Director of Reach and Fresh Expressions at Grace Church Cape Coral and Dinner Church Specialist for the Florida United Methodist Conference. She leads Eat, Pray, Love dinner church in the second-largest trailer park in the United

The Rev. Jon Davis PhD, an Episcopal priest is a known and recognized leader in the Episcopal Church and beyond. He has expertise in youth ministry, worship and liturgy (PhD dissertation), church growth and planting, missions, conference leadership and more. He is now on staff with Fresh Expressions. He is a sought after, dynamic and engaging speaker, writer, worship leader and ministry trainer. Jon also serves as the Vicar of Christ Episcopal Church in Cedar Key, Florida and has recently launched a Dinner Church there for the community. He and his wife Beth live on a little farm in Oviedo, Florida with a couple of horses, a number of cats, chickens, English Bulldogs and other critters.

Isaac Olivarez is from Fort Collins, CO, and is a huge Denver Broncos fan. He also enjoys skiing, running and hiking Colorado’s 14ers. He and his wife Jaime founded Urban Outreach Denver in 2012.

Dr. Mike Graves is Wm. K. McElvaney Professor of Preaching and Worship emeritus, who currently serves as Scholar in Residence at Country Club Christian Church, both in the Kansas City area. He has published extensively in the areas of preaching and worship. Some of his books include: The Sermon as Symphony, The Fully Alive Preacher, and Table Talk: Rethinking Communion and Community. He is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) tradition.

Pastor of Greater Bell United Methodist Church for 9 years Florida Conference Brooker, FL Graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary Married to Irvin with 2 children.

As Pastor of Common Ground, a Dinner Church in rural York Haven, Pennsylvania Daniel’s passion is to see Christ revealed and to seek the welfare of his community. Daniel and his wife Angie have been married for nineteen years and have two sons, Luke and Shane. Daniel describes himself as pretty ordinary but is grateful to be a participant with Christ which makes everything extraordinary.

Dr. Earl Creps is Director of the Center for Leadership Studies at Northwest University in Kirkland, WA, home of the university’s PhD and EdD in Organizational Leadership. Earl has led four churches, including a plant in Berkeley, CA and is a specialist in ministry to post-Christians. His books, Off-Road Disciplines and Reverse Mentoring are published by Jossey-Bass/Leadership Network.

Rev. Dr. Christopher James is associate professor of evangelism and missional Christianity at University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, where he teaches courses in church planting and theology and culture and directs the Master of Arts in Mission and Discipleship. He holds degrees from Wheaton College, Fuller Seminary and a PhD in practical theology from Boston University School of Theology. His book, Church Planting in Post-Christian Soil: Theology and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2017) has received multiple recognitions and been reviewed in half-a-dozen academic journals. He is currently engaged in research into the ecclesial ecology in Dane County, Wisconsin in partnership with researchers doing parallel studies in Amsterdam, Vancouver, BC, Frankfurt, and Sydney. In addition, James is executive director of Missio Madison, a Lilly-grant funded cohort for missional practioners in Madison.

Melodee Fosner with her husband Verlon lead a progressive congregation in Seattle in a multi-site Dinner Church called Community Dinners. Melodee’s vision is for strong marriages, nurturing wise children, and for families engaged in ministry. She’s a poet, a pianist, and intercessor.

In 2016, Melodee and Verlon joined the Fresh Expression US leadership team and began coaching, teaching and training across the country and hosting Seattle Dinner Church Immersions, A dynamic team; Verlon brings the research and teaching, but Melodee brings the stories that stirs the heart.

When Kendall embarked on a career as a pastry chef, she found that her love of bread transformed the ways she read scripture and understood worship. Fascinated by God’s use of food throughout the arc of the Gospel, she merged her work in the kitchen with academic study of food and theology. She writes, speaks, and gives baking workshops so that others might embrace the beauty of food and feasting, too. Kendall is a graduate of Wheaton College (BA Anthropology 2013), Boston University (MLA Gastronomy 2016), and Duke Divinity,m School (MTS 2019). In 2018, she was named a James Beard National Scholar. Her book, We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Community of God, follows the development of dinner churches across the United States, examining the social, ecclesial, and theological value of eating together.