Dr. William Cutrer and I wrote seven books together before his sudden death in July of 2013. Dr. Cutrer was a licensed obstetrician/gynecologist, a certified Christian sex therapist, an expert in reproductive technologies, and an ordained minister—as well as being a beloved friend. At the time of his death, he served as the C. Edwin Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry, and Director, Gheens Center for Family Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) in Louisville, Kentucky. He also served on the faculty of The Institute for Sexual Wholeness, and he staffed the clinic at SBTS. Previously, he had served as the medical director of A Woman’s Choice Clinic, and was at one time the area director for the Christian Medical and Dental Associations in the Southwest. He spent his first two decades as a medical doctor in Dallas, but after graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary, he resigned from his practice and became a senior pastor in Mesquite, Texas. My husband and I caught the missions bug from him, as we accompanied him on numerous trips to Russia/Belarus and to Mexico.
Dr. Cutrer received his M.D. degree from the University of Kentucky, followed by a master’s degree in biblical studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. He was the author of Under the Fig Leaves, Family Building: Fact, Fallacy, and Faith, Choices: A Pregnancy Guide, and The Church Leader’s Handbook. He contributed to several additional works, including Genetic Engineering: A Christian Response; Kregel’s “Biobasics” series; and FamilyLife’s popular Simply Romantic Nights.
For many years, Dr. Cutrer taught a variety of workshops on marriage, infertility, bioethics, spiritual disciplines, and healthcare. At the time of his death, he and his wife, Jane, had been married for forty-one years, with three married children and six grandchildren. In the lives he touched and through his writings and recordings, his legacy lives on.
Crickett Keeth
Janene “Crickett” Keeth holds an M.A. in Christian Education with a focus on Women’s Ministry from Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). She also has two B.S. degrees—one in Medical Technology and the other in Perfusion Technology.
After college (the first time), Crickett served on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for ten years—six years in the Campus Ministry and four years in East Asia. She returned home to get her B.S. degree in Perfusion Technology (running the heart lung machine in open-heart surgery). After moving to Dallas, Texas, in 1991, she served part-time as the associate minister to single women and the women’s ministry associate at Northwest Bible Church while working as a perfusionist. When Crickett felt God calling her back to full-time ministry, she attended DTS and earned a degree in Christian Education with a focus on Women’s Ministry. She has been the director of Women’s Ministry at First Evangelical Church in Memphis, Tennessee, since graduating from seminary in May 2005. She is the coauthor with me of Sumatra with the Seven Churches, one of the books in the Coffee Cup Bible Study series.
Malia Rodriguez
Malia Rodriguez received her master of theology degree in Systematic Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. She now serves as a writer in the Creative Ministries Department of Insight for Living Ministries, where she is able to merge her love of theology with her gift for words. Malia and her husband, Matt, who is also a graduate of DTS, live in the Dallas area with their son and daughter. For the Coffee Cup Bible study book Chai with Malachi (AMG), Malia served as my coauthor and contributed the section on the 400 “silent years.”