Dr. Brent Bounds, Featured Speaker

Dr. Brent Bounds is a licensed clinical psychologist in New York City where he works with individuals, children and families. He also teaches courses on marriage and parenting at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. Brent received his M.A. in Biblical Studies and Biblical Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary and his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Fordham University. He and his wife, Jenni have three boys.

Adam Calvert, Featured Speaker

Adam is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor and a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist and Supervisor (CSAT-S)*. He received his M.A. and Ed.S in Agency Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also has a B.S. degree in Marketing from Jacksonville State University and a M.S. in Public Relations from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has served on several professional boards in the mental health profession and has been in the counseling industry for 20+ years. He and his wife, Mandy, are the parents of two sons.  

Cameron Cole, Featured Speaker

Cameron Cole has been the Director of Youth Ministries for eighteen years at the Church of the Advent, and in January of 2016 his duties expanded to include Children, Youth, and Families. He is the founding chairman of Rooted Ministry, an organization that promotes gospel-centered youth ministry. He is the co-editor of “Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: A Practice Guide” (Crossway, 2016). Cameron is the author of Therefore, I Have Hope: 12 Truths that Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy (Crossway, 2018), which won World Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year (Accessible Theology) and was runner up for The Gospel Coalition’s Book of the Year (First-Time Author). He is also the co-editor of The Jesus I Wish I Knew in High School (New Growth Press) and the author of Heavenward: How Eternity Can Change Your Life on Earth (Crossway, 2024). Cameron is a cum laude graduate of Wake Forest University undergrad and summa cum laude graduate from Wake Forest with an M.A. in Education. He holds a Masters in Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary.

Tara Davis, Featured Speaker

Tara is a native of Birmingham. She attended the University of Georgia, where she majored in early childhood education and also earned a masters in elementary education from UAB. She has ten years of teaching experience in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. In 2019, Tara was named Teacher of the Year at Crestline Elementary in Mountain Brook, Alabama. In the same year, she also won the Ann Pritchard Award for Excellence in Teaching, a distinction given to the top teacher in the Mountain Brook School System. In 2020, Tara joined the staff at Cathedral Church of the Advent and serves as the Director of Children’s Ministry and Nursery. Tara is married to Kyle and has two children, Hudson (8) and Reagan (5). 

Liz Edrington, Featured Speaker

Liz Edrington serves as the Fellowship Groups and Young Adults Director at North Shore Fellowship in Chattanooga, TN. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Covenant College. She received her M.A. in Counseling from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL, and she has worked with students in one form or another since 2002. She is the author of Rooted and Grounded in Love: An Anxiety Devotional for Students (P&R Publishing, 2023). She’s delighted to live at the base of a mountain with her golden retriever, Bella, and she finds joy in tasting new things.

Clark Fobes, Featured Speaker

Clark is the Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church of San Francisco, a diverse congregation in the heart of the City. Prior to serving at First Baptist, he served in both Student Pastor and Worship Pastor roles in the Asian American and Asian immigrant Church. He is also a Rooted Steering Committee emeritus member. He received his M.Div at Talbot School of Theology and is a Doctor of Missiology Candidate (D.Miss) at Southern Seminary. Clark is half White and half Korean, and he and his wife Janet have two young daughters.

Collin Hansen, Featured Speaker

Collin Hansen serves as vice president for content and editor in chief of The Gospel Coalition. He hosts the Gospelbound podcast and has written and contributed to many books, most recently Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ Is Essential and the forthcoming Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. He has published with The New York Times and The Washington Post and offered commentary for CNN, Fox News, NPR, BBC, ABC News, and PBS NewsHour. He edited Our Secular Age: Ten Years of Reading and Applying Charles Taylor and The New City Catechism Devotional, among other books. He is a member of Iron City Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and he is an adjunct professor at Beeson Divinity School, where he also co-chairs the advisory board.

Alton Hardy, Featured Speaker

Alton is an ordained teaching elder of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). He is also the Co-founder of Urban Hope Development in Fairfield, AL. Alton is a native of Selma, AL and resided in Louisville, KY and Grand Rapids, MI for many years before returning to Alabama. Alton’s educational background includes a degree from Alpena Community College, Reformed Bible College, Calvin Seminary and a Certificate of Completion from Antioch Leadership Training in Reformed Preaching. Alton is happily married to Sandra and they have five children. In his free time, he enjoys reading and watching sports. Alton is passionate about addressing the conditions facing urban communities. 

Anna Meade Harris, Featured Speaker

Anna is a single mom of three young adult sons. She is the Senior Director of Content at Rooted, co-host of the Rooted Parent podcast, a member of Church of the Cross in Birmingham, AL, and the author of God’s Grace for Every Family: Biblical Encouragement for Single Parent Families and the Churches That Seek to Love Them Well (Zondervan, 2024). She also wrote Fresh Faith: Topical Devotions and Scripture-Based Prayers for College Students. In her free time, Anna enjoys gardening, great books, running, hiking, hammocks, and ice cream. She wants to live by a mountain stream in Idaho someday.

Gil Kracke, Featured Speaker

Gil Kracke is the Director of Ministries and Programs at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama. He has received a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Trinity College at the University of Bristol (England), another in Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a Doctor of Ministry from Knox Theological Seminary. A licensed professional counselor, Gil also has the privilege of serving as the Director of Covenant Counseling and Education Center. He is married with two daughters. 

Peter Ong, Featured Speaker

Peter Ong serves at Living Faith Community Church as Ministry Director and the Chair of the Living Faith Community Development Corporation, with a desire to continue bringing renewal to the community as he seeks to minister to the church and the community. He also works at LEADNYC as an advisor for Flourish 2030 Advisor, 10 ZIP Codes Project to thoughtfully and effectively serve the most at-risk and underserved neighborhoods of New York City. 

Peter graduated with a B.A. in English and a Minor in Philosophy and East Asian Studies from New York University. He received his M.A. in Urban Missions from Westminster Theological Seminary through the City Seminary of New York. He is a certified Church Multiplication Ministries Coach and works with Redeemer City to City’s training and teaches Church Planters in their Incubator Program. 

Katie Polski, Featured Speaker

Katie is a writer, teacher, and speaker. She is married to Chris, a PCA pastor at Trinity Church in St. Louis, MO, and is a mother to three wonderful kids. Katie works as the Director of Music Ministries and Special Events at Trinity, serves on the Women’s Ministry Committee, and writes for several Christian ministries and organizations. Katie is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in Theology from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis. More information can be found on her website at www.katiepolski.com.

Julie Sparkman, Featured Speaker

Julie Sparkman is the co-founder of Restore Counseling Ministries. She received her B.S. degree from University of Florida and her Masters degree in Counseling and Psychology from Troy University. She has been in private practice as a pastoral counselor since 1999. Julie is a frequent speaker and author of three video-teaching series: “Idol Addiction,” “Unhitching From the Crazy Train,” and “Six Weeks to Sane Thinking.” In addition, Julie co-hosts the podcast, Head to Heart – Connecting What You Know to How You Live, with Anna Nash.Julie and her husband Wes have been married over 30 years and have three children and two grandchildren.

Kevin Yi, Featured Speaker

Kevin Yi is the college and young adults pastor at Church Everyday in Northridge, CA and has been serving youth students for over 16 years. He was a bi-vocational pastor for most of this time and has been in the animation industry for over 13 years. He is the founder of truthmattersministries.com. He and his wife Tracy are celebrating thirteen years of marriage together and have three children: Caden, Isabella, and Ian. Kevin just completed his Master of Arts in Theology at Talbot Theological Seminary. 

David Zahl, Featured Speaker

David Zahl is the director of Mockingbird Ministries and editor-in-chief of the Mockingbird website. Born in New York City and brought up elsewhere, David graduated from Georgetown University in 2001, and then worked for several years as a youth minister in New England. In 2007 he founded Mockingbird in NYC. Today David and his wife Cate reside in Charlottesville, VA with their three boys, where David also serves on the staff of Christ Episcopal Church. He is the author of A Mess of Help: From the Crucified Soul of Rock N’ Roll and co-author of Law and Gospel: A Theology for Sinners (and Saints). His most recent book, Seculosity: How Career, Parenting, Technlogy, Food, Politics, and Romance Became Our New Religion and What To Do About It, appeared in 2019 from Fortress Press. Even after all these years, he’s still mourning the end of Calvin and Hobbes (and hoping that Morrissey and Marr will bury the hatchet). His favorite theologian is probably a cross between Johnny Cash, Flannery O’Connor and his brother Simeon.

Sarah Zylstra, Featured Speaker

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra is senior writer and faith-and-work editor for The Gospel Coalition. She is also the coauthor of Gospelbound: Living with Resolute Hope in an Anxious Age and editor of Social Sanity in an Insta World. Before that, she wrote for Christianity Today, homeschooled her children, freelanced for a local daily paper, and taught at Trinity Christian College. She earned a BA in English and communication from Dordt University and an MSJ from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She lives with her husband and two sons in Kansas City.