Rev. Brad Davis is a proud native of Central Appalachia’s southern West Virginia Coalfields, one of the nation’s most economically and socially exploited regions. He has a passion for connecting the people of his home area to a holistic, liberating message of salvation he calls the Holler Gospel. Brad, a Provisional Elder in the West Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church currently in his final year of residency, serves as pastor of a six-point charge in McDowell County, West Virginia, which is counted among the nation’s poorest. Brad also serves on the WVUMC’s Core Leadership Team, Board of Global Ministries, Conference Communications Team, and Justice & Advocacy Team, as well as chair of the lobbying arm of the West Virginia Council of Churches and as co-chair of the West Virginia Faith Leaders Network. Brad earned a Master of Divinity from Methodist Theological School in Ohio, where he graduated in 2020 with honors, receiving the Bishop Judith Craig Prize in Christian Education for academic excellence and potential for significance in professional ministry, as well as the Ronald L. Williams Book Prize in Theology and Ethics for extraordinary potential in theological and ethical studies and reflection.
Brad’s Lead talk topic: A contextualized theology of Jesus and the Gospel has the potential to bring wholeness and healing to an impoverished region and people.
