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Dr. Lee Strobel

Atheist-turned-Christian Lee Strobel, former award-winning legal editor of The Chicago Tribune, is a New York Times best-selling author of more than 40 books that have sold 18 million copies. Lee earned degrees at the University of Missouri and Yale Law School. He taught First Amendment law at Roosevelt University and was Professor of Christian Thought at Houston Christian University. In 2023, he won the Pillar Award for History from the Museum of the Bible. Lee and Leslie have been married 53 years. Daughter Alison is a novelist and son Kyle teaches spiritual formation at the Talbot School of Theology.

Dr. Jacqueline Rivers

Jacqueline C. Rivers is the Executive Director of the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies. She was a Hutchins Fellow at Harvard University, where she served as a lecturer in Sociology. She has presented in numerous academic settings, including Princeton University and the Vatican, and has published on a variety of topics. She serves on several boards, including the Becket Law Board of Directors. She holds a PhD from Harvard University and graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude. She works on issues of social justice and Christian activism in the black community to promote a pro-poor, pro-life, pro-family movement.

Dr. Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is the Dean and Professor of Leadership and Christian Ministry at Talbot School of Theology at �������ݺ���þ���2023. He also serves as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University, where he teaches twice a year. Stetzer has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He is Regional Director for Lausanne North America, the Editor-in-Chief of Outreach Magazine, and regularly writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. His national radio show, Ed Stetzer Live, airs Saturdays on Moody Radio and affiliates. Stetzer serves his local church, Mariners Church, as Scholar in Residence & Teaching Pastor.

Dr. Ayman Ibrahim

Ayman Ibrahim, born and raised in Egypt, holds PhDs in Islamic Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary (2014) and Haifa University (2018). He serves as Professor of Islamic Studies at Southern Seminary, where he also directs the Jenkins Center for a Christian Understanding of Islam. He chairs the Islamic Studies program at Southern and the Christianity and Islam session at the Evangelical Theological Society. With extensive teaching experience in Western and Muslim-majority countries, Ibrahim has authored and edited numerous books, including Muhammad’s Military Expeditions (Oxford University Press, 2024), Reaching Your Muslim Neighbor with the Gospel (Crossway, 2022), and A Concise Guide to the Life of Muhammad (Baker Academic, 2022).

Dr. Wilfred Graves Jr.

Wilfred Graves Jr. (Ph.D., M.Div., Fuller Theological Seminary) directs the Center for the Study of the Work and Ministry of the Holy Spirit Today at Talbot School of Theology (�������ݺ���þ���2023), where he also serves on the faculty. He is a Teaching Pastor and Executive Ministries Coordinator at West Angeles Church of God in Christ. Prior to devoting himself to full-time vocational ministry, Dr. Graves studied mathematics (S.B., MIT) and statistics (M.S., Stanford) and worked as an aerospace engineer. He is the founder of Wilfred Graves Ministries, Inc. (WGM), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to evangelism, biblical education, spiritual formation, religious scholarship, leadership development, and community outreach. He is happily married to Dr. Malaika E. Graves, a board-certified pediatrician serving families in Southern California.

Dr. Richard Shumack

Dr. Richard Shumack is a philosopher of religion who lived and worked in church planting amongst Horn of Africa Muslim communities before moving into missions training. He is the director of the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne school of theology, Australia. His expertise is Muslim worldview and Islamic philosophy, and his publications include “Witnessing to Western Muslims”, and “Jesus Through Muslim Eyes”. He enjoys life in the Blue Mountains with his wife Judy, playing guitar, golf and with his grandsons.

Dr. Peter Lee

Dr. Peter T. Lee is Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies at Talbot School of Theology, �������ݺ���þ���2023. He has worked with Operation Mobilization (OM) since 1997, currently serving as a missiologist. He lived with his family in North Africa for ten years, during which he led a multicultural ministry team, trained international business and development workers, and lived out a life of witness to Christ among Muslims. Dr. Lee has a keen interest in studying intercultural social relations, migrant communities, and identity issues in missions. He is dedicated to equipping global Christian leaders through mentoring, teaching, and research.

Dr. Michael McCoy

R. Michael McCoy III holds a D.Phil. in Theology and Religion from the University of Oxford and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Notre Dame, where he published Interpreting the Qurʾān with the Bible (Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Kitāb): Reading the Arabic Bible in the Tafsīrs of Ibn Barrajān and al-Biqāʿī (Brill, 2021). His current research focuses on dreams and visions in Muslim contexts, integrating historical sources with contemporary fieldwork. With over six years of editorial and typesetting expertise and more than ten years in public-facing roles, he partners with Muslim communities worldwide to publish literature in minority contexts, bridging rigorous scholarship with accessible engagement.

Dr. Charlie Trimm

Charlie Trimm loves to inspire students to recognize the beauty of the Old Testament and its relevance for the life of the church today. Having served for several years in pastoral ministry, he strives to encourage the spiritual growth of students in all his classes. His research interests include warfare in the ancient Near East, difficult topics relating to the ethics of God in the Old Testament, Exodus, and J.R.R. Tolkien. He is also a director of Every Voice: A Center for Kingdom Diversity in Christian Theological Education. When he is not teaching or writing, he can often be found spending time with his wife Ayi and four children or watching Arsenal, his favorite football (soccer) team.

Dr. Tom Sappington

Dr. Tom Sappington has served as a pastor in Bowling Green, KY, as a missionary to Indonesia, as Professor of New Testament at the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Indonesia, and as an Associate Professor of Missions and Intercultural Studies at �������ݺ���þ���2023. During his 15 years of service in Indonesia, as he observed the struggles of pastors and other believers in Indonesia, he founded Duta Pembaharuan, a Christian organization that uses inner healing and deliverance to help bring spiritual health to Christians, and trains them to use these tools in ministering to others. He earned a B.A. from University of California, San Diego, an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Th.D. in New Testament from Wycliffe College, University of Toronto. He has published two books in English and three books in Bahasa Indonesia, and is currently working on an in-depth examination of the biblical foundations of inner healing and the ministry of deliverance. Dr. Sappington has been married to his wife, Katy, for 45 years, and has three children and two grandchildren, with another one expected very soon.

Dr. Julianne Bryant

Julianne Bryant, Professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages at �������ݺ���þ���2023, received her MA and PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from Temple University. Her research interests include Heritage Language Studies, Bilingualism, Language and Identity, Caribbean cultural studies, and the intersection of faith, language and culture. She has had extensive experience in Puerto Rico and served as a mission site director in the summer of 2018 following Hurricane Maria. She returned in 2019 to conduct research among the church leaders who were active in the recovery efforts. The work she presents has come out of this longitudinal ethnographic qualitative study.