SPEAKERS & PRESENTERS

Conference Host

Preston Sprinkle (Ph.D.) is an international speaker and a New York Times bestselling author, who’s written a dozen books including People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is not just an Issue. Preston currently serves as the president of The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender, an organization that equips Christians to engage questions about faith, sexually & gender with theological faithfulness and courageous love. Preston also hosts the popular podcast “Theology in the Raw” and posts regularly on his YouTube channel “Preston Sprinkle.”

Pre-Conference Symposium on the Theology & Politics of Israel-Palestine

Daniel is a Palestinian theologian from Bethlehem and is a PhD candidate in Qur’anic studies at the University of Notre Dame. His academic interests include the redaction of the Qur’an, Syriac in Late Antiquity, Christian-Muslim relations, and Palestinian theology.

Before moving to the U.S., Daniel taught theology and comparative religion at Bethlehem Bible College and was part of Kairos Palestine and Christ at the Checkpoint conferences. He has also been involved in several social entrepreneurship projects, including running a coffeeshop, starting a coffee roasting business, a recycling glass initiative, as well as founding Ultimate Palestine, the Palestinian national association for ultimate frisbee. Daniel currently lives in South Bend, IN, with his wife and son.

Session: LGBTQ People and the Church

Brenna Blain is a wife, mom, Contemporary Theologian and Author from the Pacific Northwest. While she speaks on many topics, Brenna is most passionate about God’s involvement in our pain and personal struggles including mental illness, same sex attraction and abuse. Her current work is primarily focused in two areas. The first is preaching and speaking by teaching how God responds to some of these heavy, taboo and unsafe areas that so many of us don’t just wonder about but have been affected by. The second area is writing. Questions and doubts are the natural outflow of the brokenness we experience in the world. Those who seek wholeness—who are interested in Jesus—won’t walk toward Him if their questions aren’t welcomed and engaged. Because of this resistance to questions, too many believers have done away with church altogether, finding no place to experience the safety of belonging in a culture of exclusion and legalism. Through what Christ has done and the help of the Holy Spirit, Brenna hopes to help change that. You can connect with her and her more on social media @bunonmyhead

Session: Women, Power, and Abuse in the Church

Tiffany Bluhm is a speaker and the author of Prey Tell: Why We Silence Women Who Tell the Truth and How Everyone Can Speak Up. With over 15 years of experience in ministry and nonprofit leadership, she speaks and writes at the intersection of justice and faith for conferences, churches, and companies. Her work has been featured in Publisher’s Weekly, the YouVersion Bible app, Sojourners, Propel Ecclesia, and more. She lives in the PNW with her husband and two sons.

Pre-Conference Symposium on the Theology & Politics of Israel-Palestine

After years as a professor of New Testament (North Park University and Wheaton College & Graduate School), Gary taught at Calvin Theology Seminary from 2017-2023, eventually becoming the Dean of the Faculty.  He specializes in the gospels and the ancient cultural context that shaped them. He is a frequent visitor to the Middle East, having served in eight of its countries, and has led students through the Holy Land over 25 times. He studied at The Univ. of California (BA), The American University of Beirut, Fuller Seminary (MDiv) and Aberdeen Univ., Scotland (PhD). He has authored many books and articles both on the New Testament and the conflicts in Israel/Palestine. His two books on theology and Zionism, the award-winning Whose Land? Whose Promise? and Jesus and the Land are used widely by scholars and students.

Session: Three Christian Views on Politics and the Gospel

Chris Butler is a pastor and “serial organizer” hailing from the Southside of Chicago. He and his amazing wife, Aziza have six wonderful children. Pastor Chris leads Chicago Embassy Church Network, a mission-based network church in America’s third largest city and is an experienced organization builder. Pastor Chris got a very early start in community organizing when he joined a small neighborhood organization in Chicago’s South Austin community at age 12. By age 18, Chris has completed two organizing internships and launched his first organization, Organized Students of Chicago.

Pastor Chris has organized everywhere. He organized youth and young adults in Chicago’s Southland for then State Senator Barack Obama’s 2004 Senate Campaign, led the Field Operations for A+ Illinois (the organization blazed a trail for school funding reform in the state), spearheaded organizing efforts to improve school choice in Chicago through New Schools Chicago. In 2013, Chris founded Citizen Consulting Group Inc. an organizing and communications consulting firm where he helped launch organizations in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington State.

In 2016, Pastor Chris was installed as the Senior Leader at Chicago Embassy Church in the Englewood community of Chicago. Under his leadership, the congregation relocated to the Hyde Park community where it had been established in 1985 by Bishop Edward and Apostle Katie Peecher. In just over 5 years under Pastor Chris’ leadership, CEC completed its first missional church plant – The Gathering at McDonalds (in Jackson Park) – and established a campus in South Holland.

Having worked across the spectrum of organizations and types of engagement, Chris’ often lends insight and leadership on organization building and civic engagement to elected officials, organization heads, community organizers, and other faith leaders.

Pastor Chris co-authored “Compassion and Conviction: The AND Campaigns Guide To Faithful Civic Engagement” with Justin Giboney and Micheal Wear.

Session: LGBTQ People and the Church

Pre-Conference Symposium on the Theology & Politics of Israel-Palestine

Bio coming soon

Wednesday Night Gen-Z Event   

Ernesto is the President of Eternity Bible College, and is a pastor who is passionate about intersecting culture and the “multi” Church. Ernesto serves at Iglesia Piedras Vivas / Living Stones Church (LSPV) in Los Angeles, CA. He and his wife, Renae also were part of the group that helped plant LSPV in 2011. Before Piedras Vivas in 2011, Ernesto lived as a missionary at Door of Faith Orphanage in La Misión, BC, MX.

Session: Deconstruction, Reconstruction, and the Gospel

Abigail is a writer and professor whose work lies at the intersection of Catholic theology, literature, and women’s studies. Her abiding interest as a writer and scholar is the meaning and dignity of woman, and her work explores sexual difference and embodiment in the Catholic imagination.

Abigail has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from George Fox University, as well as a master’s degree in Women, Writing and Gender and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Her first book, Irigaray, Incarnation, and Contemporary Women’s Fiction (Palgrave 2013) was awarded the 2014 Feminist and Women’s Studies Association Book Award. Her second book is Into the Deep: An Unlikely Catholic Conversion (Cascade 2018), a spiritual memoir that traces her journey from birthright evangelicalism to postmodern feminism and, finally, to the Catholic Church. Abigail’s most recent book, The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory, was published in 2022 by Ignatius Press and has already been translated into multiple languages. Her numerous essays have appeared in MICL’s Church Life Journal, The Atlantic, First Things, Public Discourse, Comment, and elsewhere. Abigail is also a fiction writer and was awarded the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction in 2017.

She lives with her husband, Michael, and their four children in South Bend, Indiana.

Pre-Conference Symposium on the Theology & Politics of Israel-Palestine

Bio coming soon

Sessions: Deconstruction, Reconstruction, and the Gospel; SouthsideRabbi Live Podcast

Bio will be added soon

Session: Women, Power, and Abuse in the Church

Laurie Krieg is the president of Impossible Ministries, a teaching, podcasting, and coaching ministry with the mission to equip the Church with a gospel-centered approach to marriage and sexuality. Laurie serves on the Board of Directors for The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender, and will graduate with a master’s degree from Wheaton Graduate School in Evangelism and Leadership May 2024. Laurie and her husband, Matt, serve as co-hosts on The Hole in My Heart Podcast, and are co-authors of An Impossible Marriage (InterVarsity 2020). The couple lives in West Michigan with their three kids.

Session: LGBTQ People and the Church

Session: Church & Politics – A Pastoral Perspective 

Session: Three Christian Views on Politics and the Gospel

Joy serves at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) as Associate Vice President of Government & Strategic Relations. The CCCU is a higher education association representing over 185 institutions around the world, including more than 140 in the United States.  Our institutions enroll approximately 520,000 students annually, with over 10 million alumni. The CCCU’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help our institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth. Joy regularly meets with lawmakers and staffers on the Hill to advocate for critical issues in Christian higher education and initiated an outreach process to CCCU alumni on the Hill.  The CCCU’s advocacy priorities stem from our desire to support our campuses and our students, staff, and faculty. Joy’s advocacy work includes ensuring institutional autonomy and religious freedom, the expansion and continued support of Pell grants, charitable giving incentives, and immigration initiatives, among others.

Though the external advocacy challenges facing Christian higher education are real and threatening, Joy believes the greatest challenge for institutions of Christian higher education is internal mission drift.

To address this challenge, Joy leads the Board Governance Institute at the CCCU to help board members better understand their role in the mission, fidelity and sustainability of the institution. She also leads the CCCU’s Legal and Public Policy Conference to help institutions proactively address issues ranging from hiring and retention, communication crises, strategic partnerships, and preparing for upcoming court cases. For 10 years, she served at Covenant College in various roles, primarily in Human Resources.

Joy worked for the State Charter School Commission of Georgia and for an attorney focused on special education law, as well as participating in the Barton Juvenile Defender Clinic during her time in law school where she advised students in the justice system with special education considerations.

Joy received her Doctor of Law from Emory University, her Master of Business Administration Belhaven University, and her Bachelor of Arts from Covenant College.

Session: LGBTQ People and the Church

Women, Power, and Abuse in the Church

Sandy Richter, the author of The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament, is the Robert H. Gundry Chair of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA. Richter earned her PhD in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University and her MA in Theological Studies from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wesley Biblical Seminary, and Wheaton College. She is a member of the NIV Translation Committee. As her many students will tell you, Sandy’s particular gift is bringing the real people and real places of the biblical narrative to life. Dr. Richter has spent many years leading student groups to Israel to study historical geography and field archaeology, and writes often on the intersection between Syro-Palestinian archaeology and Bible. She teaches undergraduate and graduate, lay and professional, and is well known for her Bible Study curriculums. Married to Steven Tsoukalas, Richter has two perfect daughters, Noël and Elise. She is a sought after speaker in many contexts, look for her newest curriculum on the Deborah and the Book of Judges with HarperCollins, and her forthcoming commentary on Deuteronomy with Eerdmans.

Women, Power, and Abuse in the Church

Dr. Juli Slattery is a clinical psychologist, author, speaker and the president/co-founder of Authentic Intimacy. Juli earned her college degree at Wheaton College, an MA in psychology from Biola University, and an MS and a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from Florida Institute of Technology. Juli is the author of twelve books and host of the weekly podcast “Java with Juli.”

Spoken Word
Wednesday Night Gen-Z Event   

As a musical & spoken word artist, writer, producer, & battle rapper— Street Hymns is as diverse as he is passionate about people.

He’s found that many of his perspectives have helped bridge gaps in seemingly contrasting places (whether in music or relationships).

Stirring up gifts, challenging stagnation, and pushing for reconciliation are his life goals and purposes because creating a controlled and safe environment where people can express differing views in a respectable way is important to Street.

Session: Deconstruction, Reconstruction, and the Gospel

Growing up, Tim always felt at home in evangelical spaces – until years later, when his studying and questions caused him to no longer be welcomed at in his church community. Brokenhearted, but undeterred, Tim continued to pursue a deeper understanding of faith, history, theology and the evangelical church. The more he uncovers, the more he realizes the importance of advocating for the marginalized in the church, exploring the full depth and breadth of Christian faith traditions, and holding toxic churches and leaders accountable.

Session: Deconstruction, Reconstruction, and the Gospel; Worship Leader

Evan Wickham is a worship leader, songwriter, speaker, and lead pastor of Park Hill Church in San Diego, CA, which he co-founded in 2017 with Sandy, his wife of 23 years (and their five kids). In addition to helping people encounter Jesus through teaching and meaningful, rooted worship experiences, he has released four albums of worship songs, several of which are sung across the world. He holds an MDiv from Western Seminary and helped launch Searock Sessions, a cohort and growing community for hundreds of leaders seeking renewal in the Western church.

Worship Leader

Tinika Wyatt is a singer, songwriter and children’s book author. She has traveled the world using her gifts, shared the stage with many renowned artists, and made appearances on television and in film. She has contributed to three volumes of The Ethnos Project, a musical collection of multilingual worship through global partnership, and featured on the “Urbana 18 Live: Faithful Witness” and “InterVarsity Live! Worship, Volume One” albums. Her purpose is to use her voice primarily to connect people to Jesus Christ and secondarily to amplify the voices of others for the sake of understanding and reconciliation.

Session: Three Christian Views on Politics and the Gospel

Brian Zahnd is the founder and lead pastor of Word of Life Church, a non-denominational Christian congregation in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Brian and his wife, Peri, founded the church in 1981. Brian is also the author of several books, including, Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Water to Wine, A Farewell To Mars, Beauty Will Save the World, and Unconditional?: The Call of Jesus to Radical Forgiveness.