Clara K. Welch has served churches in Maryland, South Carolina, and Georgia as a diaconal minister and an ordained deacon. She is certified in the areas of Christian education and older adult ministry through the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. Following graduation from Lebanon Valley College with a bachelor’s degree in music education, Clara taught music at Red Bird Mission in Kentucky. She then attended Scarritt College in Nashville, where she earned a master’s degree in church music and Christian education. After several years of working in the local church, she returned to school and earned an MTS at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Clara and her husband, Brian, have one daughter, Rebecca Jo.
Rev. Reece is a retired United Methodist pastor from the West Michigan Annual Conference and freelance writer living in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lee Franklin is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a board certified chaplain (Association for Professional Chaplains). She currently serves as a hospice chaplain in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. A frequent contributor to Daily Bible Studies, she is also the author of A Pastor’s Practical Guide to Funerals (Abingdon Press, 2013). She writes for publications, including Circuit Rider for United Methodist clergy, and PlainViews, a chaplaincy journal. Lee also leads workshops for laity and clergy on pastoral care, grief, death, and dying.
