Speaker

Rev. Dr. Ronald Bell

Dr. Ronald Bell is the director of Healing and Resilience for Discipleship Ministries and The Upper Room. He is passionate about emotional formation and the intersection of faith and mental health.

An ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church, Bell has previously served as a new-church-plant pastor and been the director over Congregational Development and Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century (SBC21) for the Peninsula-Delaware Conference of The United Methodist Church.

An author and a regular guest columnist for several publications, Bell has also created an ongoing webinar series on trauma and empathy that he has led with several universities. The three most popular books that he has authored all deal with grief and trauma: Is There Space for Me: Embracing Grief through Art; The Eagle and the Squirrel: Stories, Fables, and Truths for Emotional Formation; and The Four Promises: Journeying through Past and Present Trauma.

Bell has been certified in Trauma Response and Crisis Intervention by Rutgers University School of Social Work and he has a certificate in Business Leadership from Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, a Master's degree in Theology from Regent University School of Divinity in Virginia Beach, VA, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, PA.