The Rev. Celeste Kennel-Shank is a bi-vocational pastor and award-winning journalist. She is president of the Associated Church Press and a contributing editor of the Christian Century magazine. Her work has also been published in Sojourners, Faith and Leadership, and the Washington Post, among other publications.

Raised in an ecumenical worshiping community in Washington, D.C., she is now ordained in Mennonite Church USA. She co-leads a garden ministry, New Horizons Garden, in East Garfield Park on the West Side of Chicago (above). She volunteers as a chaplain to people who are hospitalized and people who are incarcerated.

She is married to Josiah A. Groff and in their free time they enjoy exploring parks and Chicago neighborhoods with their dog, Grendel.