Jeffrey D. Arthurs
Jeffrey Arthurs is the professor of preaching and communication and dean of the chapel at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Bedford, Massachusetts.
Jeff received both a BA and an MA from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, in Bible and speech, respectively. He also holds an MA in theology from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He received his PhD in communication at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Jeff has taught on all levels, from grade school to grad school. He has taught preaching and communication in a dozen colleges and seminaries in the US, as well as in the Philippines. He is currently in his fourth year at Gordon-Conwell.
Currently, Jeff is interim teaching pastor at Hope Alliance Church. He and his wife also lead their church's Alpha ministry. He is a past-president of the Evangelical Homiletics Society and an active scholar, regularly presenting papers at conferences and writing articles for periodicals like Journal of Communication and Religion, Preaching, Leadership, and PreachingToday.com. His first book, Preaching With Variety: How to Recreate the Dynamics of Biblical Genres, will be published with Kregel in March.
Jeff has been married for 25 years and enjoys playing tennis with his wife and son.
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary: www.gcts.edu
Lee Eclov
Lee Eclov is senior pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire in Lake Forest, Illinois. A native of South Dakota, he graduated from Trinity College and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Lee has been a pastor for nearly 30 years, having also served in Deerfield, Illinois and Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
He is an adjunct professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a consulting editor for Leadership Journal, and a columnist for PreachingToday.com, both publications of Christianity Today International.
Lee and his wife of 34 years, Susan, have one son, Anders, and live in Vernon Hills, Illinois.
Village Church of Lincolnshire: http://evcl.org
John Koessler
John Koessler serves on the faculty of Moody Bible Institute as professor and chair of the Pastoral Studies Department.
John served as a pastor of Valley Chapel in Green Valley, Illinois, for nine years, and continues to preach in area churches and at various conferences.
He is the author of eight books, including A Stranger in the House of God (Zondervan, 2007) and True Discipleship (Moody, 2003). He also served as a contributing editor for The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching (Zondervan, 2005). John has written for a number of Christian periodicals, including Christianity Today, Leadership, Decision, Discipleship Journal, and Moody Magazine.
John is married to Jane and has two sons, Drew and Jarred. They live in Munster, Indiana.
John Koessler: www.johnkoessler.com
Steve Mathewson
Steve Mathewson serves as the senior pastor of the Evangelical Free Church of Libertyville, Illinois. He began serving there in May 2006 after twenty years of pastoral and professorial ministry in Montana. Steve also teaches preaching in the doctoral programs at Denver Seminary and Western Seminary, and in the Master of Divinity program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.
Steve holds a DMin in preaching from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, an MA in Old Testament language and exegesis from Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, and a bachelor's degree from Multnomah Bible College.
Steve is the author of The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative (Baker, 2002), and is also the author of Joshua-Judges in "The People's Bible Commentary" (Bible Reading Fellowship, 2003). His articles have appeared in Leadership Journal and Bibliotheca Sacra.
Steve and his wife, Priscilla, have four children—Erin, Anna, Ben, and Luke. Steve enjoys fly-fishing, rooting for the St. Louis Cardinals, and traveling.
Evangelical Free Church of Libertyville: www.lefc.com
John Ortberg
John Ortberg is teaching pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California. Formerly, John served as senior pastor of Horizons Community Church in Southern California, and as teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in the Chicago area.
John received a Master of Divinity degree and doctorate in clinical psychology from Fuller Seminary.
He is the best-selling author of God Is Closer than You Think (Zondervan, 2005), Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them (Zondervan, 2003), The Life You've Always Wanted (Zondervan, 2002), and Love Beyond Reason (Zondervan, 2001). He has written for Christianity Today and is a frequent contributor to Leadership Journal.
John lives in California with his wife, Nancy, and their three children.
Menlo Park Presbyterian Church: www.mppcfamily.org
Colin Smith
Colin Smith is pastor of Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church in northwest suburban Chicago.
Colin was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and sensed God's call to pastoral ministry early in life. Colin earned a BA in Theology and an MP from London Bible College. While studying in London, he met and married his wife, Karen.
Before coming to the United States in 1996, Colin served as senior pastor of the Enfield Evangelical Free Church in London for 16 years. While in London, he was very active in the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches in England, and has served the Fellowship as president.
He is author of the four volume series Unlocking the Bible Story (Moody, 2002), and teacher on the daily Unlocking the Bible radio broadcast.
Colin and his wife, Karen, reside in Arlington Heights, Illinois with their two sons, Andrew and David.
Unlocking the Bible: www.unlockingthebible.org
Dave Stone
For the past 18 years, Dave Stone has been in the preaching ministry at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He has been in the preaching ministry for the past 18 years, and worked alongside Bob Russell until Bob's retirement in 2006.
Dave has spoken at regional and national conventions in 35 states. His most recent book, Refining Your Style (Group, 2004), won the Preaching Magazine Book of the Year Award.
Dave graduated from Cincinnati Christian University in 1983. He enjoys spending time with his wife, Beth, and his three children: Savannah, Sadie, and Sam. He also enjoys an occasional round of golf and collecting baseball cards with his son.
The Living Word teaching ministry: www.livingword.org
Sarah Sumner
Sarah Sumner is the special assistant to the dean for strategic development and professor of theology and ministry in Haggard Graduate School of Theology at Azusa Pacific University. She is also teaching pastor at New Song Church and an aerobics instructor at Bally Total Fitness. She travels nationally as both a speaker and a consultant.
Dr. Sumner has earned four degrees, including a BA in education, an MA in theology, a PhD in systematic theology, and an MBA.
Her books include Leadership Above the Line (Tyndale, 2006) and Men and Women in the Church: Building Consensus on Christian Leadership (InterVarsity, 2003). Her third book, Just How Married Do You Want to Be? is scheduled for release in November 2007.
Sarah has been married to her husband, Jim Sumner, for over ten years. They are currently in the process of adopting a little girl.
Leadership Above the Line: www.leadershipabovetheline.com
Don Sunukjian
Don Sunukjian is professor of preaching at Talbot School of Theology, on the campus of Biola University in La Mirada, California. Prior to coming to Talbot, Don served 14 years as senior pastor of churches in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Austin, Texas.
He holds doctorates in both theology and communication, and taught preaching for 10 years at Dallas Theological Seminary. Don has written for both biblical commentaries and preaching texts, and is the author of the soon-to-be-released Invitation to Biblical Preaching (Kregel, 2007).
Don's leisure activities include racquetball, walking the piers of California with his wife, Nell, and enjoying with her their growing family as their five children marry and have grandchildren.
Armenian Christian Fellowship of Orange County: www.acfoc.org
Bill White
Bill White is the Outreach Pastor at Emmanuel Reformed Church in Paramount, California, where he has served for 10 years. He has been and is now (and may always be) a student at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where he earned his MDiv in 2000. He is currently working toward his DMin.
Bill has previously worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship amongst garbage dump dwellers in Mexico City. Bill's wife, Katy, is a physician in south central Los Angeles, and their passion is seeing the kingdom of God come to the city.
Bill loves wrestling with his kids, dating his wife, playing chess, and coaching soccer.
Emmanuel Church: www.erc.la
Bryan Wilkerson
Bryan Wilkerson has served as senior pastor of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts since September 2000. Previously, he was senior pastor of Manhasset Baptist Church in Long Island, New York for 16 years. Bryan is a frequent contributor to Preaching Today, and speaks at conferences and retreats throughout the region and around the world.
Bryan is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary, and is currently working toward his DMin at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
When he isn't in meetings or preparing messages, Bryan can be found running or biking the back roads and trails of New England.
He and his wife, Karen, live in Bedford and have enjoyed 25 years of marriage. They have four children, Kelly, Brendan, Mark, and Daniel.
Grace Chapel: www.grace.org
