Joni S. Sancken is Associate Professor of Homiletics at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH. She is interested in theological and contextual issues in preaching. She is the Author of Words that Heal (Abingdon, 2019) Stumbling Over the Cross: Preaching the Cross and Resurrection Today (Cascade, 2016). Joni is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA and served congregations in Indiana and Pennsylvania and completed level one STAR training (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience) through the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in 2017. She lives in Oakwood, OH with her pastor husband Steve Schumm and children Maggie and Theodore.