VALLEY FORGE, PA (10/25/21)—The Rev. Cassandra D. (“Casey”) Carkuff Williams, Ed.D., FOCAE, American Baptist Home Mission Societies’ (ABHMS) national director of Discipleship Ministries, will retire Nov. 30, 2021, completing 17 years of service with the denominational mission organization.

Williams joined the staff of ABHMS, then known as National Ministries, in 2004 as managing editor of Judson Press and resource coordinator for Discipleship and Education. In 2006, she was named ABHMS’ national coordinator of Discipleship Resource Development. In 2016, she was named to her current position.

Highlights of her ABHMS ministry include developing the annual Discipleship and Christian Education Guide; overseeing Workshops for Church Life and Leadership; developing educational resources, such as “Children, Poverty and the Bible,” “Race and Poverty: Five-session Study Guide” and “A Matter of Stewardship: Ecojustice in Biblical Perspective;” and leading workshops on discipleship and faith formation in the 21st century.

“Casey is a world-class professional in the areas of discipleship, education and developing Christian resources,” says ABHMS Executive Director Dr. Jeffrey Haggray. “Her rare talent will be missed on our staff, and we will look for creative ways to keep Casey engaged with our mission.”

Williams is passionate about children, animals, creation justice, marginalized persons, and authentic Christian discipleship and biblical study grounded in quality scholarship for every day folks.

She authored the books “Children among Us: Foundations in Children’s Ministries” (Witherspoon Press, 2003) and “Learning the Way: Reclaiming Wisdom from the Earliest Christian Communities” (Alban Institute, 2009).

In 2005 she was appointed a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics at Oxford University.

Ordained Sept. 16, 1984, at the United Church of Oxford, N.Y., she served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Canisteo, N.Y., for six years before beginning graduate studies.

She earned a Master of Divinity in 1984 at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, where she was named a Presidential Scholar and received the American Bible Society Biblical Studies Award. In 1993 she earned a Master of Theology in Biblical Studies at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Va., for which her thesis was “God, Animals, and Us: Lessons from Genesis 1–3.” She earned an Ed.D. in 1998 from Union Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond.

Founded in 1824, Judson Press is a publishing ministry of American Baptist Home Mission Societies and produces Christ-centered spiritual and leadership resources for the transformation of individuals, congregations and communities.

American Baptist Home Mission Societies partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.

American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.