Editors and Advisory Board
Editor
Jennifer Hockenbery serves as Editor of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics. She is is currently serving as the interim executive director of the Women of the ELCA. A philosopher interested especially in Luther Studies, Saint Augustine, and Feminism, she is the author of Wisdom’s Friendly Heart: Augustinian Hope for Skeptics and Conspiracy Theorists (Cascade, 2020) and Thinking Woman: A Philosophical Approach to the Quandary of Gender (Cascade, 2015) as well as the editor of The Devil’s Whore: Reason and Philosophy in the Lutheran Tradition (Fortress, 2011) and Just in Time: Moments in Teaching Philosophy (Pickwick, 2019). She attends Grace Lutheran Church in Green Bay, WI.
Book Review Editor
Nancy Arnison is a theologian, dancer, international human rights lawyer and non-profit executive. Now an independent consultant, she previously ran the Theological Book Network, the ELCA World Hunger Program, and Refugee and Immigrant programs at the Advocates for Human Rights and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Nancy was an attorney with Briggs and Morgan in Minneapolis, and served as Program Director at Physicians for Human Rights in Boston. She has taught and published in the fields of human rights and theology. Nancy received her J.D. from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Chicago. Nancy lives in Minneapolis with her dog, Mikka, and is a member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.
Rev. Matthew Best
The Rev. Matthew Best serves at pastor of St. Stephen Lutheran Church in New Kingstown, PA. He also serves on the Lower Susquehanna Synod Council as well as chairs the Policy Council of the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania. Pr. Best’s ministry passion is in the area of homelessness.
Bishop Eric Gronberg
Bishop Erik K. J. Gronberg was elected by the Northern-Texas Northern Louisiana Synod/Mission Area in April of 2016. Prior to his election, he had served as Lead Pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Fort Worth since 2010. He was senior pastor of Dr. Martin Luther Church in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, from 2005 to 2010.
Bishop Gronberg graduated from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2005 with a Master of Divinity and was ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). He earned a PhD in Leadership Studies at Dallas Baptist University in 2017. His area of academic interest is adaptive leadership in crisis.
Deacon Julia Nelson
Deacon Julia Nelson is a mom and pastor’s wife passionate about breaking mental health stigma and providing grace space to build healthy communities in the name of Christ. Julia achieved her Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary in 2013 and is currently working to complete a Master’s degree in Marriage, Couple, & Family Counseling through Walden University.
Rev. Dr. Richard Perry
The Rev. Dr. Richard J. Perry, Jr., PhD, is professor emeritus of Church and Society/Urban Ministry, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. His research interests include Lutheran and African American social ethics, health disparities among communities, and bioethics.
Dr. William Rodriguez
Prof. William Rodriguez completed his doctoral work in Religious and Philosophical Ethics at the Florida State University and teaches at Bethune Cookman University. His research interests include biomedical ethics, philosophical ethics, comparative religious ethics, Liberation Theology, economic/political theory, and popular culture. He was a member on the Women & Justice Task force and has been involved as a translator and also in theological review for a number of Social Statements/Social Messages.
Rev. Dr. Roger Willer
The Rev. Roger A. Willer, PhD. is an ELCA pastor serving as Director for Theological Ethics on the Theological Discernment team in the Office of the Presiding Bishop. In that capacity he carries responsibilities for the development and interpretation of ELCA social teaching and for nurturing moral discernment across the church. He serves as the staff lead for publication of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics as well as the coordinator of the Lutheran Ethicists’ Network.