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MATTHEW SOERENS serves as the Vice President of Advocacy & Policy for World Relief. He is the coauthor of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion & Truth in the Immigration Debate and Inalienable: How Marginalized Kingdom Voices Can Help Save the American Church. He is a graduate of Wheaton College, where he also serves as a guest faculty member for the Humanitarian & Disaster Institute, and of DePaul University. Matt lives in Aurora, Illinois with his wife Diana and their four children.
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RYAN LOKKESMOE PhD is the Senior Pastor of Community Church at Lake Wylie in the Charlotte area. He earned his master's degree in New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and his doctorate in New Testament at The University of Denver. Ryan is the author of Blurry: Bringing Clarity to the Bible (CLC Publications), and has written Small Group curriculum for LifeWay as well as articles for the Lexham Bible Dictionary. Ryan previously served as the Small Groups Pastor at a multi-site church, and as the Lead Pastor of Real Hope Community Church for seven years. He lives in Richmond, TX with his wife Ashley and their two children.
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DR. JERRY VINES (B.A., Mercer University; Th.D., Luther Rice Seminary; PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) retired as pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida in 2006, where he served for 40 years. He served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Jerry is author of a number of books including Power in the Pulpit: How to Prepare and Deliver Expository Sermons, and A Practical Guide to Sermon Preparation. He and his wife, Janet, have four adult children and five grandchildren.
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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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CANDY MCVICAR is an author, educator, speaker, and devoted advocate for parents who experience the loss of a baby or child. After the stillbirth of her daughter Grace in 2001, she committed to enhance the care bereaved families receive while in the hospital, to facilitate healing holistically, and to optimize outcomes for subsequent pregnancies. Candy is the founder of the Missing GRACE Foundation, a national nonprofit that provides support, resources, and education for families and professional care providers when there is loss of a baby, infertility, or adoption challenges. Find out more about Candy at www.candymcvicar.com.
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CHRISTOPHER SWAIN is the Disciplemaking Pastor at Long Hollow Baptist Church and the CEO of Replicate Ministries. After four years of service in the United States Marine Corps, Chris served in full-time ministry for two decades in Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee leading ministries ranging from students to collegiate to spiritual formation. He also served as the Director of Student Ministry Publishing at Lifeway Christian Resources, serving the church in its mission of making disciples. Chris has been with Replicate Ministries and Long Hollow Baptist Church since 2016, with a heart to expand the Gospel through disciplemaking in the local church. Along with his wife, two children, and Boston Terrier, Chris resides in the Nashville, Tennessee area.
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ROBERT GALLATY, Ph.D. is the Senior Pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He was radically saved out of a life of drug addiction on November 12, 2002. In 2008 he began Replicate Ministries to equip and train men and women to be disciples who make disciples. He is also the author of Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples, Firmly Planted: How to Cultivate a Faith Rooted in Christ, Rediscovering Discipleship: Making Jesus' Final Words Our First Work, Foundations: A 260-Day Bible Reading Plan for Busy Believers, and The Forgotten Jesus: How Western Christians Should Follow an Eastern Rabbi.
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ALICIA LLEWELLYN is co-founder of Quite Uncommon, a technology firm that helps organizations build, test, and launch new and innovative ideas. She is also a strategist and collaboration leader at NASA, currently directing the 1958 Coworking Space at the Johnson Space Center. She has more than two decades of cross-sector experience in growing effective teams and building engaged communities with resiliency and foresight--including for some of the largest hackathons in the world. Ali has served as a teacher, a team trainer, a youth pastor, and the Director of Ministries at Antioch Community Church in Houston, TX. This background in education, communication, and theology provides the clarity and articulation necessary to help organizations and communities take their mission to the next level.
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DAN PATERSON is a Christian thinker and the founder of Questioning Christianity, a ministry connecting the Christian story to life's deepest questions. With a personal background of wrestling through the problem of evil, he has earned several university qualifications in Theology and Apologetics in Australia and Oxford, fueled by a passion to help others process their doubts and discover the relevance and reasonableness of faith in Jesus. Speaking regularly to audiences around Australia and beyond, Dan is based in Brisbane, where together with his wife, Erin, their favorite job is raising three boys.
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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.
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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.
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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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CHASE REPLOGLE is the pastor of Bent Oak Church in Springfield, Missouri. He holds a degree in Biblical Studies and an M.A. in New Testament from The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary. He is currently a D.Min. student in The Sacred Art of Writing at Western Theological Seminary. His work draws from history, psychology, literature, and a rich narrative approach to Scripture to help readers think more deeply about faith and life. He has written for Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, Ekstatis, Bible Engagement Project, and Influence Magazine. A native of the Ozark woods, he enjoys being outdoors with his wife and two kids, sailing, playing the mandolin (badly), and quail hunting with his bird dog Millie.
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JOHN FONVILLE serves as the Rector (Pastor in charge of a self-supporting parish) and is the Founder and Church Planter of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, FL. He is an ordained presbyter in the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and serves in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese (GAD). John is from Charlotte, North Carolina. He graduated from Gardner-Webb University (B.A.) and then earned his Master of Divinity at The Master's Seminary, and later earned his Doctor of Ministry at Ligonier Academy. John can be heard daily on his radio program, Him We Proclaim, as well as the Him We Proclaim Podcast. John and his wife, Kathryn, have six children and two dogs ("Binky", a Cavapoo and a real dog, "Laker", a Vizsla).
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CHRIS MARTIN is editor of BibletoLife.com and a content marketing editor at Moody Publishers. You can follow him on Twitter at @ChrisMartin17
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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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