LAUNCH KEYNOTE - Tuesday, July 19th
Dr. Zack Eswine is Lead Pastor at Riverside Church (EPC) in Webster Groves, Missouri, where he has served since 2008. In addition serves as an adjunct professor at Covenant Seminary. In addition to his service at Covenant & Riverside Church, Dr. Eswine and his wife, Jessica, serve ministry leaders and those who doubt by opening their home and pursuing the wisdom of Jesus for the questions of life.
Dr. Eswine is the author of several books, including The Imperfect Pastor, which received Christianity Today’s Book of the Year Award in Church/Pastoral Leadership, and Preaching to a Post-Everything World, which received Preaching Today’s Book of the Year Award. His Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for Those Who Struggle with Depression and Recovering Eden: The Gospel According to Ecclesiastes express Dr. Eswine’s heart for the care of souls.
Born and raised in Southern Indiana, in the towns of Henryville, Clarksville and Floyd’s Knobs. He graduated from Floyd Central High School in 1987, received a B.S.W. from Ball State University, an M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Regent University.
Update
KEYNOTE - Wednesday, July 20th: Generations and Church
Dr. Tod Bolsinger (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is a speaker, executive coach, former pastor, and author who serves as associate professor of leadership formation and senior fellow for the De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary. He is the author of Canoeing the Mountains, which was named Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year in Pastoral Leadership, as well as the Christianity Today Award of Merit recipient It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian.
A frequent speaker and consultant, he serves as an executive coach for corporate, nonprofit, educational, and church organizations in transformational leadership. For seventeen years, he was the senior pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church in San Clemente, California, after serving for ten years at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood. Tod and his wife, Beth, have two children.
KEYNOTE - Thursday, July 21th: The Rise of the Nones and the Future of American Religion
Ryan Burge is an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University. He has published over thirty academic articles and book chapters on American religion and politics. He is also the author of The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going (2021) and 20 Myths About Religion and Politics in America (2022). In addition, he has served as a pastor in the American Baptist Church for nearly twenty years.
KEYNOTE/CLOSING EVENT - Friday, July 22nd: He said - She said - Legal & Accounting Update
Elaine L. Sommerville is a CPA and the sole shareholder of Sommerville and Associates, P.C. She is a regular speaker for the Texas Society of CPAs, The Church Network, the Houston Church Coop, Shelby Systems and an instructor for the AICPA as well as a contributing author for Christianity Today and Thomson Reuters/PPC Nonprofit Tax and Governance Guide. She is a member of the AICPA, the Texas Society of CPAs, The Church Network.
Frank Sommerville, JD, MPA, CPA is a shareholder in the law firm of Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski & Zuber, PC, in Houston and Dallas, Texas. He holds a license as a Certified Public Accountant and is also board certified in tax law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has served nonprofit institutions of all sizes as a bookkeeper, accountant, auditor, tax advisor and advocate, litigator, and legal advisor. He regularly assists churches in preventing litigation.