Writers Coffeehouse

This event was held on October 21. This was an informal discussion about writing, the writing process and getting published. President Frank James and his wife, Carolyn Custis James, have spent much of their adult life writing. They have written or edited 16 books–and counting. Carolyn is a biblical scholar while Frank has focused primarily on history and theology.


About Our Presenters

Carolyn Custis James

Carolyn Custis James

Carolyn has travelled widely to speak at colleges, universities, seminaries and churches all over the world. Christianity Today named Carolyn as one of the “50 Women to Watch” in 2013. She was the founder of the Synergy Women’s Network, a contributing editor for Leadership Journal and continues to serve as a consulting editor for Zondervan’s Exegetical Commentary Series on the NT. She currently serves on the advisory board of the Logos Institute for Analytic and Exegetical Theology at St. Andrews University, Scotland. She is and award-winning  author of 7 books: When Life and Beliefs Collide, Understanding Purpose, Lost Women of the Bible, The Gospel of Ruth, Half the Church (2012 Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year), Malestrom (the Christianity Today 2016 book of the year for her.meneutics) and Finding God in the Margins. She’s a member of Evangelicals for Justice, has written for Huffington Post, blogs at carolyncustisjames.com and as a Leading Voice at Missio Alliance. Her work focuses on the intersection between Christianity and twenty-first century cultural issues facing women and men globally.

President Frank James

Dr. Frank James

Frank is President and Professor of Historical Theology at MISSIO Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. He formerly served as Provost and Professor of Historical Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He studied history under Alister McGrath for his D.Phil. at Oxford University and added a second Ph.D. in Theology from Westminster Theological Seminary/Pennsylvania. For a decade he was Regular Visiting Professor History at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, affiliated to St. Peter’s College, Oxford University. He is the author of 9 books and numerous academic articles. He authored Peter Martyr Vermigli and Predestination, coedited with Heiko Oberman, Via Augustini: Augustine in the Later Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation and with Charles Hill, The Glory of the Atonement. He is the one of the founding members of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture. His latest book is Church History: From Pre-Reformation to the Present. He has also been a consultant and script writer for a historical documentary film series.  He is also the founder of the Polis Institute—a non-profit research center for urban renewal in Orlando, Florida. He currently serves as the chair of the Faith and Spirituality Advisory Board for the Department of Behavioral Health in Philadelphia and has served on the Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic in Philadelphia.