Annual Session 2025

The Rev. Miriam Méndez is a native New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent with a deep and longstanding connection to the American Baptist Churches. With over 25 years of dynamic leadership across pastoral ministry, regional work, spiritual direction, mentoring, seminary teaching, and community engagement, Rev. Méndez has developed a rich and multifaceted perspective on church leadership. She has served in various pastoral roles, including interim pastor, co-pastor, lead pastor, associate pastor, and church planter, which has equipped her with unique insights into the complexities of ministry.

Rev. Méndez has also made significant contributions to theological education, serving as adjunct faculty at George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, Oregon, for 15 years. There, she taught courses in spiritual leadership, reconciliation, and prayer, nurturing the next generation of leaders. Her commitment to leadership development extends beyond the classroom, as she has mentored young women and men, empowering them to build Christ-centered communities dedicated to serving locally, regionally, and globally. This passion led her to participate in the 3rd Lausanne Younger Leaders Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she mentored emerging leaders from over 30 countries.

In her role as Executive Minister for ABCNJ, Rev. Méndez collaborates with local churches on a variety of critical issues, including conflict resolution, pastoral search committees, leadership development, and revitalization efforts for declining churches. Her approach has always been rooted in building strong, collegial relationships with church leaders, and strengthening ties within the region. Before her tenure in New Jersey, she served as the Associate Executive Minister for the American Baptist Churches of the Central Pacific Coast in Oregon, where she also planted Esperanza Church, the first bilingual (Spanish/English) congregation in the region.

Rev. Méndez’s dedication to empowering women, emerging leaders, and advocating for justice has led her to serve on various boards, associations, and committees, including the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, American Baptist Women in Ministry, the Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice, and Word Made Flesh—a nonprofit organization committed to serving Jesus among the most vulnerable of the world’s poor. Additionally, she was a founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Latino Action Agenda, an organization that empowers Latinos to take on civic leadership roles. She is also a member of the New Jersey Coalition of Religious Leaders, which aims to build informed relationships and collaborate around sacred values united in action for the Common Good. 

Her educational journey includes a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from National Louis University, Evanston, IL, a Master of Divinity and Spiritual Director certification from George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and a one-year residency of Clinical Pastoral Education at Emmanuel Hospital in Portland, Oregon. She holds a certificate from the Unid@s for Oregon Leadership Program, a program unifying established and emerging Latino leaders for systems of change. She recently completed her Supervision Certification for Spiritual Directors with the Companioning Center in Oregon.  She is currently completing her Doctorate in Leadership at Portland Seminary.

Rev. Méndez has a lifetime of engagement and ministry with American Baptists, a deep spirituality, and a servant's heart. Her work and experience with cross-cultural communities have prepared her to serve and lead in a manner that honors the humanity of all of God’s creation. Rev. Méndez invites others into a growing awareness of God’s constant and transforming presence in their lives. She loves being curious with others about how God is calling us to be the Church for such a time as this. She has learned that the gifts, skills and abilities she has come out of keeping her life grounded in Christ. In her time with the Holy One, she embraces new ways of thinking and behaving that help her create healthier relationships, ministries, and leadership.

David’s versatile life at the piano spans more than three decades and many styles of music, including jazz, gospel, classical and pop. He is also a composer and has released three jazz albums with his trio. 

David has performed and recorded with Victory Boyd, Darren Barrett, and The Gold Magnolias. He has performed at The Blue Note, Smalls, The Bitter End, and Groove in New York and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He also appeared playing keys with Infinity Song on the Late Show with Steven Colbert. 

He is a graduate of Simon’s Rock College of Bard and the jazz program at William Paterson University, where he formed his most important musical relationships, studying under Armen Donelian and Ari Hoenig.

Brent Miller is the Senior Pastor at the First Baptist Church of Collingswood and an aspiring blacksmith who enjoys turning guns into garden tools.  His present quest is to live the life of an ordinary mystic.  He is the author of several books, including Grace at the Threshold and The Challenger: Faith, Love, and Resistance in the Gospel of Mark.  In a former life (pre-pastor, that is) he was an attorney and Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor.  He lives in Collingswood with his wife Megen, children Kaeleigh and Caleb, and exuberant Aussie Shepherd/Border Collie Rossco, with whom he wanders and wonders in the woods every morning, rain or shine. 

Dr. Jessica Young Brown is a licensed clinical psychologist based in Virginia, working at the intersection of faith and mental health. She operates as an educator, consultant, and clinician. Dr. Brown serves an assistant professor of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, and teaches in the area of applied psychology. 

Dr. Brown completed her undergraduate education at Elon University in Elon, NC. She then matriculated at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA where she received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees, both in Counseling Psychology.