Speakers

Mobilize Conference (2-Day: April 27-28)

Todd Hunter - Bishop Todd Hunter is the founding pastor of Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Costa Mesa, CA. Author of Christianity Beyond Belief , Giving Church A Second Chance , The Outsider Interviews, The Accidental Anglican and coming soon a book on temptation titled Our Favorite Sins. Todd is also the founding director of Churches for the Sake of Others, the West Coast church planting initiative for The Anglican Mission in the Americas. Todd also founded Three is Enough, a small group movement that enables spiritual formation in one’s everyday life.

Dr. Hunter is an adjunct professor of evangelism and contemporary culture at George Fox University, Fuller Seminary, Western Seminary, Vanguard University and Wheaton College. He is past President of Alpha USA and former National Director for the Association of Vineyard Churches.

Todd has written for key publications such as Christianity Today, Charisma, Outreach and Ministries Today. Todd and his wife Debbie, with two adult children, live in Costa Mesa, California.




Don Everts - Best Selling Author Jesus With Dirty Feet, Leader in postmodern generation thinking, Pastor of Outreach with passion for evangelism and global justice.








Bishop C. Milton Grannum - Ed.D, Ph.D, Senior Pastor of New Covenant Church 2,500+ members, Philadelphia, PA. Denominational Leader with a vision for urban ministry. Radio Host Wisdom from the Word, Author and Visiting Professor at multiple universities.

Gerard Long - Currently serves as Executive Director of Alpha USA whose mission is to serve local churches in presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Alpha course. Following a dramatic encounter with God in 1980, Gerard has lived with one burning ambition – to please the Lord Jesus and obey His will. God has taken him on an unusual journey from the UK to the US; leaving behind a promising running career and business, as a SVP with a major international bank and now in leading Alpha USA; as a pastor in London; on TV and in major newspapers as an advisor on the Millennium Bug (Y2K); and knowing the deepest grief and suffering in the loss of his youngest son. He has witnessed many incredible conversions to Jesus Christ while leading over 50 Alpha courses in his home, church, clubs, the workplace and a jail.

Jim Anderson - Lead Pastor at Harbor Church

Jim Anderson has been the Lead Pastor of The Harbor since February of 1998. He and his wife, Dawn, have been married since 1974. They have four adult childrenand three grandchildren.

Pastor Jim is a graduate of Augustana College with BA degrees in Sociology and Business. He has been in full-time ministry since 1978, with experience as a lead pastor, church planter, associate pastor, youth minister and church consultant. He has studied theology and practical ministry through Fuller Church Growth Institute and other ministry training programs. Much of his training has been the result of mentorships with several great pastor-leaders with whom he has been privileged to work over the past 30 years.

He is also president of Harvest Impact Ministries, a consulting firm that specializes in working with churches and para-church ministries. Locally, he is involved in the Hastings and South Washington County Ministers Fellowships and is a board member for the Minnesota Family Council.
In 1985, Jim helped found an international association of ministers and churches called Harvest Network International. He has been a member of the national overseeing board of that association since 1989. In 2005, Jim became the 5th person to lead Harvest Network as Presiding Overseer. The headquarters of Harvest Network are housed at The Harbor.

Joe Boerman - Joe is the Sr. Pastor of Immanuel Church in Gurnee, Illinois where he has served since 1978. He and his wife, Debbie, have three grown and married children, and two young grandchildren. Joe is a DMin graduate from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. His passion is to make Scripture understandable so it can be applied to life in a transforming way. His hobbies and interests include motorcycling, photography and travel.

Marion Medina - Marion Medina is the Director Evangelism and Community Action at Immanuel Church in Gurnee, Illinois. Marion attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and Trinity International University in Bannockburn, Illinois from which she holds a degree in Organizational Leadership. She has directed Alpha courses for the past seven years and serves on the Chicago Alpha Advisory Board. Marion is an Alpha Advisor for Lake County Illinois churches. She has been instrumental in the development of The Go! Project, an ecumenical evangelistic effort sponsored by Christ Together. Marion lives in Gurnee, IL with her husband, Ray.

Pastor Marv Johnson—Executive Pastor and Director of Outreach
Marv Johnson has served as Executive Pastor and Director of Outreach for The Harbor since June of 2004. He has assisted Lead Pastor Jim Anderson in providing strategic leadership for The Harbor and leads the business and operations aspects of The Harbor, Pine Harbor Christian Academy and Kid’s Kare Center. He implemented and directs the Alpha Course, leads the evangelism training and initiatives, and coordinates the outreach and serving efforts through The Harbor’s Love In Action ministry.

Prior to joining The Harbor in 2002, Marv spent 30 years in the high tech industry, in executive management, sales and technical positions. He is a graduate of Augustana College with bachelor degrees in Math and Physics. He and his wife, Sheila, have been married since 1972. They have 3 adult children: Karstin (married to Chris), Rachel and Emily (married to Owen), and 1 granddaughter, Alicia.

Bill White is one of the Pastors at Emmanuel Reformed Church in Paramount, California. He and his team have run Alpha in that urban, ethnically diverse area a year since 1999. His wife is a physician in the housing projects in LA. He has a 12 year old boy and a 10 year old girl.

Next Generation One Day Intensive (1-Day: April 28)

Matt Brown - Matt and Michelle Brown are founders of Think Eternity, an evangelistic nonprofit. Matt is the author of Revolutionaries: Men and Women in Every Century Who Advanced Christianity and they are frequent bloggers at Thinke.org. Their speaking ministry as international evangelists has taken them to the ends of the earth with thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to Jesus Christ through their ministry. They serve as radio guests, adjunct professors on evangelism, and now minister to over a hundred thousand people on several social media accounts on a near-daily basis.

Sarah Hoverson - Is passionate about reaching the next generation. As a public high school teacher, she has worked alongside students from a variety of backgrounds, including at-risk populations and new immigrants. Alpha has been a significant part of her life for nine years serving in a variety of capacities including as a Campus Alpha and Youth Alpha Advisor, and as a member of the Alpha USA/Twin Cities Leadership Team. Sarah is in the process of earning a doctorate in educational leadership at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN.

Rebecca Long - Since 2007, Rebecca has been on staff with the Alpha USA marketing team. For the past three years she has also served as the National Youth Alpha Coordinator. A highlight of her role is supporting leaders and teenagers that have a passion to see 11-18 year olds transformed by Jesus Christ. She has given workshops on evangelism to students at Trinity International University Chicago and also written for ‘Youth Worker Journal’. Originally from London, England, Rebecca has lived in the USA since 2004. She has a BA from the University of Bristol and MBA from Loyola University Business School, Chicago.

Kirk Petersen - Kirk serves as Alpha's Northwest Senior Regional Director from his home in Portland, Oregon. Prior to joining the Alpha staff three years ago, Kirk served as a Youth Pastor for 17 years in Oregon. He has also authored several devotionals for high school and college students, run two marathons for Team Alpha, and coached soccer for 20 years. Kirk and his wife Marlys have been married 16 years and live in Portland with their three children, Lauren 13, Kellen 11, and Morgan 9, and a nine month old golden retriever.

Trent Sheppard - Trent Sheppard lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with his wife, Bronwyn, and their two children, Miréa and Blaze. They are part of a small community of believers who live and work in a developing section of the city affectionately known as Eastie. Before moving to Massachusetts, Trent worked with YWAM in the UK for eight years, helping to lead a young adults initiative called The Factory. He now serves Campus Alpha in New England in the regional role of Collegiate Chaplain. Trent is the author of  God on Campus: Sacred Causes and Global Effects a book about what happens when college students intentionally engage with God.

Jon Wise

Anthony Richards - Pastor Anthony Richards moved from Australia to Minnesota in 2005 and has been on staff at River Valley Church since 2006. Prior to entering the ministry, Anthony was a CPA, the President of a Property Development Company and the Principal of an Advertising Agency. At River Valley, he is the founding Ministry Director of the Alpha course which has had over 2,000 attendees, the Director of Marketing & Design and the Director of Strategic Expansion. As well as his full time role at River Valley, he also performs Consulting services offering strategic, marketing, financial and operational advice to different industries. He is married to Mandy and has two children, Emma (8) & George (4).

Multicultural One Day Intensive (1-Day: April 28)

Dana Baker - Dana is the Director of Multicultural Ministries at Grace Chapel, a non-denominational church with two campuses, in Lexington and Wilmington, Massachusetts. The average attendance at five weekend services (three in Lexington, two in Wilmington) is around 3000 people. Dana has served on the pastoral staff since October of 2000 in both urban and multicultural ministries and church partnerships. In September of 2005, Dana was asked to lead a multicultural church initiative which sought to intentionally respond to the growing multicultural population of Grace Chapel and the region. Approximately 30% of the congregation is from cultures other than those of Western European descent - including Chinese, Korean, Haitian, Hispanic, Brazilian, African American, Nigerian, Egyptian, and more than 30 other cultures. Worship services are translated into four languages – Korean, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Mandarin Chinese.
Raised in Oklahoma, Dana graduated from Rice University in Houston, Texas with a degree in architecture. Prior to joining the staff at Grace Chapel, Dana practiced architecture for twenty years before feeling called to vocational ministry. She also volunteered as a lay leader for many years in a wide variety of urban ministries in the city of Boston. She is presently pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree from the Center for Urban Ministerial Education, the Boston campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dana resides in Medford with her husband Ron, and their son, Tim (22) who is a graduate of Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a major in media & film production. Their daughter Melissa (19) is a sophomore at Gordon College in Wenham, MA studying social work.

Gary Gulbranson

José Garrigó -Director for Multicultural Alpha and National Coordinator for Alpha for Latinos and for Puerto Rico

A member of the Hispanic Community and a Cuban-American, José has been working as a bi-vocational missionary in Spain for the past sixteen years. He holds a Master in Education from Saint John’s University and a Master in Divinity degree from Denver Seminary. His goal is to help the church in Colorado and the Spanish speaking Church in the United States to use the Alpha Course as an effective and modern tool for evangelism. José is partnering with the Denver Seminary Spanish program to train their students in how to use the Alpha Course.

Director de Alpha Multicultural y coordinador de Alpha para latinos y Puerto Rico
Biografía

Siendo parte de la comunidad latina y de origen cubano, José ha estado trabajando como misionero y educador en España durante 16 años. Cuenta en su haber con un máster en educación de la Universidad de Saint John en Nueva York y otro máster en teología del Seminario de Denver. Su meta actual es ayudar a la iglesia en el estado de Colorado y a las iglesias hispanas en los Estados Unidos a utilizar el curso Alpha como una herramienta efectiva y actual para la evangelización. José también colabora con el Seminario de Denver para adiestrar líderes hispanos en la evangelización y en el uso del curso Alpha.

Jim Olson - Jim has served as Senior Pastor at Bethel Christian Fellowship (BCF) since 1990, a church that has been serving the Twin Cities for over 75 years. BCF’s calling is to Radiate Life and Joy as a House of Prayer for All Nations. BCF’s multiple locations in the Twin City metro area give them a unique opportunity to cross cultural, racial, economic, and denominational barriers to be a mosaic of people who experience unity in the midst of diversity. In addition to his MDiv, Jim completed a Doctor of Ministry program in Global and Contextual Leadership at Bethel University. Pastor Jim & his wife Annette have three daughters and a son and reside in St. Paul.

Lisa Smith - Lisa serves Alpha USA as the National Coordinator for Alpha ESOL (Alpha in English, for speakers of other languages) and is the Regional Director for Alpha in Greater Boston .She serves as a missions partner for her home church Grace Chapel located in Lexington, MA and loves reaching out to her international friends through the Alpha ESOL course she directs there. She enjoys building and equipping and mobilizing teams to ignite new outreach initiatives, and has spoken locally, nationally and globally about her experiences. Lisa has been involved with the ministry of Alpha for the past 11 years. She is passionate about creating safe places for people to explore questions about faith, and works with groups of leaders committed to uniting and celebrating cultural diversity within the body of Christ as well as those initiating intercultural and cross-cultural outreach. She feels especially called to reach those who seem disenfranchised by religion, overlooked or on the fringes of society.