Jackie Hill Perry

Jackie Hill Perry is a speaker, author, poet, and artist. Her sophomore album, Crescendo, was released in May 2018. She is also the author of Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I was and What God Has Always Been. At home she is wife to Preston and mom to Eden and Autumn.

Ray Ortlund

Ray Ortlund (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary; MA, The University of California, Berkeley; PhD, University of Aberdeen, Scotland) has a way with words that makes Jesus real. Known as a father to a generation of church planters, he is senior pastor of Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, a Council member of The Gospel Coalition, the president of Renewal Ministries, and Regional Director in the Acts 29 Network.

Jani Ortlund

Jani Ortlund, author, speaker and Executive Vice President of Renewal Ministries, loves spending her energies connecting women with the Word of God. Serving Jesus Christ through writing, speaking and discipling are her chief passions in life. Jani and Ray, Pastor of Immanuel Church, have four married children and fourteen grandchildren. Jani is a graduate of Wheaton College and National Louis University. She podcasts at He Restores My Soul.

Rev. Dr. Joseph Boot

Rev. Dr. Joseph Boot (M.A., PhD) is a Christian thinker, cultural apologist/philosopher, founder of the Ezra Institute for Contemporary Christianity (EICC), founding pastor of Westminster Chapel, Toronto and faculty associate professor of Cultural Apologetics for Redeemer University.

Robbie Symons is the founding pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel Oakville, which has experienced the power and grace of the Lord in its growth from a Bible study of 18 people in 2003 to over 3000 worshipers today.

Pastor Robbie’s messages plays in the greater Toronto area and greater Buffalo areas on JOY1250, WDCX, and Harvester Radio. Robbie and his wife Gillian live in Burlington, Ontario with their four children.

Michael Wear

Michael Wear is the author of Reclaiming Hope: Lessons Learned in the Obama White House About the Future of Faith in America. He also writes for The Atlantic, Christianity Today, USA Today, Relevant Magazine and other publications on faith, politics and culture. Michael is a Senior Fellow at The Trinity Forum, and he holds an honorary position at the University of Birmingham’s Cadbury Center for the Public Understanding of Religion. Michael and his wife, Melissa, are both proud natives of Buffalo, New York. They now reside in Northern Virginia, where they are raising their beloved daughter, Saoirse.

Jerry Gillis

Jerry’s formal education includes a degree in Communication from the University of Georgia; a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Seminary; and a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is Lead Pastor of The Chapel, a multi campus church of nearly 6000, and speaks to pastors around the U.S. and other nations as part of the network Christ Together.

Brett Larson

Brett holds a B.S. and an MBA from Liberty University, and a Master’s in Theology from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He is General Manager of the WDCX Radio group and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Religious Broadcasters association and as an Elder at Grace Church in Buffalo. Brett and his wife, Kim, have 3 wonderful boys.

Dan Trippie

A native of Buffalo, NY, Dan received his Bachelor of Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute and studied at Reformed Theological Seminary before receiving his Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dan currently focuses his studies on Ethics and Public Theology as a PhD Candidate at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Dan seeks to integrate theology into the public square dialogue. 

Craig McClure

Craig McClure holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish (Piedmont College) and a master’s degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is SCORE International’s National Director of Discipleship and Church Planting in the Dominican Republic, and an adjunct professor at the Seminario Teológico Bautista Dominicano an affiliate of SBTS. He also serves as a minor league baseball chaplain. His wife Joanna, an RN, runs a medical clinic. They have been living in the Dominican Republic for almost a decade.

Erik Ticen

For almost 25 years Erik Ticen has served as a producer, director, writer and media strategist for hundreds of national non-profit and commercial organizations. Yet without a doubt his greatest love is producing and directing disciples for Jesus. With this charge he started Edifi Media, a company developing rich content for television, film, digital applications, live workshops, missional campaigns, and discipleship curriculum. In addition, Erik serves as teaching elder for SimpleWay Church, a microchurch network that meets in homes throughout the Western New York southtowns.

Scott Shafer

Scott Shafer is a writer and composer with a passion for making disciples. Born in Buffalo, NY, he grew up in Vermont and came to Christ through the campus ministry of the Navigators while studying engineering at Lehigh University. Scott is a Design Engineer, holding a Masters’ degree from Columbia University. He also holds a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Dallas Theological Seminary. For 25 years he served the church in Central NY as a worship leader. Since returning to his native Buffalo, he has served as Campus Pastor within Watermark Wesleyan Church, and is currently teaching and producing discipleship materials for that church body. His enthusiasm for good theology and his rare blend of left and right brain skills are a great fit for us. And it’s been suggested we mention his rakish charm and quirky sense of humor.

Fr. Bryan Wandel

Fr. Bryan Wandel moved back to Buffalo to start Church of the Atonement (Anglican) in 2017. He also runs a public drinks & discussion series, The Nickel City Forum -- seeking to make "argument" into a good word again -- where believers and non-believers engage Big Idea questions. Fr. Bryan lives with his wife and four children on the West Side of Buffalo. He has written for Anglican Pastor, ChurchLeaders, First Things, Comment, and Humane Pursuits.

Matt Moran

Matt Moran is Lead Pastor of Community of Grace. Matt graduated from Houghton College and has a Master's in Theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. From 2010-2016 he helped start new churches with the Seven Mile Road family of churches in greater Boston. Thrilled to be back in the Buffalo, he has a passion for church planting, making disciples and helping people understand the meaning of the Gospel for everyday life. Matt' secondary enthusiasms include Bills' football, reading, golf, and Bocce's pizza. He and his wife Laurel have four young children.

Jeff Hackett

Jeff received Christ in March of 1987 at The Chapel in Amherst, NY, and was discipled by Godly men. In 2000, Jeff left his job as a storm water specialist/consultant and accepted a position as Youth Pastor to high school students at The Chapel, including trips overseas. In 2004, Jeff began in missions fulltime. He serves with Score Int’l to mobilize the local church for missions and help believers live missionally. Jeff has been the director of GAP Year programs, trained short-term mission teams and is passionate about God’s people reading, learning and obeying His Word. Married to Cindy for 35 years, they have 3 children and 4 grandchildren.

Keri Cardinale

Author of “Swing Wide” and radio host. For 15 years, Keri walked away from God and unashamedly tells the hard truth about life without Christ, her “homecoming” and what life looks like now that she lives for Christ alone. Keri speaks on topics such as overcoming sexual sins, weight struggles, insecurities, identity struggles and having confidence in worship leading.

Myron Glick, M.D.

Dr. Glick is the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Jericho Road Community Health Center in Buffalo, NY. He is a Board Certified Family Physician and was awarded a fellowship at SUNY-Buffalo Department of Family Medicine in Faculty Development and Primary Care Research, and also holds a faculty appointment at SUNY-Buffalo in the School of Medicine. The family practice has grown to include two sites with twenty-eight medical providers (including him), and now sees over 60,000 patient visits per year on the West and East Sides of Buffalo. Many of the patients are refugees. Jericho Road it has expanded globally in Kono District of Sierra Leone and Goma, DRC-Congo. Dr Glick is a tireless advocate for the poorest and most vulnerable in Buffalo and in places like Sierra Leone and Congo. His wife, Joyce, works at Jericho Road as the front office manager. Joyce and Myron have four children.