The CCSN’s peer-reviewed Journal of Christian Teaching Practice (in Communication Studies) is pleased to welcome three new editors to our staff: Ken Waters, John Katsion, and Kate Mead. They will join Laura Lee Groves (Assistant Editor) and John Hatch (Book Review Editor) in helping curate quality scholarship and increase awareness of the work we are doing. Thanks to one and all.
Associate Editor, Ken Waters
Ken Waters (PhD, University of Southern California) is emeritus professor of journalism at Pepperdine University. Waters taught journalism, intercultural communication, ethics, and other courses during his 30 years in the classroom, and on four occasions served as visiting professor at Pepperdine campuses in London and Lausanne, Switzerland. He also served as dean of the Communication Division, director of student media, and graduate communication adviser. Waters has published numerous journal articles and edited chapters on Christian media. He is co-author with Elizabeth Smith of “Promoting Co-curricular Learning Success: How Sharing Assessment Results Can Strengthen On-campus Credibility and Help Recruit Students,” Journal of Christian Teaching Practice, 5(1), 2018. He is currently authoring a book analyzing how evangelical publications have reported on social, theological, and cultural issues of the past decade.
Assistant Editor, John Katsion
John Katsion (PhD, Regent University) has dedicated himself to teaching communication studies for over thirty years, and his extensive academic background speaks to his passion for the field. John received his BS in Bible and Speech from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in 1990, followed by an MA in Speech Communication from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and his PhD from Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA, in 2005. John has primarily taught in Christian higher education institutions throughout his career but has been teaching at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, MO, for the last ten years. His academic focus has been serving and shaping the minds and lives of the students he has been blessed to come across, whether in face-to-face or online classes. John’s teaching has been the cornerstone of his academic life, and he has published many of his pedagogical activities in academic journals and books over the years. In addition to his teaching, John has dedicated much of his academic focus to rhetorical studies, with a particular interest in visual rhetoric and the rhetoric of religious music. His work has been published in various academic journals and book chapters, covering a range of visual and sacred music texts. The ideas of Kenneth Burke and Barry Brummett have significantly influenced John’s research. He has presented at multiple conferences showing how their ideas can help us understand the rhetorical power of an image or a song. Administratively, John has held various leadership roles in national communication associations, including chairing the Visual Communication Division of the National Communication Association twice and serving in the Senate of the National Communication Association. Outside of his academic pursuits, John spends his summers practicing the craft of preaching. He preaches in churches in Missouri and Iowa and speaks to 4th-6th graders at camps across the country. His ministry has even spawned a podcast called Baldhead Bible, which ministers weekly to its many listeners. John is happily married to Peggy, and the couple has three children, Jacob, Lincoln, and Elijah. Read John’s book review of W. David O. Taylor’s A Body of Praise: Understanding the Role of our Physical Bodies in Worship in Journal of Christian Teaching Practice, 10, 2023.
Assistant Editor, Kate Mead
Kate Mead (PhD, Liberty University) serves as an Assistant Professor of Communication at East Texas Baptist University, where she teaches courses in interpersonal communication, persuasive communication, and communication theory. She earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from Olivet Nazarene University, an M.A. in Communication from Northern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in Communication at Liberty University where her research focused on digital culture-building techniques in Christian nonprofit organizations. Kate published a “thinkpiece” on C. S. Lewis and the Communication Classroom in Journal of Christian Teaching Practice, 8, 2021. Prior to working as full-time faculty, her career focused on improving communication between organizational departments. She currently serves as the faculty sponsor of ETBU’s chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, organizes an annual speech competition for graduating seniors, and volunteers her time assistant directing in the theatre department at a local K-12 school. Kate, her husband, and their two children are Chicagoland natives that now live in Marshall, Texas where they deeply appreciate the warmer weather and lack of traffic — but still consistently mourn the loss of Chicago-style pizza and Italian beef sandwiches.