James Noel, Professor of American Religion and the H. Eugene Farlough, Jr./ California Chair of African American Christianity at San Francisco Theological Seminary, is also a scholar, accomplished painter, renowned preacher, pastor, and 7th dan Tae Kwon Do Master. Noel has served as pastor at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City, Calif., as well as interim calls at Sojourner Truth Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Calif., and New Liberation Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. His published works include “Black Religion & the Imagination of Matter in the Atlantic World” and “The Passion of the Lord: African American Reflections.” Noel’s play, “The Black Experience in Poetry and Song,” has been performed nationally and internationally. With a PhD from the Graduate Theological Union, Noel helped create the GTU’s Black Church/Africana Studies Certificate Program. Courses include Modern Church Histories, The History Religions and Cultures of the African Diaspora, and African American Social, Political and Religious Thought.