Featured Speakers

Plenary Speakers

Randall Balmer is John Phillips Chair in Religion, chair of the Department of Religion, and director of the Society of Fellows at Dartmouth College. Balmer is also an ordained Episcopal priest. Before arriving at Dartmouth, he was for twenty-seven years Professor of American Religious History at Columbia University. He has published more than a dozen books, including Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter (Basic Books, 2014) and The Making of Evangelicalism: From Revivalism to Politics and Beyond (Baylor, 2010). His second book, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America (Oxford, 1989), now in its fifth edition, was made into an award-winning, three-part documentary for PBS.

L. Gregory Jones is Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams, Jr. Professor of Theology and Christian Ministry at Duke University and senior strategist for Leadership Education at Duke Divinity School; he recently was appointed senior advisor in the Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University. Between 1997 and 2010, Jones served as the eleventh dean of Duke Divinity School. An internationally known theologian whose work centers on forgiveness, Christian higher education, social innovation, leadership, and pastoral ministry, Jones also has served as Duke University’s chief international strategist for global engagement. The author or editor of sixteen books, Jones also has published more than 200 articles and essays. His book Embodying Forgiveness (Eerdmans, 1995) is regarded as a landmark achievement in the field.

James K. A. Smith holds the Gary and Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview at Calvin College. He also serves as a research fellow of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, a senior fellow with Cardus, and is editor of Comment. Smith's scholarly research is at the intersection of philosophy, theology, and cultural criticism. An award-winning author for both scholarly and popular audiences, his work appears in such publications as Comment, Slate, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Books and Culture, and First Things. His books include Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? (Baker, 2006); Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Baker, 2009); and his most recent, How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor (Eerdmans, 2014).

Featured Speakers

Beyond Sport: Toward a Holistic Understanding of Leisure from a Christian Perspective
Paul Heintzman is associate professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Heintzman's research interests are in leisure and spirituality, the ethics of leisure, and the relationship between recreation and the environment. An award-winning teacher and scholar, he is also an author and editor in the field of leisure studies. He is co-editor of Christianity and Leisure: Issues in a Pluralistic Society (Dordt, 2006), editor of a special issue of Leisure/Loisir on the theme of leisure and spirituality, and the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on the topics of leisure and spirituality, recreation and the environment, and the philosophy and ethics of leisure.

Flow, Sport and Spirit
Patrick Kelly, SJ, is associate professor of theology and religious studies at Seattle University. Kelly also teaches in the School of Theology and Ministry. His research and writing are in the areas of Christianity and cultures, theological anthropology, Christian spirituality and interreligious dialogue. Additionally, he has written and presented on the topic of sport's intersection with culture, theology, and history, serves as an editor for the International Journal of Religion and Sport, and is the author of Catholic Perspectives on Sports: From Medieval to Modern Times (Paulist, 2012) and Youth Sport and Spirituality: Catholic Perspectives (University of Notre Dame Press, 2015).

Looking at the Sport Enhancement Debate in a New Way
Tracy Trothen is associate professor of theology and ethics at Queen's University, Ontario. In 2007, she won the United Church of Canada Foundation's Davidson Trust Award for excellence in scholarship and teaching. Her work specializes in social and professional ethics, sport, human enhancement, biomedical ethics, and spiritual health. She is the author of numerous essays, book chapters, and edited volumes. Most recently she published Winning the Race? Religion, Hope, and Reshaping the Sport Enhancement Debate(Mercer, 2015).

Featured Panelists

Gender and Faith in American Sports
Featuring: Paule McGee and Marcia Mount Shoop

Paula McGee is a former professional basketball player, preacher, and speaker on social justice issues. McGee won back-to-back national championships with the University of Southern California's women's basketball team in 1983 and 1984. She then played professionally in the United States and Europe before starting a sports management agency and representing her twin sister in her inaugural season with the WNBA. Additionally, she is the co-founder of Christian Business Success Network, a nonprofit that specializes in training and providing support for Christian business leaders. She is an ordained Baptist minister and former dean of chapel at historic Fisk University.

Marcia Mount Shoop is a writer, teacher, and minister focusing on race, gender, and justice in sports. Shoop is a member of the Student-Athletes Human Rights Project, a non-profit advocacy group of academics, advocates, former student-athletes, and parents of student-athletes working to cultivate the well-being of college student-athletes. She also works with Peace-ing Together Consulting, and recently released Touchdowns for Jesus and Other Signs of Apocalypse: Lifting the Veil on Big-Time Sports (Cascade, 2014).

Faith, Media, and Sports
Featuring: Chris Broussard and Lisa Fenn
Chair - Ed Uszynski

Chris Broussard is an internationally-known NBA analyst and award-winning journalist for ESPN. As a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, he specializes in covering the NBA. He makes regular television appearances on ABC and ESPN and has served as an analyst on the network's flagship NBA show, "NBA Countdown." In addition to working with many of America's most accomplished athletes, he has interviewed some of the world's most influential leaders, including former President Bill Clinton and the Reverend Jesse Jackson. He is the author of Not Without Scars: The Inspiring Life Journey of Mark C. Olds (MCO Media, 2000).

Lisa Fenn is a former feature producer for ESPN, speaker, and advocate. A graduate of Cornell University, she is an Edward R. Murrow and six-time Emmy Award-winning producer. Among her credits is "Carry On" (2009), a documentary hailed as "the best story ESPN had ever aired" by Sports Illustrated. It is the powerful story of two disabled, inner-city young men who overcame incredible hardships to achieve what they thought was impossible. She now speaks to audiences about her experiences, and educates on issues of poverty and transracial adoption.

Higher Education and College Athletics
Featuring: Dutch Baughman, Nina King, Ken Starr, and Great Teaff

Dutch Baughman is former Executive Director of the Division 1A Athletic Directors' Association. After participating in football, wrestling, and lacrosse at The Ohio State University, Baughman began his coaching and athletics administration career. During his career, he served at The Ohio State University, Northwestern University, Furman University, Virginia Tech, and Oregon State University. He retired in 2015 after a career marked by care for the academic development of student-athletes, education of future athletic directors, promotion of increased diversity amongst college coaches, and support for all programs regardless of their size.

Nina King is Deputy Director of Athletics for Administration/Legal Affairs and Chief of Staff in the athletics department at Duke University. King has oversight responsibilities for the department’s human resources office, recreation and physical education, and the development and execution of all department contracts. She also acts as the liaison to the University Legal Counsel Office. Additionally, King serves on the NCAA Division I Committee on Institutional Performance. She also co-teaches a sports business course in Duke’s Fuqua School of Business as part of Duke’s MBA program, and is a member of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators, the Sports Lawyers Association, the University of Notre Dame National Monogram Club, and the Florida Bar Association.

Judge Ken Starr is President and Chancellor of Baylor University, and serves on the faculty of the Baylor Law School as Louise L. Morrison Chair of Constitutional Law. Judge Starr has had a distinguished career in academia, the law, and public service. As Solicitor General of the United States from 1989 to 1993, he argued thirty-six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has taught constitutional law at New York University School of Law, George Mason University School of Law, Chapman Law School, and Pepperdine Law School, where he held the position of Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law. He is the author of more than twenty-five publications, including his book, First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life (Grand Central Publishing, 2002).

Grant Teaff is executive director of the American Football Coaches Association and former head football coach at Baylor University. Teaff has been heavily involved in the administrative side of intercollegiate athletics and has served on many key NCAA committees, as well as two terms as chairman on the FCA Board of Trustees. Teaff's career as a college coach has placed him in eight Halls of Fame, including the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. He won one hundred seventy football games, two Southwest Conference Championships, and coached in twenty post-season bowls and all-star games. He was Coach of the Year six times in the Southwest Conference, and received National Coach of the Year honors from the American Football Coaches Association and the Football Writers Association of America. In 2006, Teaff was honored with the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award by the AFCA.

Athletes in the Arena
Featuring: Haley Burton, Robin Landrith, Austin McDaniel, and Makena Schroder
Chair - Ed Uszynski

Haley Burton is from Shallowater, Texas, and graduated this past August from Lubbock Christian University, where she studied accounting and business administration. At LCU, Burton played point guard on the basketball team, was named first-team all-Heartland Conference, and earned three-time Academic All-District distinctions.

Camden Duzenack is from Melissa, Texas, and is currently a sophomore at Dallas Baptist University studying sports management. As an infielder on the baseball team, he was named a Louisville Slugger All-American and was honored as the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 2015.

Robin Landrith is from Tucson, Arizona. Currently in her senior year at Baylor University, she is studying Great Texts and is a member of the William Carey Crane Scholars Program. As starting catcher on the softball team, Landrith was honored in 2015 with a First Team Academic All-Big 12 distinction.

Austin McDaniel is from Waco, Texas, and graduated this past May from the University of Tulsa, where he played cornerback on the football team. McDaniel studied history and economics at Tulsa and was honored multiple times on the C-USA Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll. A former walk-on athlete, he is a three-year letterwinner.

Makena Schroder is a senior from Sandy, Oregon, studying early childhood education at Texas Christian University. She was named the TCU FCA Athlete of the Year in 2014 and holds the outdoor javelin throw record for TCU women’s track and field.

Sports and the American Church
Featuring: Johnny Derouen, Marcia Mount Shoop, and Jeff Warren

Johnny Derouen is associate professor of student ministry and chair of the Human Growth and Development Division at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Derouen is a member of the Southwestern Baptist Religious Education Association, and, before arriving at Southwestern, served as a youth minister from 1978 through 2005. Over the course of his career, he has published in various youth magazines and journals, and has created educational and training materials for youth workers and ministers.

Jeff Warren is senior pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. Warren received a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry from Southwestern Theological Seminary where his doctoral work focused on Christian apologetics. After seminary, he went to Park Cities Baptist Church as Youth Minister from 1988 to 1995, then became Minister to Young Marrieds and later, Minister to Married Adults. In 1999, he was called as Senior Pastor of FBC McKinney before returning to Park Cities in 2010. Warren is also an artist, triathlete, and author of Live Forgiven (Xulon, 2008).

Culture, Competition, and Vulnerability: Taking Responsibility in a Broken System
Featuring: Stephen Danley, Ibrahim Jaaber, Daniel McMahon
Chair - Tom Hibbs

Stephen Danley is assistant professor of public policy and administration at Rutgers University-Camden. He is the founder and author of the Local Knowledge Blog, which highlights local voice and local issues, particularly in Camden, and has been featured in Next City magazine, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Philly magazine. He completed his doctorate in the Department of Social Policy and Interventions at Oxford, where he studied on a Marshall Scholarship. While in college, Danley won three Ivy championships at Penn, where he played basketball.

Ibrahim Jaaber is a former professional point guard and shooting guard who played for the Bulgarian national basketball team. He is the founder and president of Color Me Muslim, an organization that focuses on the advancement of Muslim youth. Jaaber has also been writing and performing spoken word poetry for over 10 years. In college, he played basketball at Penn and was honored as the Ivy League Player of the Year his junior and senior years. He helped lead the Quakers to three straight Ivy League titles and is the all-time leader in steals at Penn and in the Ivy League.

Daniel McMahon is principal of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he also teaches World Literature. In 2007-2008, McMahon received the Distinguished Educational Leadership Award presented by the Washington Post. Additionally, in 2015 he was recognized as an outstanding secondary school educator by the National Catholic Education Association. DeMatha High School is a national athletic powerhouse, whose accomplishments have been hailed by publications such as Sports Illustrated. In 2009 the school was named the top athletic program in Maryland.