The Rev. J. Bennett Guess
Executive Minister, Local Church Ministries
United Church of Christ
The Rev. J. Bennett Guess serves as executive minister of local church ministries of the United Church of Christ and is a member of the five-person Collegium of Officers of the UCC. In the national setting of the church, Guess has served as communications director for Justice and Witness Ministries, editor of United Church News, and, beginning in 2008, as director of communications for the denomination. Prior to his service in Cleveland, Guess was a local church pastor for 12 years, eight of which were spent at Zion UCC in Henderson, Ky., where he also founded the Paff Haus Justice and Peace Center. He was the 1997 recipient of the UCC’s Just Peace Award and has won more than 60 journalistic awards and citations for his writing and reporting. Guess has chaired the news and media relations committee of the National Council of Churches Communications Commission; served on the Board of Governors of the Religion Communicators Council; and is a member of the Associated Church Press and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1988 from the University of Kentucky School of Journalism; studied public administration and policy at Western Kentucky University and Murray State University; received a master's in divinity degree in 1991 from Vanderbilt Divinity School; and a D. Min. in preaching from Chicago Theological Seminary in 2001. He and his husband, Jim Therrien, are members of Pilgrim Congregational UCC in Cleveland.
The Rev. Felix Carrión
Stillspeaking Coordinator
United Church of Christ
The Rev. Felix Carrión has served as coordinator of the United Church of Christ’s Stillspeaking Ministry since 2008. Widely respected as an outstanding preacher and effective organizer, Carrión has served as pastor of Euclid Avenue Congregational UCC in Cleveland, Ohio, and as interim minister at Faith UCC in Richmond Heights, Ohio. From 1994 to 2000, he served on the UCC national staff with the Office for Church Life and Leadership, the Office for Church in Society, and Commission for Racial Justice, where he oversaw implementation of the UCC’s multiracial, multicultural church pronouncement. In April 1994, he was administrator of the five-day Latino/Latina Summit, the first ever gathering of UCC Hispanic leaders. Carrión has written a number of published articles including “The Challenges of the Church and a Strategy of Engagement” for the Andover Newton Review. Born in New York City, he received his B.A. in 1982 from The King’s College in New York and his Master of Divinity degree in 1986 from Andover Newton Theological School, graduating first in his class. He has served as Trustee of Andover Newton and has studied at Oxford University in England and at seminaries in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Carrión and his wife, Dannette Costas-Carrión, have two sons.
Guest Preacher
The Rev. Strarsky D. Wilson
President & CEO
The Deaconess Foundation
The Rev. Starsky D. Wilson began his service as president & CEO of the Deaconess Foundation in St. Louis on Nov. 1, 2011. A dynamic preacher, he also serves as pastor of St. John's United Church of Christ in St. Louis, a congregation with an exceptional commitment to human service mission. Wilson grew up in Dallas, Texas, and is a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana and Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis. He was a major gifts officer at the United Way of Greater St. Louis, president and CEO of the Madison County Urban League and a director for institutional advancement of The Black Rep, the country’s premiere African American theatre company. Wilson has served a wide variety of St. Louis community organizations as a board member and as the leader of many community initiatives. He and his wife, LaToya, a dentist at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, have three young sons.
