Rick Atchley has dedicated his life to faith, family, and ministry. He married Jamie Lyda of San Antonio on June 6, 1981, and together they are proud parents of three children and grandparents of six. A graduate of Abilene Christian University, Rick earned a BA in Oral Communication in 1978 and an MA in Religious Communications in 1982, with both degrees including a minor in Bible. His ministry career began in September 1978 as the preaching minister for Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. In June 1989, he accepted the preaching minister position at The Hills Church (formerly Richland Hills Church of Christ), a growing multi-campus church with locations in North Richland Hills, Keller, West Fort Worth, and Dallas. Beyond ministry, Rick enjoys playing golf, staying active through exercise, and celebrating his status as a retired fantasy football champion.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKERS
Aaron Brockett
Aaron has contributed to several books and articles and also serves as a board member of church planting organizations Orchard Group and Strategic Launch Network. He and his wife, Lindsay, have dedicated their lives to seeing people all over the world come to know, trust and follow Jesus. They have four great kids and a silver lab named Winston.
He is passionate about removing unnecessary barriers that keep people from Jesus, just as the men in Mark 2 “wrecked the roof” in order to get the paralytic to Jesus. “Jesus says, ‘I will draw all men and women to myself.’ Therefore, He is the only one who can change anyone. Our responsibility as a church is to get those people to Him and let Him do what only He can,” Aaron has said.
Aaron Brockett is the lead pastor of Traders Point Christian Church in Indianapolis. Since he joined the church in 2007, it has grown from 1,500 people in one location to more than 12,000 people in multiple locations, earning recognition as one of the fastest-growing churches in the U.S. from Outreach Magazine.
Ashley Weece
Ashley moved to Maine in 2023 with her husband Justin and their sons, Judah and Journey. After nearly a decade of ministry in Kentucky, they felt called to plant a church in what is, according to a ton of unverified research, the best state in America. Iron Coast Church launched in March 2025, where Ashley serves as the Associate Pastor.
Ben Cachiaras
Ben Cachiaras has served as Lead Pastor of Mountain Christian Church near Baltimore, Maryland, since 1997. With roots in Minnesota, he previously served churches there and in Tennessee.
A graduate of Minnesota Bible College (renamed Crossroads College), he has studied at Bethel Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and graduated with the Master of Divinity degree from Emmanuel Christian Seminary where he is currently a Doctor of Ministry student.
Ben has served on Boards for Emmanuel Christian Seminary, Milligan University, and Stadia Church planting and as President of the North American Christian Convention. He has been a contributing editor and author for Christian Standard magazine, and is passionately involved with Missions of Hope International, a holistic, Christ-centered ministry based out of Nairobi, Kenya. Ben speaks widely and loves to connect pastors with one another to provide encouragement and coaching through mentoring and by leading cohorts of pastors in community.
With its beginnings in 1824, the story of the Mountain Christian Church’s growth and fruit is remarkable. Mountain is a multi-ethnic, multi-site church that gathers in four locations, with exciting plans for a fifth campus. The EPICENTER, Mountain’s multi-site community center for ministry outreach, has a focus on changing the trajectory of under-resourced children and families through incarnational love shown through an array of programs.
Ben and his wife Karla have three awesome children: Nathan (Abigail), a pastor in Tennessee; Andrew (Nicole), a software developer in California; and Ellie, an ESL teacher in Baltimore. He has a lifelong, irrational devotion to the Minnesota Vikings, gets a kick out of wake surfing, and is fired up about helping you get on the Pickleball bandwagon. Most of all, he loves his family, has a passion for preaching, leadership, and mentoring, and is devoted to building Jesus-shaped communities that draw people to the love of God.
Dave Ferguson
Dave Ferguson is the founding pastor of Community Christian Church, a multi-expression missional community that is passionate about “helping people find their way back to God.” Community has grown from a few college friends to reaching thousands of people in Chicagoland and around the world. Dave is the CEO/President of Exponential; a catalyst for developing multipliers and church planting globally. He is an award-winning author of books that include The Big Idea, Exponential, On The Verge, Finding Your Way Back To God, Starting Over, Hero Maker and most recently B.L.E.S.S. 5 Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World. Dave and his best friend Sue are parents to three adult kids they are crazy about.
David Kinnaman
David Kinnaman CEO David Kinnaman is the author of the bestselling books Faith For Exiles, Good Faith, You Lost Me and unChristian.
He is CEO of Barna Group, a leading research and communications company that works with churches, nonprofits, and businesses ranging from film studios to financial services. Since 1995, David has directed interviews with more than two million individuals and overseen thousands of U.S. and global research studies.
He lives in Fort Worth, Texas and has three adult children.
Drew Moore
Drew Moore has always been about pointing people to life in Jesus. After graduating from Illinois State University in 2000, he began a seven-year run as math teacher, football coach and high school ministry volunteer at Eastview Christian Church. In 2006, he made ministry his vocation as Eastview’s High School Pastor. After completing a Master of Arts in Spiritual Formation at Lincoln Christian University, Drew began at Canyon Ridge in 2012 as Pastor of Student Life, where he served until becoming Lead Pastor in October of 2018. Drew loves the outdoor adventure and spending quality time with his wife Layne and his four kids, Luke, Nina, Miles, and Zeke.
Jonathan Moynihan
Jonathan Moynihan is the Lead Pastor of Mosaic Christian Church in Elkridge, MD. He's passionate about reaching unchurched people and empowering believers to cultivate a hidden life with Christ. He and his wife Stephanie live in Maryland with their 3 kids: Evie, Isla, and Indy.
Kyle Idleman
Kyle Idleman is a bestselling author and the senior pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, one of the largest churches in America. He’s most widely known for his award-winning book, not a fan., which has sold more than 1.3 million copies and has sparked a movement among believers.
Kyle has authored other books including: Every Thought Captive, When Your Way Isn’t Working, One at a Time, gods at war, Grace is Greater and Don’t Give Up.
Kyle and his wife DesiRae have four children, 3 grand children and live on a farm where he does no farming.
Max Lucado
Max Lucado has enjoyed a double calling in his lifetime—to preach and to write. Max and his wife, Denalyn, spent five years as church-planting missionaries in Brazil before settling in at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, where he currently serves as Teaching Minister.
For 40 years, Max has published trade books, children’s books, devotional Bibles, curriculum, daily devotions, and more. He has over 145 million inspirational products in print. His books have appeared on the most well-known national bestseller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, The New York Times, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association and the Christian Booksellers Association. In 2005, Reader’s Digest magazine called Max “America’s Best Preacher,” and Christianity Today magazine dubbed him “America’s Pastor.”
Max and Denalyn have three married daughters and four grandchildren.
Rick Atchley
Scott Nickell
Scott Nickell serves as the Teaching Pastor at Southland Christian Church, a multi-campus church located in Central Kentucky. He’s been in ministry since 1998 and is passionate about helping people see life through the lens of a biblical worldview. Scott teaches real truth in real ways to real people. He and his wife, Alison, have four kids—Landrie, Elijah, Silas, and Boaz—and they’ve called Central Kentucky home for years.
Shawn Williams
Shawn Williams is the Senior Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, where he combines strong leadership with a heart for teaching and reaching people who may feel far from faith. His mission is to help others take meaningful steps toward becoming fully devoted followers of Jesus. Shawn and his wife, Lindsay, live in the Chicago area with their two sons, Levi and Austin. When he’s not leading or teaching, you’ll likely find him cheering on the Chicago Cubs or the Las Vegas Golden Knights. In recent years, Shawn has taken on the challenge of endurance racing and is currently on a journey to complete all six of the World Major Marathons—a goal that reflects his drive, discipline, and sense of adventure.
Ted Shimer
Ted Shimer has mentored men since 1991 with the collegiate ministry Student Mobilization. He received his MABS from Dallas Seminary and has been trained as a Pastoral Sex Addiction Professional-Supervisor. Ted has helped people overcome the bondage of pornography in the context of making disciples throughout his 30 plus year ministry. He is the Founder of The Freedom Fight, an online porn addiction discipleship/recovery program. He is also the author of the book, The Freedom Fight, The New Drug and the Truths that Set Us Free. Ted and his wife Amber have four adult children and live in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Terrence Turman
Terrence serves as the Executive Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Care at Northeast Christian Church, where he leads ministries that guide people toward deeper healing and growth in Christ. His preaching is marked by a passion for wholehearted devotion, calling people towards right attachment and submission to Christ. Outside of ministry, Terrence has been married to his wife, Brittany, for 14 years, and together they are raising four children to know and honor the Lolrd in their lives.
Tyler McKenzie
Tyler McKenzie is the Lead Pastor at Northeast Christian Church, also known as “The Love the Ville’ Church”. He is known for his real-time preaching on pressing issues, his love for teaching Bible, theology, and cultural engagement in accessible ways, and his deep passion to see peace and justice prevail for all the people of Louisville.
He has coproduced six seasons of a fun podcast for elementary kids called The Preacher and the Piano Man in which he plays the Preacher, the hamster, Scary Gary, Queen Sparkle-Shimmer-Puffy-Poo, Lars the Lava Lamp, and many other characters. He writes the monthly Engage column for the Christian Standard. He volunteers as a little league baseball coach.
He has an MDiv in Biblical Studies from Cincinnati Christian University and is currently finishing his doctorate at Wheaton University. He is married to Lindsay and is the father of Palmer (the baseball player), Larkin (the princess-gymnast), and Olsen (the bear).
PreConference SPEAKERS
Bart Rendel
Bart has dedicated his life to helping churches reach more people for Christ. His passion for serving churches comes from his upbringing as a pastor’s kid and learning from his parents about the intentionality of reaching and growing people in Christ. His conviction runs deep. Bart served as an executive leader for over eighteen years at Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, and Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he and his family remain deeply connected. He and his wife, Catherine, have two children. Bart occasionally plays a round of golf, but he always takes in Kentucky Wildcats games.
Ben Cachiaras
Ben Cachiaras has served as Lead Pastor of Mountain Christian Church near Baltimore, Maryland, since 1997. With roots in Minnesota, he previously served churches there and in Tennessee.
A graduate of Minnesota Bible College (renamed Crossroads College), he has studied at Bethel Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and graduated with the Master of Divinity degree from Emmanuel Christian Seminary where he is currently a Doctor of Ministry student.
Ben has served on Boards for Emmanuel Christian Seminary, Milligan University, and Stadia Church planting and as President of the North American Christian Convention. He has been a contributing editor and author for Christian Standard magazine, and is passionately involved with Missions of Hope International, a holistic, Christ-centered ministry based out of Nairobi, Kenya. Ben speaks widely and loves to connect pastors with one another to provide encouragement and coaching through mentoring and by leading cohorts of pastors in community.
With its beginnings in 1824, the story of the Mountain Christian Church’s growth and fruit is remarkable. Mountain is a multi-ethnic, multi-site church that gathers in four locations, with exciting plans for a fifth campus. The EPICENTER, Mountain’s multi-site community center for ministry outreach, has a focus on changing the trajectory of under-resourced children and families through incarnational love shown through an array of programs.
Ben and his wife Karla have three awesome children: Nathan (Abigail), a pastor in Tennessee; Andrew (Nicole), a software developer in California; and Ellie, an ESL teacher in Baltimore. He has a lifelong, irrational devotion to the Minnesota Vikings, gets a kick out of wake surfing, and is fired up about helping you get on the Pickleball bandwagon. Most of all, he loves his family, has a passion for preaching, leadership, and mentoring, and is devoted to building Jesus-shaped communities that draw people to the love of God.
Bobby Harrington
Dr. Bobby Harrington is a Lead Pastor and the point leader of renew.org and discipleship.org. He has written or co-written over 20 books, over 300 blogs, and coaches and trains church leaders and national leaders in disciple making.
Brad Bramer
Brad Bramer is a creative, producer, and visionary in the church arts space. He serves as the Executive Producer of Worship & Creative Arts at Southeast Christian Church, where he leads production, worship, and creative teams across multiple campuses.
Brad is passionate about building teams, designing systems, and developing workflows that help the Church communicate the Gospel with creativity, integrity, and clarity. He’s an advocate for the often unseen teams who make it all happen.
He’s married to Chrissy, and they have one son, Graham. Together, they hang with their yard animals, play baseball, and try to spend some time outside.
Dr. Kelly Dagley
Dr. Kelly Dagley is a Professor of Biblical Studies at Pacific Christian College of Hope International University. After earning a Bachelors at Hope, she then went on to complete a Masters and Ph.D. in Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. Her area of study is Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and engaging with various cultural perspectives of the Bible.
Kelly focuses much of her energy toward encouraging current and future church leaders. Having belonged to and served in Christian Churches her entire life, she feels called to support women who desire to lead and minister in the Restoration Movement. Kelly experiences great delight and pride maintaining relationships with the pastors and ministers who have sat in her classroom over her twenty years of teaching at Hope.
Greg Curtis
Greg has helped plant 2 churches, served as a Senior Pastor for 17 years, and has served as Director of Assimilation and Guest Services at Eastside Christian Church in Orange County California since 2012. He developed Eastside's assimilation strategy as it grew into the 2nd fastest growing church in the U.S. in 2017. He now oversees First Steps and Content Development on all of Eastside's campuses and is founder and Head Coach of Climbing the Assimilayas which helps churches across the US and around the world to connect and grow new people in their congregations.
Greg Lee
Greg has served Suncrest for 29 years where God has provided amazing growth and transformation. Still, their primary vision has been to start and multiply new churches for maximum kingdom impact -- just as others did for them at their beginning. He's married to Jenny with 4 kids ranging from 6 to 25. He currently serves on the management teams for 4 new churches and on the board for Orchard Group.
Jason Smith
Jason Smith has been doing Next Gen Ministry for over 30 years. A graduate of Lincoln Christian College, he began his ministry in Chicago with LCS's Chicago Center for Urban Mission, followed by a youth ministry at First Christian Church of Greenville, IL, and has spent the past 22 years doing Family and Next Gen Ministry at Eastview Christian Church in Bloomington/Normal, IL. He and his wife, Kim, have three grown children.
Jesse DeYoung
Jesse DeYoung has been in ministry for 20 + years and currently serves Flatirons Church in Denver, CO as the Executive Lead Pastor, where he helps leaders and ministries have a significant impact through developing and equipping teams to make high-level strategic decisions. He’s especially passionate about staff culture, rebuilding teams, and the relationship between the Lead Pastor and Executive Pastor. Known for his discernment, and self-deprecating humor, Jesse is always looking for opportunities to develop and challenge the people around him, making him a reliable sounding board for all levels of the organization. When he's not developing his staff, you can find Jesse playing ping pong, enjoying coffee, and exploring the outdoors with his wife Kara and four kids.
Joel Harney
Joel has been a youth pastor for the last decade +. He now serves on CIY's Development team to chase down all that is next and new for Christ In Youth. Joel has a passion for building leaders, creating culture, and seeing each individual develop and deploy their gifting in the local church. Joel lives in Webb City, MO with his wife, Bayli, and their four children.
John Hampton
For over 42 years, John served as the solo, senior, or lead pastor at churches in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Florida.
John now serves as Pastor Emeritus of Journey Christian Church and as the Director of the Compelling Preaching Initiative at the Christian Church Leadership Network.
John is married to Melinda (Skaggs). They are parents of two daughters, and the “Pappy and Mimi” to three grandsons.
Jordan Howerton
Jordan Howerton has been a worship pastor and songwriter for over 20 years. In that time, Jordan has led worship at events and churches all over the world. He is the Director of Worship and Production at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Phoenix, Arizona - a multisite church throughout the Valley. He has a passion for creating moments and telling stories that point people to Jesus.
Mark Kitts
Mark Kitts was a founding pastor at a NC church that grew from 0 to 2500 while he was on the lead team. He was the founder and CEO of a church management software company for 13 years that served over 2,000 churches. He is now the CEO of Intulse.com, a technology partner for churches and businesses.
Mary Tatum
Mary Tatum is the Shine Disabilities Ministry Leader at Southeast Christian in Louisville, KY. She has spent 25 years developing the Shine ministry to offer classes for children, teens and adults affected by disability at many of their multi-site campuses. The Shine Ministry also offers an overnight camp, parent support, a coffee shop and much more. Mary loves to come along side churches as they seek to embrace individuals and their families who are truly indispensable, but often overlooked.
Melissa Sandel
Since 2004, Melissa Sandel has served at West Side Christian Church in Springfield, IL. As Executive Director of Ministries, she leads the church’s ministry staff and guides overall ministry strategy. Melissa’s passions include strategic planning, building healthy teams, leading crucial conversations, and cheering for the Chicago Cubs. She also serves as an Executive Leader Cohort Facilitator for Intentional Churches and as a Ministry Coach for Milligan University's Ministry Leadership Program. Melissa and her husband, Chris, love raising their two teenagers, Jack and Aly.
Tessa Young
Tessa has served as an executive admin for the last 10 years at Southeast Christian in Louisville, KY. She loves learning and sharing best practices and tips for serving her leader and teams efficiently and effectively. Tessa is married to Connor and they have 3 amazing kids. Her family loves the Green Bay Packers, UK Wildcats, the beach, eating chips and queso and bowling. If you know Tessa, you know she loves to talk "admin"!
Vince Antonucci
Vince Antonucci became a Christian out of a completely non-Christian background. Vince was the founding pastor of Forefront Church in Virginia Beach and Verve Church in Las Vegas. 70% of the people who came to both churches were unchurched non-Christians when they first showed up. The first person Vince led to faith in Vegas was a pimp ... who is now a pastor. Vince is a collaborative writer - helping pastors write books, and he is the author of I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt, Guerrilla Lovers, Renegade, God For The Rest Of Us , and Restore.
Wes Dillon
Wes Dillon is an entrepreneur and Church planter in Seacoast New Hampshire. After formal training at Lincoln Christian University and Emmanuel Christian Seminary, he spent 15 years leading sales teams for early-stage tech companies. In 2019, Wes left the tech world for he and his wife, Kasey, to launch 4 Rivers Christian Church.
Known locally as “the church that leaves the building,” 4 Rivers lives out its mission by mobilizing the community to care for the vulnerable—with a focus on refugee resettlement. In a region where less than 2% of residents and less than 1% of university students are actively engaged in church, 4 Rivers is helping lead a movement of people who are rediscovering Jesus through acts of love and justice.
Originally from Colorado, Wes now lives in New Hampshire with Kasey and their three teenage children. He is passionate about reimagining church in a post-Christian context and equipping others to do the same.
