Dr. J. Carl Laney
J. Carl Laney is an adjunct Professor of Biblical Literature at Western Seminary where he served full time from 1977 to 2018. In addition to his teaching, Carl has served as interim-pastor in a dozen different churches. He enjoys preaching and teaching God's Word in a church as well as seminary setting. Carl is the author of 20 books, including most recently Essential Bible Backgrounds, the Story of Israel, the Story of Jesus and the Story of the Apostle Paul. He has had numerous articles published in theological journals and Christian magazines. Carl has traveled extensively in the Middle East and Mediterranean world. He specializes in teaching the historical, geographical and cultural backgrounds of the Bible. In his free time, Carl enjoys driving and displaying his 1944 WWII Army jeep.
Born and raised as an active Latter-day Saint, Ross came to trust in Jesus during his college years. After earning a Master of Divinity degree, he moved to Utah to plant Wasatch Evangelical Free Church. In 30 years of ministry in Utah, he has been involved in starting a number of new congregations. His missiological training, combined with experience as a former Mormon and as a Utah pastor, give him a distinctive insight into ministry in Utah. He has done much research into the challenges of enfolding former Mormons into the local church, the theme of his Doctor of Ministry dissertation. He has contributed to numerous articles and seminars. His book Understanding the Book of Mormon was released by Zondervan in the spring of 2009. Understanding Your Mormon Neighbor, also by Zondervan, came out in September 2011. Ross currently serves as a teaching pastor at Alpine Church (alpinechurch.org), a multi-site church in northern Utah, where he preaches, develops small group curriculum and trains leaders. He is also Executive Director of Utah Advance (utahadvance.org), a regional ministry dedicated to advancing healthy churches and church plants in Utah's unique religious culture. He does this through coaching, consulting, training, research and writing.
Dr. Ross Anderson
Paul Casey
Originally from Chicago, Paul has now been a professional speaker for over 25 years, and he is one of the leading authorities in leadership and personal growth helping people take back their calendars and restore sanity to their lives. He has previously served as a Christian School teacher and administrator and has served as an executive pastor for a large church in eastern Washington. He is an ACC-certified coach with the International Coaching Federation, a Master Trainer, and is a member of the National Speakers Association.
Through his company, Growing Forward Services, Paul has partnered with his corporate and individual clients to transform their vision, their habits, and their lives. Paul has written 4 books: The Static Cling Principle (on habits and mindsets), Maximizing Every Minute (on time management), Leading the Team You’ve Always Wanted, and Leading with Super-Vision.
Paul is married to Lovely Laura, has a 23- and an 19-year old named after state capitals, owns a cat named Sasha, and has lived in the Tri-Cities, WA, for over 20 years. For fun, he enjoys golfing, hiking, and bicycling—and orange slices—and he reads about 40 books per year.
Dr. Karl Payne
Since 1980, Karl has served as the Youth Pastor at Fourth Memorial Church, Spokane, Washington (80-89), the College Pastor at Shadow Mountain Community Church, El Cajon, California (89-92), and the Pastor of Leadership Development and Discipleship at Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington (92-Current).
He completed his undergraduate degree in Humanities at California State University Sacramento (76). He attended classes at Multnomah School of the Bible (72-73) and obtained a Master's of Divinity degree in Pastoral studies (80) and a Doctorate of Ministry degree in Leadership Development (96) at Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon.
He is the President of a foundation, Transferable Cross Training (TCT), www.karlpayne.org, and has served as the Chaplain for the Seattle Seahawks NFL football team since 1994. He is a popular retreat, conference, and seminar speaker and continues to teach classes on discipleship, apologetics, and leadership development.
Karl has co-authored two books, A Just Defense, Multnomah Press, 1987, and Cross Training, Multnomah Press, 1993. He contributed to two research volumes, The Encyclopedia of Biblical and Christian Ethics, edited by R.K. Harrison, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1987, and The Popular Encyclopedia of Apologetics, edited by Ed Hindson and Ergun Caner, Harvest House Publisher, 2008. Karl is the author of a popular three volume discipleship/apologetics series entitled: Transferable Cross Training: Essentials, Vol. 1, Transferable Cross Training: Apologetics, Vol. 2, and Transferable Cross Training: Leadership, Vol. 3. His latest book, Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization And Deliverance, was published by World Net Daily Publishers in 2011.
Mark Amunrud
Mark Amunrud has a BS in mathematics, a MS in engineering, and a MCM in theology and worship from Western Seminary. He was president of Bridger Systems, a software development company, which was acquired by a large company.
Then Mark became president of Montana Bible College (MBC) and helped it grow and achieve accreditation.
He resigned from MBC so he could pursue his passion of creation research. He is convinced that the Bible is completely accurate scientifically and provides hints for issues that still puzzle scientists. His research includes:
· Developing a biologically accurate computer simulation of evolution that provided four evidences showing that evolution is absolutely impossible. Instead of evolution, the context of the Genesis Creation Account shows that God invented adaptation and programmed DNA to respond to different environments. Thus, new species come about by DNA adaptation, not by evolution. There are never any new “kinds” as God created all of them in the beginning.
· Developing a new model of atomic nuclei which provides new insights into chemistry and also shows why radiometric dating provides dates far too old. When this issue is corrected, radiometric dating provides dates that align with the Biblical chronology.
· Developing an experiment to test the relationship between space, gravity, and light. The Genesis Creation Account has several clues about space, gravity, and light which answer questions science still has about them today. The Biblical clues have been shown to be completely accurate.
· Developing a computer program to compare the entire genome of various species. This extensive program shows exactly how similar two species are in their DNA. For example humans, and chimps share 94% of the same DNA. However, that is not the whole story as there are Primates that are only 30% similar to other Primates. This research is showing that we still have much to understand before we can really use DNA for comparing two organisms.
· Studying and translating the Genesis Creation Account to understand it accurately and get the correct interpretation.
· Studying the Genesis Flood Account to understand it accurately. This study affirms that the Bible describes three events which initiated the flood instead of two which commentaries describe. Geological evidences precisely align with the three events presented in scripture.
Steve Farnworth
As a 21 year old Bible College senior, Steve Farnworth drove out to a rural area near Redding, California, to preach for one Sunday to a congregation of less than 20 meeting in a converted milking shed. He had no idea that God would keep him in that pulpit for the next 8 and one-half years. He had even less of a clue that, during those years, more than one hundred baptisms would take place, the congregation would grow to an average attendance of 220, and two building programs would be completed, paid for with cash.
In 1986 Steve and his family moved to Carnation, Washington as newly appointed church planters with the NWCBA. Here the Farnworths led the birthing of Carnation Bible Church with only three couples. Day after day this small but faithful group of Believers witnessed God's amazing provision and experienced His sovereign grace. At the conclusion of their fourteen years in Carnation, they left behind a congregation that averaged over 400 worshippers each weekend. More importantly, well over 50% of the membership had come to Christ through the ministry of CBC.
He and Kristie have been serving The Bridge Christian Fellowship of Grants Pass since April of 2016, and, in addition, they are working with a core group to launch another church in the Illinois Valley, 30 miles southwest of Grants Pass. You might say that church planting is in the Farnworth’s blood.
Harry Olsen
Harry Olsen has been planting churches since 1969. As the son of Missionary parents, his first solo church plant was in South Africa as well as having participated in two other church plants there previous to that. Since marrying his wife Carol in 1974 they have started eight churches together and overseen the starting of many others. Harry and Carol met at Multnomah Bible College in 1972 while Harry was completing his senior year and Carol was completing the Grad Program having already received her RN credential.
Harry has served as Church Planter/Pastor in South Africa, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado, as well as Scotts Valley, California in an Associate Pastor role. Harry and Carol also led a multi-ethnic church plant in Aurora, Colorado. He served for several years as Director of Church Planting for the Rocky Mountain Conservative Baptist Association and was the Director of Suburban/Rural Church Planting for Missions Door. In this capacity God directed him in the formation of Church Birthing Matrix as described in this Web Site.
The Olsen's have three grown children and six grandchildren.
Louis Mann
After spending 40 years in Christian School Administration, Louis was appointed by Missions Door as the Dean of Education for CB Matrix, the new distance learning program for training church leaders.
Louis' overall experience comes through teaching and administering six different Christian schools and through his opportunities to work with others involved in distant learning programs.
Brought up in a Christian home, Louis accepted Christ as his savior and was baptized while still in elementary school. He graduated from Bob Jones University and there felt the call into the ministry of Christian education. Louis later felt God's hand of direction into the area of administration and attended Grace Theological Seminary and received his MA in Christian School Administration in 1978. He was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1982.
Louis and his wife Ruth Ann have been married since 1968 and have seven daughters, two sons, 20 grandchildren, and 5 great grandsons.
Scott Creps
Scott serves as the executive campus pastor at CenterPoint Church, a multi-site church on Long Island, NY. At CenterPoint, Scott leads the campus pastor team and is the campus pastor at the Stony Brook campus. He is engaged in preaching, leadership development, and ministry to high school and college students in the area. Previously, Scott served as a pastor in Utah for 13 years. Originally from Long Beach, California, Scott and his wife, Melanie, have four children, two of whom are from Ethiopia. Scott received his Master of Divinity from Western Seminary.
Dr. Gordon Penfold
Born and raised in Colorado, Gordon earned a BS Degree in Civil Engineering in 1972 and a MS Degree in Civil Engineering with emphasis in Structural Engineering in 1973 from Colorado State University. After seven years successfully working in the secular world of Engineering, Gordon felt the call of God to ministry and earned his ThM in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1981 and began serving the Lord as a pastor in 1980. He served in four churches during that time in Texas, Wyoming, and Colorado. In 2011 Gordon earned his D.Min degree from Talbot Theological Seminary.
Gordon has served as guest lecturer, teacher, consultant, and pastoral trainer in the United States, Russia, Ukraine, and Armenia. He is the author of numerous articles and training workbooks and is currently the co-author of the book Re-Envisioning Pastoral Leadership, The Key to Revitalizing Churches in North America (to be published in 2014). Lecture topics include: Re-envisioning Pastoral Leadership—the Key to Renewing Americas Churches; DISC Profile: Your Leadership Personality and Your Ministry; Pastoral Transitions; Leadership and Turnaround—Essential Keys; Ecclesiology, Christian Leadership, Pastoral Ministry, and Conflict Resolution and Biblical Peacemaking. Gordon is married to his wife Beth Ann and they have three adult children and three grandchildren.
Rod Shockley
Rod learned much about local church ministry from his father, Dwane Shockley, as pastor, and later Executive director of CBNorthwest (ret). Rod graduated from Judson Baptist College in 1982 with a B.A. in Broadcast Communications and Biblical Studies. After graduation he returned to the automotive industry in fixed operations management. After additional two years in the San Francisco Bay Area with Nissan Motor Corporation.
In 1990 he sensed God's call to vocational ministry and relocated his family to Bellingham Washington, as Associate Pastor at Immanuel Bible Church. While serving there he studied ministry and theology at Regent College, Vancouver B.C. Canada. In 1995 he and his wife Shelley moved their family to Kent, Washington and planted TurningPoint Community Church, where they continue to serve. Rod and Shelley have been married 31 years and have 5 grown children.
Dr. Todd Miles
Dr. Todd Miles attended Oregon State University for both his B.S. and his M.S. degrees. He also earned a M.Div. degree from Western Seminary and his Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been a follower of Jesus from a young age. A native of Oregon and resident of Portland, he is married to Camille. They have three children, Natalie, Ethan, and Levi, and are in the process of adopting Julius, Vicente, and Marcos. Todd is an Associate Professor of Theology at Western Seminary where he teaches Theology, Hermeneutics, and Ethics. He currently serves as an Elder at Hinson Church. Prior to working at Western Seminary, he was employed for ten years as a research engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Todd enjoys
"all-things athletic," "all-things Oregon State," and reading military history and biographies.
He is also the author of A God of Many Understandings: The Gospel and a Theology of Religions (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2010).
Dr. Dean Shriver
Dean Shriver is the founding pastor of Intermountain Baptist Church in Taylorsville, UT where he served for 32 years. He is passionate about preaching and teaching God's word. Dean holds an M.Div from Western Seminary in Portland, OR (1986) and a D.Min in preaching from Gordon-Conwell Seminary (2001). He is the author of Nobody's Perfect, But You Have to Be: The Power of Personal Integrity in Effective Preaching (Baker Books, 2005). He and his wife, Nancy have been married 42 years and have three adult children. Dean and Nancy presently reside in Grapeview, WA where he serves as an elder at North Mason Bible Church in Belfair, WA.
Chris & Carmen Garner
Chris & Carmen Garner lead Fortified Marriages Ministry, working full-time in the ministry for the past 6 years. They have been involved in marriage ministry for over 25 years, counseling, leading small groups, mentoring couples and training couples to minister to other couples.
Chris earned a Marriage & Family Therapy Master's degree from Liberty University, is an AACC Board Certified Christian Counselor and wrote the Fortified Marriages Marriage Manual and Workbook, published in 2006.
Chris & Carmen have been ministry leaders in their church for the over 30 years.
Dr. Bryan Hughes
Bryan Hughes is the Senior Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Bozeman, where he has served for the past 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Arts in New Testament Greek and Theology from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois; a Master of Arts in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon; and a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. Bryan has taught classes at a Bible college in Ukraine, Africa, and Siberia, as well as classes in Albania, Russia, Turkey, and Italy.
He presently serves on the faculty of Montana Bible College in Bozeman. Bryan enjoys hunting, reading, and playing basketball. He and his wife, Bev, have three children.
Troy Bassham
Troy is the the Senior Pastor of the Evangelical Bible Church in Dallas, Oregon where he has been serving since 2019. Prior to this he has ministry journey has taken him through Utah, California and Oregon, where he served for over twenty years. He graduated from Corban University (Western Baptist) and received his MAET from Western Seminary. Troy has a passion for Biblical history and has hosted four tours to Israel. He also spent a summer on an archaeological dig at Hazor. Additionally, Troy has taught several Living on Purpose Seminars (in Oregon, Washington, and Utah) where participants discover their unique gifting and personality. Troy has a deep love for communicating God’s Word and is excited about the chance to partner with CBMatrix this upcoming year.
Troy is partnered in ministry with his wife, Lori, who has found creative ways to put her Theatre degree to use in the local church. She has also served on the worship team, as a Sunday School teacher, and as a local women's speaker. Together they are raising their three boys, Garrett, Matthew, and Will.
Dr. Steve Pope
Pastor Steve Pope is the Senior Pastor of Centerpoint Church in Simi Valley, California. In 2021 Pastor Steve celebrated his 29th year at Centerpoint Church and his 34th year in full-time ministry. Pastor Steve grew up and attended school in Salinas, California. He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of 16 and committed his life to full time ministry shortly thereafter. Pastor Steve earned a B.A. in religion and minor in discipleship from California Baptist University. He holds both the Master of Divinity and the Doctor of Ministry degrees from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.
Steve married his college sweetheart Joyce after they both earned degrees at California Baptist University. This year they celebrate 38 years of marriage and ministry partnership. Together they have three adult daughters, each of whom has graduated from California Baptist University. Pastor Steve’s is unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His passion is to see Jesus’ church “well shepherded" and to mentor young leaders to lead the next generation of local church ministry.
Shauna Amick, M.Ed.
Shauna Amick’s passion for the inherent worth and dignity of every human life was deeply
solidified when her third child was diagnosed with Down syndrome, a near fatal heart defect,
and a slew of other genetic abnormalities. As a speaker, author and disability rights advocate,
Shauna shares the unique gift of viewing challenges through the lens of God’s Word and does
so with incredible transparency and vulnerability. Shauna serves as the Director of Direct
Response and Radio Channel Marketing for Joni and Friends International Disability Center and
can often be heard encouraging radio listeners alongside Joni Eareckson Tada.
Dr. Dee Duke
Pastor Duke has been the pastor at Jefferson Baptist Church in Jefferson, Oregon, for 44 years. He grew up in Oregon and Washington and graduated from Western Baptist College (now Corban University) in Salem, Oregon, and has since earned a Doctorate Degree.
When he first began pastoring, the congregation consisted of 25 members and was meeting in the local City Hall. In the following years the church was able to purchase its own land, and all of the present buildings, including an 800-seat sanctuary were constructed on a cash basis and with volunteer labor from the congregation. Construction is continuing on a new Christian Education Building as well as additional parking areas.
Jefferson is a small, rural community of about 2200 people. The church has grown to an average attendance of 700-800 people in three services. In the last ten years Jefferson Baptist has had the joy of starting six daughter churches, with a seventh church scheduled to begin September 8, 2013.
Marty Zuidervaart
Marty Zuidervaart is a retired Christian high school educator and presently self-employed as a painting contractor. During the past 20 years in business he has been a prominent lay leader by serving on the board of elders for 12 years, teaching C.E. classes for adults, leading a couples’ home Bible study, and mentoring men.
In his earlier teaching days he successfully engaged high school juniors in the study of systematic theology. Receiving a BA in English from Dordt University and a MA in Christian Education from Fuller Seminary, Marty has been a life-long student of God’s Word and its integration into the very fabric of daily life. Over the years the Spirit has blessed many people with his knowledge of the Bible and its transforming power to discipline the heart.
Danny Lee
Danny Lee has served at Grace Church of Simi Valley since 2005 and has served as an elder since 2009. He began as Pastor of Student Ministries in 2005, then transitioned to the role of Children's Ministry in 2012. He loves ministering to kids of all ages with the gospel and is thankful to be a pastor to children and families. His desire is to come alongside parents in the discipling of their children in the Lord and equipping them with truth of God's Word. Danny graduated from The Master's University in 1998 and received his Masters of Divinity in 2012. He and his wife, Krista, met while serving on youth staff at their local church and were married in 2003. Danny and Krista have three cute kiddos: Jack, Macie & Andrew. The Lee's enjoy good food & coffee, reading lots of books, and going camping on occasion. They share a love for all things Disney, Star Wars, and baseball!
Dr. Jeremy Sauskojus
Jeremy Sauskojus lives in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife of 25+ years, Lori. Jeremy holds a B.A. in English from Montana State University, an M.A. in Religion and Worship from Liberty University in Virginia, and a Doctorate of Worship Studies from Liberty University. Jeremy is an associate pastor at Grace Bible Church where he oversees music-worship and pre-marital counseling as well as discipling church members. Jeremy teaches nationally and internationally.
Daryl McKillian
Daryl McKillian, Th.M., M.Div., serves as the Director of Metropolitan Ministries for the Joni and Friends International Disability Center. In that role, Daryl oversees disability and special needs outreach in dense, diverse, at-risk, and underserved cities in America. He has over 27 years of experience in the local church. Daryl is the Founder and Co-pastor of Reconcile Church LA, a church plant in Central Los Angeles committed to the Gospel, diversity, discipleship, missions, and church planting. Daryl and his wife Stacy have three beautiful daughters.
Dr. Mark Hearn
Mark is a native of Pulaski, Virginia where he accepted Christ and was baptized. It was there that he was ordained into the ministry and has served as pastor in six other churches prior to coming to First Baptist Duluth, Georgia. Previously, he was the Senior Pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has been President of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana and a Trustee for Lifeway Christian Resources. He has written 2 books: Technicolor and Hearing in Technicolor, which chronicle the journey of First Baptist Duluth from mono- to multi-cultural ministry. Mark earned his Master of Divinity degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from Luther Rice Seminary. Mark is married to Glenda and they have four daughters and 10 grandchildren.
Ron Dotzler
Ron Dotzler is an Author and Church Consultant. His vision for the inner city and the local church is centered in Abide ministries in Omaha, Nebraska and he consults with churches through Out of the Seats Church Growth Consulting. Ron says, “When I first moved into the inner city, the prevailing thought was to work through the faith-based nonprofit—not the church—if you wanted to truly change the world.
Whether through homeless shelters, after school programs or other social services, nonprofit organizations touch lives in a practical way. The church, however, is often disconnected—distant—from the brokenness in our communities.
In my zeal for Christ, I helped start over two dozen faith-based nonprofits to help meet the different needs in the inner city. However, after 15 years of diligent efforts, I never saw real cultural change. My good works didn’t transform my inner city as I had dreamed and worked toward, nor was there much discipleship fruit added to the church. The local church is God’s answer to a broken and dying world.
God has designed the church to connect people to a network of lifelong support—a womb to tomb solution connecting a person’s conversion experience to becoming a fully devoted disciple of Jesus.”
He is the author of Church Different: Unleashing the Church to Change the World; Out of the Seats and Into the Streets; and Beautiful Church: How Vibrant Churches Extend Beyond the Walls.