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DR. BOB ROBERTS, JR. is founding pastor of NorthWood Church, Fort Worth, TX. NorthWood has started over 200 churches in the US and a center for training new pastors. He is a leading practitioner and writer on Glocal transformation of individuals, religious communities, NGOs, cities, and global engagement, having worked extensively with the UN and various State Departments globally. He is a nationally and internationally recognized speaker and author of books including Transformation, Glocalization, Real-Time Connections and Bold as Love. Bob is married to Nikki and they have two children and one grandson.
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DR. ARNOLD R. FLEAGLE is the senior pastor of Trinity Evangelical Free Church in Amherst, Ohio. Previously he served as Director of Church Development for the Central District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance that covers Northeast Ohio and West Virginia.Dr. Fleagle holds a B.S. in education from Shippensburg University, a M.A.R. degree from Asbury Theological Seminary and a D. Min. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has authored or co-authored devotional and academic articles and eight books, including Developing Your Secret Closet of Prayer (50,000+ sold to date).He is married to Faye and they have two sons, Matthew and Marc.
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BEN CONNELLY is a pastor, author, equipper, and occasional professor. He is honored to serve everyday disciples, ministry leaders, and church planters across the world through The Equipping Group, and to help lead Salt+Light Community and Plant Fort Worth, TX. Ben has written or contributed to several books, workbooks, articles, and publications, has overseen church planting efforts for multiple organizations, and has also taught university and seminary classes. He and Jess have three children and at times host short-term foster kids too. Learn more at www.benconnelly.com, or @connellyben on various social media platforms.
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RICH BROWN Rich and his wife Janet have served together in churches in the Midwest and the Seattle area. He and Janet have three adult children; Rich III, Jenna, and Ryan. In 2003, Rich transitioned from serving as Pastor of Student Ministries to become Associate Professor within the Department of Church Ministries at his alma-mater, Liberty University. It is in this context of mentoring, equipping, and teaching the next generation of youth ministry leaders where he ministers to the college students God has placed in his life. Along with his residential teaching load, he also teaches online to adult learners. He has developed a number of youth ministry courses, including published work texts.
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DR. PHILIP NATION is the Director of Content Development with the Resources Division of LifeWay Christian Resources. He is also the Teaching Pastor for The Fellowship and Assistant Professor of Leadership and Biblical Studies for Houston Baptist University. He holds a Master of Divinity from Beeson Divinity School and Doctor of Ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Philip is a frequent speaker in churches and conferences. From 2010 to 2012 he served as the national spokesperson for the "National Back to Church Sunday" campaign for Outreach, Inc. Philip and his wife, Angie, make their home in Tennessee with their two sons, Andrew and Chris.
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DR. A. J. SWOBODA is a professor, author, and pastor of Theophilus Church in Portland, Oregon. He teaches biblical studies, theology, and church history at George Fox Evangelical Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary, among others. Previously he served as a campus pastor at the University of Oregon. He is the author of A Glorious Dark: Finding Hope in the Tension Between Belief and Experience, Messy: God Likes it That Way, and The Dusty Ones: Why Wandering Deepens Your Faith, and coauthor of Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology.
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LAURIE NORRIS is a Professor of Bible at Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago, having served for ten years on the faculty of Moody Bible Institute in the division of Applied Theology and Church Ministries. She has a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary and a PhD in Biblical Theology-New Testament from Wheaton College. Laurie's ministry centers on the communication of God's Word and equipping of the church through teaching, speaking, writing, and mentoring in both academic and non-academic settings. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she presently lives in West Chicago with her husband Bob, four dogs, and a cat.
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MICAH FRIES is the Senior Pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, TN. Micah is married to Tracy and they have two daughters, Grace and Kessed, and a son, Haddon. Prior to serving at Brainerd, he worked for LifeWay Christian Resources, served as a Senior Pastor in Missouri, as an international church planter in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and as a Youth Director in Dothan, AL. He holds a Master of Divinity, a Bachelor of Arts, and is currently a Ph.D. student, studying North American Missiology. He is the author of a commentary on Haggai and Zephaniah in the Christ-Centered Commentary Series. Micah, along with Dr. Keith Whitfield, contributed and co-edited Islam and North America.
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AARON MENIKOFF is the Senior Pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. Before entering pastoral ministry, he served as a legislative assistant for the late United States Senator Mark O. Hatfield. He earned an M.Div. and a Ph.D. at Southern Seminary where he studied Christian social engagement during the Second Great Awakening. He is the author of Politics and Piety: Baptist Social Reform in America, 1770-1860 (Pickwick, 2014). Aaron has a heart for encouraging pastors. He organizes a yearly conference called Feed My Sheep, leads a monthly pastors fellowship in his area, and is Visiting Lecturer in Church History at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta. He is married to Deana and is the father of Rachel, Jonah, Natalie, and Tori.
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DAVID & BARBARA LEEMAN have been professional musicians for over fifty years—David was music director for churches in California, Oregon, Illinois, and Texas.; Barbara was a music educator in her private studio and a private Christian school. They are both graduates of Biola University School of Music. Together they have written Hosanna in Excelsis and Our Hymns, Our Heritage, a student hymnal that is widely used in churches, Christian schools, and homes. They are now retired and living in Greenville, South Carolina. They have four grown children and twelve grandchildren.
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DAVID & BARBARA LEEMAN have been professional musicians for over fifty years—David was music director for churches in California, Oregon, Illinois, and Texas.; Barbara was a music educator in her private studio and a private Christian school. They are both graduates of Biola University School of Music. Together they have written Hosanna in Excelsis and Our Hymns, Our Heritage, a student hymnal that is widely used in churches, Christian schools, and homes. They are now retired and living in Greenville, South Carolina. They have four grown children and twelve grandchildren.
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JOHN SMED is the founding director of Prayer Current, an organization that helps leaders make multiplying disciples through prayer and evangelism. Since 2000 John and his team have developed prayer training materials and conferences for church planters, pastors, and network teams in North America, Cuba, India, China, and Russia. His book 7 Days of Prayer with Jesus has been translated into ten languages. His conviction for prayer was born out of thirty years of experience in church planting and urban mission.John and his wife Caron have 5 children, 11 grandchildren, and live in Lake Country, British Columbia, Canada.
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TED ESLER is the President of Missio Nexus, an association of agencies and churches representing about 30,000 Great Commission workers worldwide. He worked in the computer industry before becoming a church planter in Sarajevo, Bosnia, during the 1990's. Ted is the author of Overwhelming Minority, which tells the story of their family's ministry in Bosnia. In 2000, Ted became the Canadian director of Pioneers, and three years later moved to Orlando to join Pioneers USA's leadership team. He was appointed as President of Missio Nexus in 2015. Ted holds a PhD in Intercultural Studies (Fuller Theological Seminary, 2012).
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AMY FORD is the President of Embrace Grace, Inc., a non-profit organization formed for the purpose of providing curriculum and leadership support for churches nationwide to open their arms to young women with unplanned pregnancies. Embrace Grace is utilized by over 700 churches across the nation and world. She is also the author of A Bump in Life: True Stories of Hope & Courage During an Unplanned Pregnancy. Amy resides in Arlington, Texas, has been married for 21 years, and has four beautiful children.
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BRAD AND MARILYN RHOADS founded Grace Marriage in 2015 to help churches and couples prioritize marriage. Prior to this, Brad was a practicing attorney for 22 years. He served as a marriage pastor at their local church, where he noted the nationwide absence of an intentional, ongoing strategy to keep couples on a trajectory of growth. Marilyn holds a masters in social work and worked at Counseling Associates before choosing to stay home with their children. In 2015, Brad left the practice of law to pursue marriage ministry full-time. The Rhoads currently lead Grace Marriage, author curriculum together, speak at conferences, and work with individual couples. They are the proud parents of five amazing kids and live in Owensboro, Kentucky.
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STEVE RICHARDSON has served as president of Pioneers-USA since 1999. Pioneers mobilizes and supports 3,200 missionaries and marketplace professionals who impact 500 unreached people groups in 95 countries. Steve was raised in Indonesia, where his parents planted churches in a jungle tribe. He witnessed the impact of the gospel on their war-like society, a story documented in his father's missionary classic, Peace Child. Steve and his wife, Arlene, also spent eleven years planting churches among an unreached people group in Southeast Asia. The Richardsons now live in Orlando, FL and have been blessed with four daughters and ten grandchildren.
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