Larry Osborne
(speaking with Chris Brown)
Larry is lead pastor of North Coast Church in northern San Diego County, widely recognized as one of the most influential and innovative churches in America.

He holds M.Div. and D.Min. degrees from Talbot Theological Seminary.

Larry speaks extensively on the subject of leadership and developing healthy ministry teams and is the author of The Unity Factor and A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God.

Larry is also the author of Sticky Church.  With this book, he makes the case that closing the back door of your church is even more important than opening the front door wider.  He offers a time-tested strategy for doing so: sermon-based small groups that dig deeper into the weekend message and tightly Velcro members to the ministry.

It’s a strategy that enabled Osborne’s congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation without any marketing or special programming.

Larry and his wife, Nancy, live in Oceanside, California.

Topic: STICKY CHURCH: Fulfilling The Second Half of the Great Commission

Chris Brown
(speaking with Larry Osborne)
Chris Brown has served as a Senior Pastor and Teaching Pastor at North Coast Church since 2004. Prior to that, he developed a nationally recognized student ministry at Azusa Pacific College, where he served as the Campus Pastor.

His mid-week Bible study known as "911" started with 80 and grew to over 1,500 students.
 
At North Coast, Chris oversees Children’s Ministries and is the venue pastor for the hip, out-of-the-extraordinary "Edge" video venue.

A gifted storyteller and Bible Teacher, Chris is in great demand as a conference and chapel speaker. His humor and motivational style have helped North Coast Church continue to grow, not only larger, but also younger during his tenure.

He shares the weekend pulpit with Larry Osborne - each teaching roughly half the time.

Topic: STICKY CHURCH: Fulfilling The Second Half of the Great Commission

Eric Michael Bryant
Eric serves as an elder, speaker, and navigator overseeing the leadership team at Mosaic in Los Angeles.

Starting as a volunteer in the parking lot at Mosaic, Eric later worked with students and then helped catalyze new venues across Los Angeles.

He also teaches at the southern California campus of Golden Gate Seminary and is working on his D.Min  with Bethel Seminary.

A sought-after speaker, Eric is one of the co-authors of The Uprising Experience, a workbook developed for Promise Keepers based on Erwin McManus’ book Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul, and has written several articles for Group and Relevant Leader magazines.

His book, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love, was published in June 2007.

Eric lives with his wife, Debbie, and two children, Caleb and Trevi in the middle of Los Angeles County.

Topic: Hindus, Homosexuals, and the Hard to Reach: Evangelism in a Post-Christian World
 

Bil Cornelius
Bil is the pastor of Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi, Texas. His life calling has been to create a movement that is reaching into the lives of the lost and unchurched of Corpus Christi and beyond. He does this through creative and relevant life changing messages and by coaching the next generation of exponential church planters.

Bay Area Fellowship’s first community service was held on January 18th, 1998. The service was held at a local elementary school and over 200 people attended.

Over the past decade, the church has grown to over 6,000 people in weekend attendance between their four campuses. With the launch of his television show, Bil Cornelius TV, he is looking to reach beyond the local limits and spread the Christ message around the country.

Bil is the husband to Jessica and father to Mason, Cole and Sophie, a role second only to his love for and faith in God.

Topic: Church Planting and Momentum Building

John Jackson
John is the founding and Senior Pastor of Carson Valley Christian Center in Minden, Nevada and the Executive Director of Thriving Churches International. He is an Associate Trainer with Equip (the non-profit ministry of Dr. John Maxwell) and has trained pastors, CEO’s and other business leaders, along with meeting with members of Parliament and the Kenyan legal society, and being a Purpose Driven Church trainer in Kenya.

He has also taught visionary leadership and ministry administration at the graduate school level.  John is a gifted communicator of biblical truth and life application and has demonstrated expertise in vision casting, leadership development, entrepreneurial activity, administration, and financial management. 

John is the author of High Impact Church Planting, Leveraging Your Communication Style, Leveraging Your Leadership Style, God-Size Your Church, Pastorpreneur, and Finding Your Place in God's Plan.

He is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara with a Ph.D and M.A. in Educational Administration & Organizational Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary with a M.A. in Theology and Christian Formation, and Chapman University with a B.A. in Religion and Christian History.

John and his wife Pamela have five children ranging in ages from 24 to 10. They make their home in Genoa, Nevada.

Topic: God-Size Your Church

Gerardo Marti
Dr. Marti is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Davidson College in NC. He has his B.A in Sociology and Communications from Pepperdine University, and his M.A. and Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Southern California.

Dr. Marti has written a number of books, including Under Contract – Worship Across The Racial Divide: Notions of Race and the Practice of Religious Music in Multiracial Churches, Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church and A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church.

Topic: Multi-ethnic Ministry

David Chow
David Chow is the founder of Leading Together, a leadership development ministry that provides coaching, consulting, and training for Christian organizations and leaders.  He has served on staff at several churches overseeing adults, students, and leadership development including The Crystal Cathedral, ROCKHARBOR, and most recently Yorba Linda Friends.

He is a certified Gallup Strengths Performance Coach, Leadership Challenge Workshop Facilitator, and accredited by the Hay Group in the Emotional Intelligence Inventory. He is also a Gallup Faith Field Advisor providing consulting to churches around Gallup’s tools and leadership programs.  He has Master’s degrees in Organizational Leadership from Biola University and Positive Organizational Development & Change from Case Western Reserve School of Management. 

Topic: Becoming Strengths-Based Leadership

David Harris
(speaking with Sherwood Carthen)
David has over twenty-five years of ministry experience as a pastor, church planter, church consultant and conference speaker.

A native of southern Ohio he has served as an adjunct college professor and has pastored churches in Lewisburg, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Sacramento.

Currently, David is completing drafts of two books for publication, Pursuing Intimacy With God and Communicating With Excellence, and he is the Thrive Conference Director at Bayside Church in Granite Bay, CA.

A highly engaging and gifted communicator, David is increasingly in demand as a speaker in conferences, seminars, and churches.

His education is extensive and includes a BA in Christian Ministry, MA in Church Management and DMin in Preaching.

Topic: Preaching to a Multi-Ethnic Congregation