden" highlighting the work of churches engaged in food justice work. After two decades of being a pastor and community organizer, Derrick is a strong believer in the potential of local congregations to enact change in their communities. Derrick received his B.A. in film studies from the University of Pittsburgh and his Masters of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He also has a certification in health ministry from Wesleyan Theological Seminary and was a part of the Re:Generate fellowship on food, faith, and ecology through Wake Forest Divinity School. Derrick is the co-author of the book The Just Kitchen: Invitations to Sustainability, Cooking, Connection, and Celebration and has written numerous articles for several publications. He and his wife Shannon have four children and live outside of Baltimore, Maryland.

Rev. Dr. Xavier Johnson is Assistant Professor in the Practice of Preaching and Black Church Studies at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. Dr. Johnson teaches in the areas of homiletics and Black Church studies. His research interests converge at the intersection of clergy leadership, black religion, social justice, and preaching. Dr. Xavier Johnson is ordained in the Progressive National Baptist Convention and he currently serves as the pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio. Prior to joining the faculty at United, he served as Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Contextual Ministry Education at Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, IN.

The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is Associate Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky.  An ordained Lutheran minister since 2000, Leah has served congregations in rural, urban, and suburban settings.  She earned both her MDiv and PhD degrees from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary).  Her publications include: Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit (Chalice Press, 2015); Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019); and Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis, co-edited with Margaret Bullitt-Jonas with essays from a cross-section of faith leaders and activists offering their spiritual wisdom and energy for facing the difficult days ahead (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).  She has also written a Creation-centered Lenten devotional, For the Beauty of the Earth (Chalice Press, 2019).  Leah has served as an anti-fracking and climate activist, community organizer, and advocate for environmental justice issues and is the “EcoPreacher” blogger for Patheos.com: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ecopreacher/. She has recently launched a partnership with the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development to create a monthly resource called EcoPreacher 1-2-3 for busy pastors wanting to address environmental issues in their sermons.

The mission of Lexington Theological Seminary is to prepare faithful leaders for the church of Jesus Christ and, thus, to strengthen the church’s participation in God’s mission for the world. Lexington Theological Seminary seeks to be a servant of the church preparing men and women for ministry in congregations through:

• innovative instruction
• flexible curriculum
• congregational experience
• compassionate engagement with the needs of society

The Seminary offers an online program that is competency-based, congregation-centered and developmental in its commitment to prepare people for leadership in congregational ministry. As an integral part of the church, the seminary serves the church as a theological resource and as a center of continuing education for clergy and lay leaders.

Creation Justice Ministries’ mission is to educate, equip and mobilize communions and denominations, congregations, and individuals to protect, restore, and rightly share God's creation. Creation Justice Ministries’ membership includes Baptist, Historically Black, Orthodox, Peace, and mainline Protestant traditions. With a particular concern for people who are most vulnerable and marginalized, Creation Justice Ministries provides collaborative opportunities to build ecumenical community, guides people of faith and faith communities towards eco-justice transformations, and raises a collective witness in the public arena echoing Christ's call for just relationships among all of creation.

With roots dating back to 1814, The BTS Center is a private operating foundation in Portland, Maine, building on the legacy of the former Bangor Theological Seminary. Today The BTS Center seeks to catalyze spiritual imagination, with enduring wisdom, for transformative faith leadership. Guided by the vision of human hearts renewed, justice established, and creation restored, The BTS Center offers theologically grounded programs of continuing education and spiritual / vocational formation, including workshops and retreats, learning cohorts, courses, public conversations, and projects of applied research, all with an intention to cultivate and nurture spiritual leadership for a climate-changed world.