Debra Dean Murphy is assistant professor of religion at West Virginia Wesleyan College. She has also taught at Meredith College, Campbell Divinity School, and Duke Divinity School, and worked for five years as Director of Christian Formation at Fuquay-Varina United Methodist Church in suburban Raleigh, North Carolina. She is the author of Teaching that Transforms: Worship as the Heart of Christian Education and co-author of The Shape of Our Lives and The Shape of God’s Reign, study guides in the Congregational Formation Initiative of the Ekklesia Project. Her articles and essays have appeared in journals such as Modern Theology, Theology Today, Scottish Journal of Theology, Liturgy, Cross Currents, and The Christian Century. Her blog, “Intersections: Thoughts on Religion, Culture, and Politics.” is regularly featured by The Christian Century, Sojourners, and Textweek.com. She also writes for bLOGOS, the weblog of the Ekklesia Project. Debra is married to Jim, an elder in the UMC and they have two sons, Drew and Patrick. Debra is the chairperson of the board of directors of the EP.