Kevin MurrielDean Jan Love has announced that the Rev. Dr. Kevin Murriel 11T, senior pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, will join the Candler faculty this year in a new role designed to train Methodist students for parish ministry and leadership in historically black churches.

As Assistant Professor in the Practice of Practical Theology and the school’s first Black Methodist Seminarians Program Director, Murriel will create and implement a mentoring program to support Methodist students as they prepare for parish ministry within black congregations, which will include bringing black scholar-practitioners to campus for lectures and preaching events. He will also work collaboratively with Candler’s Methodist Studies and Teaching Parish programs, as well as the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church, to create inclusive programming and increase participation of students of color in Candler’s summer ministry internship opportunities.

Murriel earned his master of divinity from Candler in 2011 and his doctor of ministry from Duke Divinity School in 2014. He is the author of Who’s Afraid of the Journey? 8 Steps to Help You Walk in the Confidence of Christ (Xulon, 2010) and Breaking the Color Barrier: A Vision for Church Growth through Racial Reconciliation (Redd House, 2015). He has served as assistant pastor at Atlanta First United Methodist Church, senior pastor at Antioch United Methodist Church, associate pastor for the Young People’s Division of Cascade United Methodist Church, and senior pastor of Cliftondale United Methodist Church. In 2017, Murriel was appointed to Cascade UMC as senior pastor, where he currently serves.

Murriel serves on numerous community boards, including the Candler Black Alumni Caucus, the Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA, and the Joseph and Evelyn Lowery Institute. He’s also active in the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church, having served on the North Georgia Conference Board of Congregational Development, the Georgia Commission for Higher Education and Campus Ministry, the Atlanta College Park District Committee on Ordained Ministry, and the North Georgia Young Clergy Task Force on Social Media. Murriel is a member of the Leadership Atlanta Class of 2019, and was recently named to Emory’s Office of Alumni Engagement 2018 Forty Under 40 list, which honors a multitalented and accomplished group of young professionals.

As a student at Candler, Murriel took part in the Candler Advantage ministry internship program and was a mentor with the Youth Theological Initiative Summer Academy. He also worked as a program director for the Emory Autism Center, creating a new mentoring program specifically for adolescent males with autism living in single-parent households.