Yesterday, I had the privilege of getting to gather with some of you LIVE over on the CPC Facebook page to share with you the reveal of our CPC23 General Session speaker team.
It was so special to get to consider the heartbeat of this year’s theme with you, and to share about who God has brought together to guide us through this year’s theme.
Ready to meet your team?
Beth will be leading us all through our Worship and Prayer Experience, along with leading our opening General Session. She is a beloved shepherd of the CPC community (her love for the leaders at CPC runs deep!).
She also serves as the Co-Executive Director of Back2Back Ministries – a non-profit ministry that serves orphaned and vulnerable children around the world. She and her husband Todd have 11 kids, and she has authored 12 books in her spare time. 🙂
Bo grew up in the Philippines and has an incredible legacy of faith in his family. His grandparents were two of the first converts of the first American missionaries to come to their island in the Philippines in the early 1900s. Bo married Marlou, and together they became successful lawyers. However, they followed God’s call to become missionaries in 1986 and left their high government positions in obedience to Him.
In 1992, he and Marlou came to the US and founded Advancing Native Missions – a ministry that now serves 13,500 indiginous missionaries and pastors in 112 countries. Bo stepped down as ANM President in 2018, and now serves as its Global Ambassador. He passionately believes children’s ministry leaders are the heroes of the Church.
Tiana is a nationally sought after speaker and Bible teacher who shared with me that she developed a passion for the Scriptures at a young age – children’s ministry matters very much to her, and she is delighted to get to serve you all at CPC. She has spent the past 20 years teaching, discipling and mentoring others to grow in deep love for God’s Word, as well.
She currently lives in Monrovia, CA, where she serves on the teaching team at Fellowship Church (If you’ve been at CPC when Albert Tate was on the main stage, that church name might ring a bell… it’s where he serves as Senior Pastor). She received her Biblical Studies degree from Biola University in Southern California and she spends her time writing, discipling, and teaching others how to live an intentional life that pursues God, His Word, and everything else He died to give them.
Simple, authentic, and relational, Leo is a “wounded healer.” His ministry results from years of internal crisis and a life bathed with God’s grace. After more than 20 years serving as a Children’s Pastor and lead pastor in Puerto Rico, he started struggling with an anxiety disorder, burnout, and depression.
Fueled by that experience of suffering, today, he passionately serves with empathy as a liaison pastor for Caminando Juntos (a program that looks after the holistic well-being of Latino pastors) and as a coach at Kineo (a retreat center for wounded and weary leaders looking for healing and renewal in Naguabo, Puerto Rico). He is a Transforming Community Alumni and a Spiritual Formation student. He is currently writing his dissertation on the dark night of the soul and our spirituality during seasons of disorientation.
Kristi McLelland is a professor at Williamson College, best-selling author of “Jesus & Women” and “The Gospel on the Ground” Bible studies, and a biblical culturalist who teaches the Bible in its historical, cultural context. After studying in Egypt and Israel in 2007, Kristi began leading biblical study trips to Israel in 2008. She has trained under renowned rabbis, archaeologists, and professors.
Kristi’s study trips to Israel, Italy, Turkey, and Greece, her in-person and online courses and resources—including Season One of her popular “Pearls” podcast with AccessMore, position westerners to discover the Bible within the middle eastern context in which it was written. She is a passionate supporter of those who champion the discipleship of children!
Well, there you have it… we can’t wait to gather and hear the messages God has given to this year’s incredible General Session Speaker team!
If you’re noticing that there are fewer speakers stepping on the main stage than in year’s past, you would be correct in that observation.
Based on the community’s feedback, we are making more space for worship in the General Sessions and we’re paying attention to the overwhelm you were experiencing with hearing more than one speaker in a session.
This year, by having one speaker per main session, we’ll be able to focus more time on worship, have more opportunities for creativity, and have more opportunities to respond to His leading.
We have a lot more to share about what is coming for CPC23 in the weeks ahead, but for now we invite you to begin praying for the community and for this team of speakers.
We sense God is doing a new thing in all of us, and we anticipate how He will work among us at CPC23!
We can’t wait to see you there. Only 187 days until we gather!
You are daily in my thoughts and my prayers – I’m always thanking my God for your faithfulness. Keep running, friends. We’re right behind you.
Until I can throw confetti for you in Orlando, I’m cheering for you!
If you haven’t already, register for CPC23 today!
