Topher Endress (He/Him) earned his M.Div from Vanderbilt Divinity School (Nashville, TN) in 2015 and his PhD from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland, UK) in 2021. Despite time spent in TN, TX, and the UK, he considers himself solidly Midwestern, having grown up in Evansville IN. Topher currently leads the Institute on Theology and Disability (National Benevolent Association) and is excited to serve as the Associate Minister at First Christian Church in Columbia, Missouri.
He has authored numerous academic journal articles and has a book in process with Westminster John Knox Press. Topher & his wife Sam are the parents of two young children and on the rare occasions when his two young children are sleeping, he is an avid runner and college basketball-watcher.
Topher will share creative and provocative messages that open us to experience so much about our theme, “Companions on the Journey…A Gathering of Spirits & a Festival of Friends.” Addressing the understanding that no matter our abilities/differences, we are companions on the journey toward authentic communion with God & neighbor (all whom we encounter/walk beside on Life's Journey).
