A native to California, Tim’s first ten years of church-planting ministry started as the Lead Pastor of Reality LA in 2006, a thriving church in the heart of Hollywood, CA before moving to the UK in 2016. These churches are a part of the Reality family of churches, a movement committed to relational church planting and serving the broader body of Christ.

Tim’s first two books, Better: How Jesus Satisfies the Search for Meaning and The Truth about Lies, were projects which came from lessons learned while living and pastoring in Los Angeles. Pastor Tim and his wife Lindsey care deeply about the ministry of the local church in major urban centres and seek to devote themselves to helping churches begin and flourish in their mission to share and reflect the gospel.

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JR Forasteros is an author, pastor and podcaster in Dallas, TX. He serves as Catalyst Church’s teaching pastor and wants to be the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl when he grows up. His wife Amanda skates as Mother Terrorista for Assassination City Roller Derby. His book, /Empathy for the Devil/, is available from InterVarsity Press, and you can find his writing at Think Christian and Relevant magazine. He co-hosts the StoryMen (authors you should be reading), In All Things Charity (Wesleyan Feminist Theology) and Don’t Split Up! (horror film review) podcasts. His weekly faith & pop culture newsletter is available at stuffyoullprobablylike.com.

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Stephanie is one of the founding lead pastors of Mill City Church in urban Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is also the Preaching and Ministry Communication professor at Bethel University and Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. Stephanie has opportunities to coach leaders around the country through speaking, coaching and her weekly podcast  Lead Stories with her friend Jo Saxton. She is passionate about communities and individuals participating in the mission of God to the world. She is married to her husband, JD who is a filmmaker and they live in Northeast Minneapolis with their energetic dog, Chaco.  Stephanie loves getting the chance to watch God move and tell the story at her blog: www.pastorsteph.com.

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Dr. A. J. Swoboda is a professor, author, and pastor of Theophilus in urban Portland, Oregon. He is the lead mentor of a Doctor of Ministry program on the Holy Spirit and Leadership at Fuller Seminary, and teaches theology, biblical studies, and Christian history at a number of other universities and Bible colleges. He is the director of Blessed Earth Northwest, an organization focused on creation care issues and Sabbath in the Pacific Northwest. A.J. also serves as the executive director of the Seminary Stewardship Alliance—a consortium of Christian higher-ed schools that provide Christian training in creation care and are implementing sustainable practices. Previous to this, A.J. served as a campus pastor at the University of Oregon. His doctoral research at the University of Birmingham (U.K.) explored the never-ending relationship between the Holy Spirit and ecology. A.J. is also the curator of greenjesus.com, a site on creation care. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Pentecostal Studies. A.J. is the author of Subversive Sabbath (Brazos Press), The Dusty Ones (Baker), and Introducing Evangelical Ecotheology (Baker Academic).

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John Mark Comer lives, works, and writes in the urban core of Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Tammy, and their three children, Jude, Moses, and Sunday. He is the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church. Prior to planting Bridgetown, John Mark was the lead pastor of a suburban megachurch. Before that, he played in a band. John Mark has a master’s degree in biblical and theological studies from Western Seminary and is the author of Garden City, Loveology and newly released God Has a Name.

For more of John Mark’s teachings on the Scriptures, Jesus, and life, go to bridgetown.church and sign up for the podcast or visit johnmarkcomer.com.

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Jim Shemaria is the pastor of Celebration Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan (a suburb of Grand Rapids). He grew up in Seattle, moved to Michigan for school in 2003 and began working at Celebration in 2008. Jim loves the intimacy and community of small church ministry and divides most of his time between preaching and congregational care. He has also cohosted the (soon to be revived!) Pastoral Calling Podcast which focuses on the joys and struggles of pastoring small to midsize churches. Jim lives in Grandville with with wife Natalie, his 18-month old daughter Ila, and his retired racing greyhound Stamford. He enjoys a good cup of coffee and is an avidly long-suffering fan of the Seattle Mariners.

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The Reverend Donnell Wyche currently serves as Senior Pastor and Head of Staff at the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor where he has served for 18 years. The Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor is a growing multi-ethnic, multi-generational church in the progressive left-leaning city of Ann Arbor, MI. Passionate about the intersections of race, faith, politics, and technology, Pastor Donnell has served as a national task force leader for youth ministry and multi-ethnicity within VineyardUSA. He has led seminars and trainings on becoming culturally competent, transitioning your church to a multi-ethnic church, and has served as a part-time instructor in web technologies at Washtenaw Community College. Pastor Donnell is the president of the board of the InterFaith Council for Peace and Justice and has pursued issues of affordable, fair, and accessible housing as a board member of the Religious Action of Affordable Housing (RAAH). As a trained computer engineer, Pastor Donnell created, in partnership with the late Phyllis Tickle, the online home of The Divine Hours available at annarborvineyard.org. His latest technology project is Community Center for Churches, a software tool to help pastors better care for and shepherd their congregants, available at getcommunitycenter.com. Pastor Donnell is married to Maria, an early childhood advocate and speech-language pathologist, and together, they are raising three multi-ethnic, spiritually engaged, peace loving, politically aware, woke activists!

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Rich Villodas is the Lead Pastor at New Life Fellowship Church. On October 6th, 2013, Rich succeeded Pete Scazzero as Lead Pastor. Rich was born and raised in the East New York section of Brooklyn. He graduated from Nyack College and then went on to obtain a Masters of Divinity degree at Alliance Theological Seminary. When Rich is not reading, he is cheering on his beloved Mets, Knicks, NY Rangers and Jets teams. Rich is married to Rosie and they have a little girl and boy, named Karis and Nathan.

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Nick Parsons serves as the lead pastor of Redemption Church in central San Francisco. Nick was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ. He attended Ozark Christian College where he received a BA in Biblical Literature and more importantly, met his wife Rachel. Nick and Rachel have been involved in starting new churches in major cities around the world. The Parsons have lived in major cities in Thailand, Japan, and across the US while working with new churches. Before moving to San Francisco they lived in Missouri while Nick earned an MA in Organizational Leadership from Lincoln Christian University. Along the way they have had five children — all in different countries and states. In addition to pastoring Redemption, Nick works as the recruitment director for the Orchard Group, a Manhattan-based organization that helps start new churches in cities around the world.

Chris Davis serves as the teaching pastor of Redemption Church. He was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Criminal Justice. Upon graduation, Chris moved to Memphis, TN, where he served numerous churches and ministries. He is a graduate of Mid-America Seminary, from which he holds a Master of Divinity.

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