Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens

General Minister & President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Speaking at our EAD 2024 Spring Summit Opening Plenary on Friday night, Rev. Teresa “Terri” Hord Owens is the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. She is the first person of color and second woman to lead the denomination. Since her election in 2017, Rev. Hord Owens’ ministry actively reflects the Disciples’ priority of being an anti-racist church, being a movement for wholeness, welcoming all to the Lord’s table as God has welcomed us. Her exhortation to the church is “Let’s be the church we say we are. It is in being who we say we are that we actively bear witness to God’s limitless love for all.”

ln addition to collaborative service with the ministries that comprise Disciples Justice Ministries, she has been active in leadership in the Poor People’s Campaign, and other ecumenical and interfaith collaboratives, including the Faith Table. In keeping with the Disciples’ historic commitment to Christian unity, she serves in leadership at the National Council of Churches as the Treasurer of the Governing Board and a member of the World Council of Churches Central Committee. A graduate of University of Chicago Divinity School, Rev. Hord Owens served 15 years as the Dean of Students at her alma matter. Rev. Hord Owens also served as the pastor of First Christian Church of Downers Grove, Illinois.

Hord Owens is widely sought after as a preacher, speaker and workshop facilitator. Her ministry and intellectual interests include a theology of reconciliation, cultural intelligence, developing inclusive and multi-cultural congregations, and the mentoring of youth and young adults. She is married to Walter Owens, Jr. They are the proud parents of an adult son, W. Mitchell Owens, III, and daughter-in-law Adri Owens, and grandparents to Zachary.