Speakers
Phyllis Tickle
Author and scholar, Phyllis Tickle is the founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly and author of The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why. Sometimes criticized for being “the best friend the emergent movement could ever have,” Tickle, a sprightly Episcopalian, travels from conferences to college lecture halls leaving her listeners both laughing and thinking deeply. She makes her home on a farm in Lucy, Tennessee and not only practices The Divine Hours, but her three-volume prayer manual has inspired many to embrace the ancient practice of fixed-hour prayer.
Richard Townsell
Richard was born on Chicago’s Westside in the community of North Lawndale and grew up in public housing. After graduating from Northwestern University, he came back to the North Lawndale community to take a job at his local church, Lawndale Community Church as the Executive Director of Lawndale Christian Development Corporation (LCDC). Under Richard’s 14-year tenure as the Executive Director, LCDC has completed over $45 million worth of real estate development projects including over 150 single family homes and condos for low-income families, over 200 apartment units and a $3.1 million childcare facility, the Jubilee Family Resource Center, which serves 220 children and employs approximately 50 people. In 2003, Richard was one of 17 national finalists to win the Leadership for a Changing World Award from the Ford Foundation for social justice work. In 2007, he joined Bethel New Life as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, where he manages a staff of over 300.
Lora-Ellen McKinney
Author and activist Lora-Ellen McKinney continues the clarion call for liberty and justice for all, as she blogs and interacts with others on the Compassion Action Network. As the daughter of a third-generation minister, serving as a deacon as well as an Obama delegate, Lora-Ellen McKinney is as comfortable in the political arena as she is in the pulpit. With degrees from Vassar, University of Washington and Harvard, her passion is married with scholarship making her a tireless and perspicacious agent for change. She lives and works in the Seattle area as a Psychologist and Independent Management Consultant and has authored several books including Total Praise! An Orientation to Black Baptist Belief and Worship and View from the Pew: What Preachers Can Learn from Church Members.
Michael Frost
Michael Frost, an innovative missiologist from Down Under has helped give shape to things to come. He has turned our notions of Jesus upside down in his recent book with Alan Hirsch, Re-Jesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church. Frost planted a missional church called Small Boat Big Sea, and helped establish a community partnership taking action against poverty, while directing the Tinsley Institute, a mission study center located at Morling College in Sydney, Australia.
Rev. Samuel McKinney
Classmate and friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Samuel McKinney moved to Seattle in the late ’50s. He became a prominent leader in the civil rights movement inspiring many to join in the fight for African-American Civil Rights. Dr. McKinney served Mt. Zion Baptist as senior pastor from 1958 to 1998. He was a founder of Liberty Bank, the first black-owned bank in Seattle and was the first black president of the Church Council of Greater Seattle. He has served on the board of the Meredith Mathews East Madison YMCA, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and other businesses and non-profits.
Rose Madrid Swetman
Rose is a missional pastor who co-pastors Vineyard Community Church in Shoreline, WA with her husband, Rich. She is the Executive Director of Turning Point, a missional group which partners with local agencies to serve low-income families in the greater Seattle area. She is an Area Pastoral Care Leader in the Northhwest Region of VineyardUSA. Rose is currently pursuing her Doctor of Ministry from Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, WA focused on Transformational Leadership for the Global City.
Tim Soerens
Tim Soerens has a B.A. in Rhetorical Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Masters of Divinity from Mars Hill Graduate School, Seattle. He is the founder of an innovative church called Dust that brings together service, spirituality, and relationship in a way of life that seeks to join God’s dream of reconciliation. It is located in a rapidly growing and diverse downtown neighborhood of Seattle called South Lake Union.
Nate Miles
For more than 25 years, Nate Miles has been a major force in Washington State‘s business and non-profit communities. Raised in Pasco, Washington, he is a distinguished graduate of the University of Washington and currently serves as the Corporate Director of State Government Affairs - Western United States for Eli Lilly and Company, one of the nation‘s top pharmaceutical firms.
Jeff Smith
Jeff has taught in seven different education environments, both public and private. His teaching assignments have spanned third grade through adult learners, encompassing mathematics, history, literature, theology and philosophy. He has coached basketball for 12 years and is currently the middle school mathematics coach in Issaquah School District, representing that district in the Microsoft Math Partnership. Jeff was also the associate pastor of Calvary Chapel San Juan in Friday Harbor, WA for two years. Jeff is a graduate of the Organizational Systems and Renewal program at Seattle University specializing in organizational guiding through authentic conversations.
Dave Rodriguez
Dave attended the University of Pittsburgh and transferred to Moody Bible Institute where he completed his undergrad and earned a Masters Degree. Dave is a missional activist as well as the founding pastor of Grace Community Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.
David Ruis
David is a worship leader, songwriter and speaker who has been instrumental in seeing Christian communities developed in Nepal and India. He lives in Los Angeles where he works as a music producer, writer, and composer. A burning passion for David is the integration of creative worship and the issues of poverty and social injustice.
Jim Henderson
Jim was first exposed to Christianity as a young adult. His only goal in life upon exiting high school was to be a jazz/rock musician. He sang in bands, played the flute and the electric bass. Music was his life until he ran into Jesus. Jim leads Off The Map a community of spiritual anthropologists dedicated to spreading Otherlyness the spirituality of serving. Off The Map started in the garage of Jim‘s brain in 2000. Jim has written Evangelism Without Additives and Jim and Casper Go To Church. He earned his Doctor of Ministry at Bakke Graduate University in 2008.
Todd Hunter
Todd Hunter is a Bishop with Anglican Mission in the Americas. In 2009, he founded a church planting order called Churches For The Sake of Others. The author of Christianity Beyond Belief, Todd collaborates with organizations who desire to shape their ministries around Kingdom-based, missional encounters with contemporary culture. He began his ministry 30 years ago as a church planter and church planting consultant. Dr. Hunter is an adjunct professor of evangelism and postmodern ministry at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary and Wheaton College. Earlier in his career Todd was President of Alpha USA, Church Planting coach for Allelon Ministries and the National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches.
Steve Thomas and Kris Hoots
Kris and Steve have a combined 40 years experience leading and serving Christian nonprofits. Through their company, Oneicity, they bring a contagious passion for building authentic donor relationships that result in real income. Always focused on strategy, Oneicity delivers integrated solutions that are far beyond traditional fundraising. Kris and Steve integrate the very best in cutting-edge Social Media and online tools with traditional fundraising channels for small and mid-sized nonprofits.