Chelsea Patterson Sobolik

CHELSEA PATTERSON SOBOLIK is the author of Longing for Motherhood: Holding On to Hope in the Midst of Childlessness, and works in Washington, DC, as the Director of Government Relations for a nonprofit organization. Previously she’s worked for the leading evangelical child welfare organization in the country, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), and on Capitol Hill. Chelsea has been published at the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today, and other outlets. Chelsea was adopted as a newborn from Bucharest, Romania, grew up in North Carolina, and holds a BA in International Relations from Liberty University. She and her husband, Michael, are welcoming their son home through international adoption.

Gil Mertz

GIL MERTZ is Assistant to the President at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. He has been involved with full-time Christian service for nearly forty years and draws from a vast background of ministry with international missions, humanitarian causes, public policy, and consulting. He is a former pastor and radio talk show host. His daily commentaries on forgiveness have been broadcast on more than 300 stations across America. Gil and his wife Patricia reside in southern California and have three children and three grandchildren.

Rob Martin

ROB MARTIN has been involved in Christian ministry since his conversion in 1976. He first served as the editor of a Christian publication and then for six years with the Orange County Rescue Mission, Orange County, CA, before becoming General Manager of Fieldstead & Company, a private philanthropy of Howard and Robert Ahmanson. He later served as Executive Director of First Fruit, Inc. and has been with this organization in a full time capacity since 2009, serving ministries and colleague foundations as a coach on a variety of organizational issues. Rob was educated as a journalist, and spent his formative career years in newspaper work. He and his wife, Bev, have raised three daughters and reside at Useless Bay on Whidbey Island, WA.

Laurie L Norris

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.

Dave Hataj

DAVE HATAJ is the second-generation president and owner of Edgerton Gear, Inc., a Wisconsin-based custom gear manufacturer. As a journeyman machinist by age twenty-one, he then earned a Bachelor's Degree from the University of California-Irvine. He completed his Master's Degree from Regent College in Vancouver, BC. His graduate work focused on Systems Theory in a Family Business context. In 2014 he earned a Doctorate of Transformational Leadership from Bakke Graduate University, developing a curriculum called Craftsman with Character. The course introduces high school students to the trades and manufacturing as an excellent career path, while developing character and soft skills.

J. S. Park

J. S. PARK, (BA Psychology, Univ. South Florida; MDiv, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is a hospital chaplain, viral blogger, and teaching pastor. As an interfaith chaplain at a large hospital in Tampa, he provides grief counseling and assists with end-of-life care. He also serves as a community care chaplain at Metropolitan Ministries, one of the largest nonprofit charities on the east coast, which serves the homeless in Tampa. He loves to play the drums and guitar, and has a sixth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He lives in Tampa, FL with his wife, Juliette, a nurse practitioner.

Jeanette Hagen Pifer

JEANETTE HAGEN PIFER (B.A., Biola University, M.A. Talbot School of Theology, Ph.D., University of Durham) is Professor of New Testament at Biola University, where she has taught since 2016. Her focus in research and teaching is on the New Testament, especially the Pauline literature. She has served in a variety of ministry capacities including evangelistic and humanitarian work with orphans in the former Soviet Union, and helping to facilitate theological and ministry training around the world. Jeanette has been married to Nick since 2017. Together they enjoy long walks on the beach, summer road trips, and drumming up spontaneous adventure whenever they can.

Ashley Holleman

ASHLEY HOLLEMAN and his wife, Heather, are on staff with Cru, where Ashley serves as the national director of Cru's graduate student ministry. Prior to this assignment Ashley completed a Master's in chemistry at the University of Michigan and then joined Cru staff to minister locally to grad students -- first at the University of Michigan and then at Penn State. In his spare time, he enjoys building furniture, gardening, working on his house, and watching UNC-Chapel Hill basketball and football. He and Heather have two daughters -- Sarah and Kate.

Bev Hendricks Godby

BEV GODBY is a senior associate and change management coach at The Giftedness Center in Dallas, Texas. She focuses on graduating students and women who are navigating challenging life transitions. She feels called to the role of an educator, teaching others about giftedness to help them find fulfilling lives. She serves as a consultant to schools and nonprofit organizations, and speaks and writes often on these topics. Bev holds degrees from Wheaton College and The University of Texas at Dallas. She is married to Dr. Dale Godby, with whom she has three married daughters and six grandchildren.

Megan B. Brown

MEGAN B. BROWN is a seasoned military spouse, mother of four, and military missionary. She is the Founder and Executive Director of MilSpo Co., a military nonprofit focused on the intentional discipleship of today's military community. Throughout Megan's journey as a military missionary, her ministry has been recognized with the Air Force Lifetime Volunteer Excellence Award and has earned her the 2016 Armed Forces Insurance Keesler Air Force Base Military Spouse of the Year Award. Her mission is to recruit, raise up, and release military-connected women to live on mission for Jesus. She lives in South Mississippi with her husband, M. Sgt. Keith Brown, and their four energetic kiddos.

Brittany Salmon

BRITTANY SALMON is a professor, writer, and Bible teacher. She has a MA in Intercultural Studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a MA in Teaching from North Carolina State University, and is currently pursuing her doctorate from Southeastern Seminary where she is doing research on racial representation in Christian children's literature. Brittany is passionate about taking theology and applying it to everyday lives. And yet the people closest to her think of her as the friend who loves oversized sweatpants and a great conversation over coffee. She lives in Abilene, Texas with her best friend, Ben, and their four children. You can connect with Brittany on Instagram @brittanynsalmon.

John D. Foubert

JOHN D. FOUBERT (B.S., College of William & Mary; M.A., University of Richmond; Ph.D., University of Maryland at College Park) is Dean of the College of Education at Union University and serves as the Highly Qualified Expert for Sexual Assault Prevention for the U.S. Army. He founded the national nonprofit organization One in Four which worked for twenty years to apply research to rape prevention programs on college campuses and in the military. Dr. Foubert has testified before Congress and has been called upon by the White House and all four branches of the military for his expertise. He lives in Jackson, TN with his wife and two children, ages 13 and 11.

Whitney K. Pipkin

WHITNEY K. PIPKIN lives with her husband, three children, and a dog named Honeybun in Northern Virginia, where where she works as a journalist. She has worked as a journalist for over 13 years, with articles appearing in The Washington Post, National Geographic and NPR alongside her regular work at the Chesapeake Bay Journal. She also has written for Christian publications such as The Gospel Coalition, The ERLC and Gospel-Centered Discipleship and serves as the Written Content Coordinator for the ministry Women & Work. She loves studying the Bible with her local church and reading on Sunday afternoons while her kids play (quietly?) nearby. You can find her on social media @whitneykpipkin and sign up for her newsletter at whitneykpipkin.com.

Erik M. Peterson

ERIK M. PETERSON has been a designer and art director of book covers and interiors for over twenty years. From time to time he works on other types of design projects but always come back to books. More recently he’s worked on large-scale visual storytelling projects such as Little Pilgrim’s Progress: Illustrated Edition (in collaboration with illustrator Joe Sutphin) and The Pursuit of God: A 31-Day Experience (a thoughtful, illustrative layout of A. W. Tozer’s classic work, designed for slow, meditative reading).

Nell Branum

NELL BRANUM is a former editor and elementary school librarian who is the daughter of both a World War II paratrooper and a Rosie the Riveter and believes God still uses lessons from history. She was married for 43 amazing years to her minister husband, and now she writes from a small town near Birmingham, Alabama, where she keeps chickens in the backyard, likes to go on adventures with her grown kids and their families (including nine grandkids), and enjoys watching sunsets on her front porch while drinking blueberry-flavored coffee.

R. E. Hough