Phil graduated from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, where his major was evangelism. He and his wife, Toni have planted eight new churches. Collective morning attendance is about 7,000 people. Today the Sprys make their home in eastern North Carolina where Phil pastors a another new church. Read More About Phil Spry At His Author Page
Helen Lee is an award-winning journalist who has been writing for Christian audiences for more than 15 years. She is the author of the newly-released book, The Missional Mom; she also served as co-editor and contributor of Growing Healthy Asian-American Churches (IVP, 2006) and has written numerous articles for publications such as Christianity Today, Leadership Journal, and Today’s Christian Woman. Read More About Helen Lee At Her Author Page
Linda Bergquist has been planting churches for 30 years, working first as a planter then as a mentor, teacher and urban strategist. She also teaches as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, CA. Linda lives in San Francisco with her husband, Eric. Read More About Linda Bergquis At Her Author Page
Dr. Tom Nebel is the Director of Church Planting for Converge Worldwide (formerly the Baptist General Conference), a position he accepted in 2006. Prior to that (1992-2005) he served as Director of Church Planting for the Great Lakes Baptist Conference and Associate Director of TeAmerica. He has participated in the planting of more than 50 churches in Wisconsin and hundreds of churches across the United States, currently experiencing a success rate of over 85%. His passion is to fuel regional church planting movements so that they may be effective in expanding the Kingdom of God. Read More About Tom Nebel At His Author Page. Also be sure to follow Converge Church Planting on Twitter & Facebook.
Hugh served as the national director of Missio, a ministry team committed to training, developing, and apprenticing Incarnational leaders for the church. Within Missio, Hugh co-directed the MCAP, an online collaborative training environment for Incarnational leaders, pastors, and church planters. Hugh speaks extensively both nationally and internationally. He is willing to consider any request but prioritizes opportunities for those who want to create a movement of business, social impact, or untraditional church ventures. Read More About Hugh Halter At His Author Page
Geoff Surratt is a freelance Church Catalyst and Encourager. He has served at Saddleback Church as Pastor of Church Planting as well as at Seacoast Church based in Charleston, South Carolina overseeing their 13 campuses. He has over twenty-seven years of ministry experience in a variety of roles in local churches, and works frequently with other churches across the country in strategic planning and staff development. Read More About Geoff Surratt At His Author Page
Jim Sheppard is CEO & Principal of Generis, a consulting firm passionate about helping churches inspire and cultivate generosity through giving development, coaching, and strategy. Read More About Jim Sheppard At His Author Page
Artie Davis is the Founding Pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Orangeburg, SC. Cornerstone is an International multi-site & multi-ethnic church with locations in the US & Liberia, West Africa.
Prior to launching Cornerstone, Artie was a successful entrepreneur and has a passion for coaching and multiplying leaders and writes about it almost exclusively on his blog, ArtieDavis.com.
He is also the founder and Director of a church planting movement called the CombNetwork.com. Its passion is to partner and plant “life-giving” & “ethnically reflective” churches in smaller cities & communities. Artie is also the Executive Director of TheSticks.tv, a national gathering movement for leaders and pastors in smaller cities.
Internationally, Artie is Co-Founder of Think Liberia (USA), a partnering organization that helps meet physical, medical and spiritual needs of those in the West African nation of Liberia.
Artie is married to his life-partner, best friend & wife Georgie. They live in SC, and have three children.
Dave Alford Is Pastor of Leadership Development at Saddleback Church where his team oversees small groups, next steps, interns, and ministries to men, women, and singles. Dave’s background includes experience in business, pastoral ministry, and higher education. He worked as an investment consultant for Mercer Consulting assisting large corporations, public entities, and foundations with their investment strategies.
Dave served for 10 years as executive pastor and lead pastor at churches in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California helping them transition out of financial challenges and into a renewed vision for mission. He served for 12 years at Vanguard University first as Vice President for Business and Finance, and later as Dean of the School of Business and Management. Dave also writes, coaches, and speaks about leadership. He has a Bachelors degree from UC Davis, an MBA from USC, and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University. Dave and his wife, Molly, live in Irvine. They have three adult children.