Topic: Updates on the Future

Join the Exploratory Team, who over the past 15 months, was tasked to prayerfully and seriously discern where God’s Spirit is leading the Living Water Association. To imagine the future of the Association in light of current cultural and ecclesiastical changes in the United Church of Christ and the Church, at large. To explore and determine what United Church of Christ standing the Living Water Association should hold within the denomination.

Facilitator: Association Exploratory Team

Rev. Dr. Monica Dawkins Smith (chair) is a semi-retired authorized minister who continues to serve in interim ministry, most recently at the historic East View UCC in Shaker Heights. She also serves on the Heartland Conference Board of Directors, and the Moravian University School of Theology Board of Trustees. She previously held executive leadership roles in the national setting of the UCC and served as a Conference Minister in Central Pennsylvania. As a second-career clergy, Dr. Dawkins-Smith brings extensive professional experience in sales, marketing, management, and training across the pharmaceutical, banking, and nonprofit sectors. She is passionate about creating spaces that inspire thoughtful imagination, collaboration, and innovation.

Rev. Dr. Ivy Beckwith is a retired UCC Minister. She has served churches across the country specializing in the faith formation of children and youth. She has authored 5 books on childhood faith formation. Prior to her retirement she was the Faith Formation Team Leader for the National Offices of the United Church of Christ.

Rev. Emily Culp Ashby serves as Associate Minister for Faith Formation at Kent UCC and previously served as solo pastor at St Paul’s Community Church in Cleveland. After graduating from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in 2014, she moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland to live and work in a L’Arche Community—an intentional community for adults with and without disabilities founded on the ideals of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10). Rev. Emily is a member of the Love of Children Cohort through the national UCC. She has a passion for creating safe, inclusive, and hospitable spaces for all persons.

Rev. Dr. David Oliver Kling is a 2008 graduate of Wright State University earning a BA in both Philosophy and Religious Studies and a 2012 MDiv graduate of Methodist Theological School in Ohio, specializing in Black Church and African Diaspora Studies. In 2013, he finished a residency in chaplaincy in WV and moved to the Massillon area to serve as a hospice chaplain. Pastor Oliver earned DMin in leadership for transformational change in 2025. He is passionate about many things including history, philosophy, and Mercersburg theology. He is also a fan of all things nerdy (science fiction & fantasy). Pastor Oliver is committed to social justice, radical acceptance, and authenticity.

Rev. Jeff Nelson serves as Minister for Ministerial Calls and Transitions on the national staff of the UCC and as pastor of St. Michael’s UCC in Marshallville. Jeff received his BA in Religion from Heidelberg University and his MDiv from Eden Theological Seminary. He is currently pursuing a DMin at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a focus on creative writing and public theology. He is also trained as a spiritual director in the tradition of Ignatius of Loyola. Jeff has a special interest in writing, speaking, and teaching about Christian spirituality in ways that educate, challenge assumptions and established norms, and help people connect their sense of the transcendent to everyday life.