Speaker Bios

Andy Aran is a former President of the NCS Bergen County Chapter and a partner in Regency Wealth Management. A visible and respected professional with 18 years in Alliance Bernstein’s Fixed Income Division, as well as experience at PaineWebber, Citibank, Standard & Poors and Chase Manhattan Bank.

Andy has been published in Institutional Investors and quoted or interviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and CNBC. He has spoken at numerous financial conferences around the world and served on Markit iBoxx’s Oversight Committee. He is a member of the CFA Institute, FIASI, and NYSSA (bond and stock analysts associations).

In addition to his role at NCS Bergen County, Andy is a member of the Advisory Board of Street 2 Street, and a Trustee for Star of Hope Ministries in Paterson, NJ. He is a member of Grace Church of Ridgewood where he has served on the Elder Board and their finance committee. He is blessed by his marriage to Cindy and with their three children.

Bill Bavagnoli is President of Specialized Storage Systems in Fairfield, NJ. Their core values of Honesty, Integrity, and Service guide them to help customers create space, maximize productivity, and improve profitability in commercial facilities, and to honor God in all they do. They have been in business for more than 25 years, and have many Fortune 500 clients throughout the United States.

Bill is a board member of Storage Consultants of America, a board member of Crossroads Job Network, and a proud member of C12, a Christian businessperson’s group that helps companies build business for greater purposes than just making money. He has a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Maryland, and resides in Wyckoff with his wife Sue, and their three children, Gina, Bill Jr., and David.

James Anderson joined the New Canaan Society as President in 2015. Prior to this he worked in the Office of the President at Focus on the Family in Public Affairs and Donor Relations, handling the West Coast.

James comes from an entrepreneur background after a career selling high-end real estate in Los Angeles for 10 years. James spent 5 years with Coldwell Banker before leaving to found the Pacific Luxury Group with Keller Williams. While there he earned the Quadruple Platinum Sales Award in four consecutive years as well as national awards from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing for his innovations in sales marketing. Anderson then became a founding partner in the Malibu/Pacific Palisades office.

As the Director of Operations for Lakeshore Entertainment, an independent film production company based at Paramount Pictures, James was involved in many films, including Runaway Bride, Arlington Road and Million Dollar Baby. James left Lakeshore after having scripts optioned by Paramount and New Line Cinema before going on to direct Hometown Legend, a $2 million dollar film sold to Warner Brothers.

Anderson’s life changed in 2010. “I crashed my life with some terrible personal choices. I had an out of control ego, was materialistic and narcissistic, and nothing was ever enough. I was empty.I am a man who has seen his own life radically transformed by Grace . . . I was rescued by a Jesus I did not know before, and He is redeeming my story.”

James attended Biola University and USC in Los Angeles, California, studying Screenwriting, Film Directing, and Marketing. He and his wife Carrie have been married for 17 years and have 2 daughters, Charlie Mae and Lucy.

James is especially obsessive about golf and fly-fishing right now. He also loves to oil paint and is a voracious reader.

Born in Hong Kong in 1939, John Bechtel is the son of missionaries who served 51 years in China. As a toddler, he escaped with his mother on the last ship departing Hong Kong before the Japanese occupation of World War II. His father was interned by the Japanese in a concentration camp while John spent the war years with his mother in the United States.

Upon graduation from Houghton College in New York in 1962, John travelled to Hong Kong where he felt the call to serve Christ among the Chinese people. He returned to the United States and studied at Nyack College and Jaffray School of Missions in preparation.

During his time as a missionary with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Hong Kong, he and wife Donna purchased Suen Douh Camp for the miraculous sum of $1 and established a camping program with an evangelistic emphasis. Since its inception in 1971, over 1.7 million people have experienced the evangelistic program and over 160,000 of them have indicated a decision to accept Christ. He spearheaded a church planting project in China which has blossomed to over 130 churches today.

John served as Field Chairman of the Hong Kong Christian and Missionary Alliance from 1973 to 1980 and was, for periods during those years, Chairman of the Board of the Alliance Bible Seminary and the Alliance Press. John served on the Board of Managers of the Christian and Missionary Alliance from 1976 to 1981 and on the Board of Camp-of-the-Woods for over 30 years.

In 1981, Mr. Bechtel joined the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation as Project Director for Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. Between 1983 and his retirement in 2004, John served as Project Director Coordinator and for 10 years as Director of International Ministries.

Ken has been a believer since the Lord opened his heart at a very young age.  At his core, Ken has always been and will always be a teacher.  With his unique insight into God's people and His Word, Ken began preaching at the age of 16.  A natural, albeit humble leader, Ken has had a variety of ministry responsibilities - church elder, itinerant preaching, chairing the board of the Ezekiel Project, youth leader, Bible study teacher, and youth leader.

Known as Mr. Barrett in his position teaching at Tenafly High School for more than three decades, Ken has worked in a variety of content areas including Africa and Asia, European, and American History. He currently is teaching African and Asian Civilizations and Cultures both honors, Debate, and Sociology electives as well as the American Experience Honors course for seniors.

Ken has been married to his best friend, Rose Barrett, for 35 years.  Together they love and deeply enjoy their two adult children, their wonderful spouses, and their soon-to-be grandchild!

Morgan Burklow began his career as an analyst with a supplier of power and natural gas. In 2009 he began teaching business English at FUCAPE, a top ranked school of business in Brazil.

In 2010, Morgan began to pursue his passion, a career in strategic financial planning with Mindful Wealth Management, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. For the past 12 years, he has and continues to help people maximize their net worth while mitigating risk through an interactive program that delivers proactive client service, access to a team of financial experts, and tailored recommendations to simplify their financial reality.

Morgan holds various Christian leadership positions such as board member of Legacy Minded Men, public speaker, an ordained minister, and mentors inner-city youth through Football.

He is also a Certified Kingdom Advisor focused on offering biblically wise financial advice. Morgan has an unparalleled passion for sharing God's love with those in his circle of influence.

Morgan earned his B.S. from Montclair State University and his CRPC® from The College for Financial Planning, he is actively working on his CFP.  He and his wife, Jacqueline, have two children and a heart to serve people.

Pastor Matt Andersen serves as the Executive Director at Star of Hope Ministries in Paterson, NJ. Over the past 20 years, Matt and his family have served in various ministry capacities such as teaching posts in Okinawa, Japan, leading worship at Calvary Chapel Okinawa, and as church planters in Paterson, NJ.

In addition to his work with Star of Hope, Matt currently serves on several teams including the board and national leadership team of City Advance, The Social Justice League of Passaic County, and “Ecclesia” a city Gospel movement in Paterson, NJ.

For years, Matt has been obsessed with the concept of TEAMS. From sports teams growing up, to coaching, to working with a team of teachers, or a team in business and ministry, he’s been on amazing teams, as well as teams full of dysfunction. From seasons of thriving to periods where things...JUST. SEEMED. STUCK.

But why do some teams thrive, and others get stuck? Even if have the right people "on the bus", it's easy to get caught feeling guilty, or judging others when things aren't going well. This led Matt to discover Patrick Lencioni’s WORKING GENIUS model, and he and his wife now serve churches, organizations, executive leadership teams, and city movements as Certified Working Genius Facilitators. Wherever you find a group of people working together towards a common goal, The Working Genius Model can help ensure each person is "in the right seat on the bus".

Join us as we discover how The Working Genius model can help you, 1) Instantly gain a deeper understanding about yourself and how you are “hard wired, 2) Know better the kinds of work you should do and not do, and 3) Learn how your team can get much more done by tapping into the diverse skill sets of each member. Not only is there an application for TEAMS, but there are a multitude of BIBLICAL parallels for the Body of Christ as we strive together towards UNITY.

Some of Matt’s greatest passions are spending time with his wife and three children, teaching the Word of God, playing and watching basketball, and riding his motorcycle. His favorite verse is Galatians 6:9 – “'And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

Patrick Anderson is a Partner of Hanse Anderson LLP. Patrick is licensed as an attorney in both New Jersey and Florida. Patrick is a graduate, summa cum laude from The College of New Jersey with a B.S. in Accounting and a graduate with honors (order of the coif) from Rutgers Law School in Newark. Before his law career, Patrick formerly was with the international accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche. Patrick's practice is concentrated in the areas of estate planning, administration and litigation, business law, tax, land use, and real estate. Patrick serves as attorney for the Wayne Township Zoning Board of Adjustment and as a Trustee of the Pines Lake Association in Wayne. Patrick resides in Wayne, New Jersey with his wife Allison and son Donovan.

Raul Baez didn’t feel loved as a child. He held in the bitterness he felt as a victim of sexual and physical abuse. But when he couldn’t contain his anger any longer, he hit the streets, self-medicating with drugs as a teenager. That run lasted almost 25 years, a life he lived under pure madness and chaos.

Raul married young, and his oldest son fell into the trap of drugs as well. In 1993, his 17-year-old was killed selling drugs in the Bronx. “I saw all the signs and I totally ignored it,” says Raul. “I had a lot of guilt from that.” His name was Wito and today there is a legacy attached to his name every time Raul walks into a prison as the Executive Director of WITO Inc. to teach financial literacy and the character development principles he used to transform his life.

Before founding WITO, however, Raul’s journey took another turn. Six years after Wito’s death, Raul’s daughter got into a domestic violence situation, and Raul shot the attacker. Thinking he had killed a man, he went on the run and spent the next seven months living on the streets and shelling out about a thousand dollars a day to buy drugs. To fund his addiction, he started committing robberies daily.

But soon Raul would find himself in a situation he couldn’t run from, and he would learn that God was his only source of true freedom from his crime, his guilt, and his anger.

While escaping from his last robbery, Raul fired three shots at responding police officers, hoping to provoke them to shoot him. They returned 32 shots, but not one hit Raul. He fled to an alley where, with a SWAT team surrounding him, he sat pointing his gun to his own head for the next five hours. He was too scared to shoot himself. He hoped someone would do it for him.

When the cold New York weather got the best of him, his finger slipped and he accidentally pulled the trigger. He heard a ringing in his ear and his head ached intensely, but there was no blood. He had missed. “I heard a little voice that gave me peace and comfort that told me to put the gun down,” he recalls. “God was definitely in control. I just didn’t know it at the time.”

Raul learned that the man he had shot seven months earlier had survived. However, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for armed robbery.

One cold night, Raul and other prisoners were walking the yard. They heard music coming from the chapel, and one prisoner suggested they go in for warmth, coffee, and doughnuts. As they entered, a Prison Fellowship volunteer read Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

He spent the next two years torn between old habits and following Jesus, and he feared what his fellow prisoners would do if he changed. But then, one day, he found himself forced to choose his master. After a falling-out with another prisoner that promised a major, violent confrontation the next day, Raul – exhausted by this pattern – asked God to get him out of the mess. When Raul peacefully confronted the man, he apologized to Raul.

After seeing God’s power, Raul surrendered to Jesus. He got baptized and started attending Prison Fellowship programs. Even though other prisoners ridiculed him for his faith, he stayed strong and slowly gained their respect. God laid it on his heart to start a program for the young men in the prison. He saw many return after being released because they didn’t have the tangible skills to support themselves on the outside without turning to drugs and violence. Raul taught them entrepreneurship and money management skills mixed with character development and included the Gospel whenever he could.

Raul was released from prison two years early. Other prisoners still teach the program based on a manual and curriculum that Raul created. In September 2013, We Innovatively Transform Ourselves (WITO) was launched to teach his program to incarcerated men and women. August 2014 marked Raul’s 4th year outside prison. In addition to WITO he created two businesses that teach financial literacy to minorities and drug prevention to nonprofit organizations. He has an associate’s degree in real estate appraisal and is finishing his bachelor’s degree in personal finance while working as a medical case manager and sharing his faith with his coworkers. Raul’s children have seen him become a new man and have come to know Christ through him.

The Rev. Dr. Hillary R. Bercovici is an Episcopal priest and pastoral psychotherapist currently serving as Scholar-in-Residence at Trinity Institute, the teaching arm of Trinity Church, Greenwich, CT, an interdenominational congregation in lower Fairfield County.

Hillary is a native New Yorker and former NYC-EMS Paramedic who worked in Harlem and the South Bronx before entering seminary and graduate school. He holds degrees in philosophy and divinity, as well as an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Psychology & Theology.

Hillary’s passion is helping people find and deepen a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through bringing the Bible alive and applying its wisdom in Biblical teaching, depth psychotherapy, and spiritual direction. His work at Trinity Institute focuses on teaching Biblical theology and developing contemporary approaches to practical apologetics.

The Boswell Aiosa Group

Ron Aiosa co-founded The Boswell Aiosa Group with William Boswell of Keller Williams Prosperity Realty. The team is comprised of Listing, Buyer and Rental Specialists along with a full-time client relations and administrative staff.

Boswell and Aiosa were each named Platinum Level recipients of the NJAR® Circle of Excellence Sales Award® for the last consecutive 9 years, the highest level recognized by NJ Realtors®. They have consistently been ranked in the top tier on the REAL Trends Best Real Estate Agents in America list of NJ’s top real estate sales professionals based on closed transaction sides.

The Prosperity Network

Aiosa, along with his business partner Bill Boswell, is the co-owner & founder of Keller Williams Prosperity in Wayne, NJ as well as Keller Williams Integrity in Sparta, NJ. These brokerages both continue to grow and flourish, providing their communities with the best real estate agents in the industry. They pride themselves on establishing the most incredible cultures any real estate environment has ever seen along with ancillary income through multiple opportunity streams provided by their companies, daily training relative to today's environment as well as a world class staff which supports, trains and encourages their agents at the highest level.

Personal

Ron is married to his beautiful wife Laurie for 25 years, is father to three amazing children and has a desire to speak the name of Jesus every day. He looks for opportunities to open doors in what he considers his mission field, the daily workplace. Ron Aiosa is known as one of the happiest men alive, one who is always there to uplift a person a need and spread as much joy as he possibly can.

Ryan Baitzel is a husband, father of 5, follower of Christ, and lead pastor at Emergence Church. Emergence Church was planted as an independent church in December 2011 and in that time has grown to 3 campuses, with 2000 plus weekly attenders across Northern NJ.

Sanford Ashley is an author, speaker and consultant. He coaches men with relationship issues.  He has been published in a wide range of magazines including Men of Integrity, Sales and Marketing Management Magazine,Working Mother Magazine, and Gospel Today. Sanford’s book Sex..The Seductive Addiction talks about the perils of infidelity through real life examples,and practical solutions for dating and marriage. His workbook “Man to Man…How to Be An Effective Father” has been used by the NJ Parents Caucus and municipalities for instruction in fatherhood.

Sanford speaks frequently to various associations,companies and other organizations,as well as retreats for men and couples. He is married with two sons.

Steve Brown was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. He received a B.A. in Philosophy and Religion from High Point College, High Point, North Carolina and an S.T.B. degree from Boston University School of Theology.

Steve is the Founder and President of Key Life Network, Inc. and Bible teacher on the national radio program Key Life. The weekday 15-minute broadcast and the 1-minute feature You Think About That are currently heard on over 600 outlets. Key Life Network sends out over 350,000 CDs, magazines and printed literature annually at no charge. Key Life Network also has a ministry dedicated specifically to pastors.

Steve is the host on the talk show, Steve Brown, Etc., which is streamed live on the internet on Fridays from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EST and aired on the Salem Radio Network on weekends. He is Professor Emeritus of Preaching and Pastoral Ministry at Reformed Theological Seminary and is the former pastor of Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church, Key Biscayne, FL; First Presbyterian Church, Quincy, MA and East Dennis Community Church, East Dennis, MA.

Steve has authored two books with Flemming H. Revell, Where the Action Isand So Now You Are A Christian (republished under the revised title Welcome To The Family). He has also authored several other books: If Jesus Has Come;How To Talk So People Will Listen; Born Free; Living Free; If God Is In Charge; When Your Rope Breaks; Jumping Hurdles; When Being Good Isn’t Good Enough; Follow the Wind; Approaching God; A Scandalous Freedom: The Radical Nature of the Gospel; What Was I Thinking?; and Three Free Sins…God’s Not Mad at You.

Steve is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Religious Broadcasters and Harvest, USA. He has authored numerous articles in such publications asLeadership, Decision, InterVarsity, Plain Truth, Today’s Christian Woman, Preaching and Table-Talk.

Steve is a former disk jockey and newsman at radio stations in Boston, MA; Greensboro and Winston-Salem, NC. He is a much-in-demand Bible teacher and keynote speaker, a role he filled at the 2011 NCS Washington Weekend..

Steve is married to Anne and is the father of two daughters and grandfather of three granddaughters.

Willie Alfonso serves as Chaplain to the New Jersey Nets, Staten Island Yankees and Hispanic players of the New York Yankees, as well as New York City’s EMS. He is also the Program Director for Urban Impact, a ministry that shares Jesus’ heart of compassion and shows young boys on the streets of our inner cities the real hope found in Jesus Christ.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Willie speaks to these boys from experience.  Forced to leave home at age 11, Willie spent his teenage years living with relatives, friends and on the streets. Years of drug use and destructive behavior followed, until he received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior on Palm Sunday 1981.

In 1996 Willie and his wife felt called into full-time, inner city ministry. They began working with teenagers in a sports ministry that has led hundreds of young people to Christ.

Willie continues to reside on Staten Island with his wife Nancy. They have three daughters, Venus, Yvette and Krista.

Bob joined Crossmark in May 2021 as Chief Investment Officer (CIO),  bringing over 40 years of industry experience to guide the investment process and serve as portfolio manager for multiple Crossmark large-cap strategies. He also utilizes his investment expertise to provide weekly and quarterly investment commentaries, as well as annual market predictions. Bob is a regular guest and contributor to multiple media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Moneywise, and Fox  Business News. Prior to arriving at Crossmark, he held the roles of  Senior Portfolio Manager and Chief Equity Strategist at Nuveen and  Blackrock, President and Chief Investment Officer at Merrill Lynch  Investment Managers, and Chief Investment Officer at Oppenheimer  Funds, Inc.  

Bob graduated from Lehigh University with a B.S. in Accounting and a B.A. in Economics. He later went on to earn an M.B.A. from the  Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Certified  Public Accountant (CPA) and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst  (CFA®) designation, as well as the FINRA Series 7 and 63 securities licenses. 

Bob dedicates his time as choir director at his local church and also serves on a number of boards including the Alliance of Confessing  Evangelicals, Word of Life Fellowship, New Canaan Society, Kingdom  Advisors, National Christian Foundation, Gordon Conwell Theological  Seminary, The Lausanne Movement, Movement.org, Cairn University,  Christianity Today, and the Princeton Healthcare System. 

Bob and his wife Leslie currently reside in Princeton, New Jersey and have three children.

Brendan Da Silva is the Founder and CEO of Da Silva Team, a residential real estate team that sold >$90M in volume and 200+ homes in 2021. 

Brendan graduated with a degree in pastoral ministry from Nyack College in 2016 but no more than a month after graduation served six months in jail. When he was released, he could not find suitable work so upon the encouragement of family and friends, he began pursuing a career in real estate in April 2017. 

Over the past several years, Brendan and The Da Silva Team have earned numerous accolades within their industry, been featured on Fox News for their generosity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and shown a commitment to building an faith driven and impact-oriented business. This year, Brendan and The Da Silva Team will move their office to Newark, New Jersey, where they will focus heavily on educating Newark residents about the home-buying process. 

Brendan and Debora married in 2019 and they currently reside in Jersey City. They are expecting their first child in December of this year and are active with their local church.  Brendan is an active members of C12 New Jersey.

Colonel Patrick J. Callahan was sworn in on October 31, 2017, as the 14th Colonel of the New Jersey State Police. He has served more than 26 years with the New Jersey State Police and as the State Director of the Office of Emergency Management, also serves as a member of the New Jersey Coronavirus Task force established by Governor Murphy in February of 2020. He previously served as the Deputy Superintendent of Operations overseeing nearly 1,800 road troopers assigned to State Police stations throughout the State. Prior to this assignment, Colonel Callahan served as the Deputy Superintendent of Administration. Previous assignments also included him serving as the Commanding Officer of the Emergency Management Section as well as the Recovery Bureau Chief in the wake of Super Storm Sandy. In this role, he was responsible for working with FEMA, all State Departments, county, and local government entities, as well as the Governor’s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding to administer and oversee the $1.5 billion in FEMA Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation funding awarded to the State.

Colonel Callahan has also served as the Chief Financial Officer for the New Jersey State Police and has held various assignments in the Administration Section overseeing budget and fiscal responsibilities associated with the Division. He was also assigned to the Homeland Security Branch and assisted in the planning and distribution of the federal homeland security funding awarded to the State and its 21 counties in the wake of 9/11. Prior to this assignment, Colonel Callahan served as a station detective and general road duty Trooper.

Colonel Callahan earned a Master’s Degree in Administrative Science from Fairleigh Dickinson University and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Villanova University. He is a graduate of the 243rd FBI National Academy Session where he was elected Session President. Colonel Callahan also served as the Chairman of the State Police Retirement System Pension Board of Trustees until his recent appointment to Colonel on November 1, 2017.

He has been married to his high school sweetheart, Linda, for 32 years and they have four children.

Darryl Donlin, LCSW is a Christian-based counselor who specializes in working with men who are dealing with the enormous challenges facing them as a husband, father, and man of God.   By combining the principles of psychology with a Faith-based approach Darryl enables clients to understand the issues that drive behavior and replace the “quick fix” mentality by inviting Jesus to bring long-term healing and change.  Darryl recently launched his private practice; This Is Now Counseling.

Darryl has 20+ years of extensive clinical and executive management experience in behavioral health including private practice, in-home family treatment and managed care corporate settings.  He has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Marywood College (now Marywood University) in Scranton, PA.  In addition, he earned a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Delivery Systems from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.  He is also a Certified Trauma Treatment Professional (CCTP) utilizing EMDR, CBT and Somatic based interventions.

Dennis has more than 30 years of full-time church employment. He holds a BA in Religious Studies from Caldwell College and a MA in Pastoral Ministry/Church Leadership from Boston College.

Dennis is currently the Pastoral Associate for Christ the King Church in New Vernon, NJ. He was previously the Director of Parish Operations for Church of the Presentation in Upper Saddle River from 1995-2005. Dennis is a consultant for organizational leadership to churches throughout the country and is a member of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management where he is on the faculty for the Pastor’s Toolbox.

Dennis lives in Randolph with his wife, Laura, and 4 children.

Dr. Arnie Cole is a former successful marketplace executive in the health care space, who now leads an impactful ministry.  He has an amazing testimony of how at the age of 47 his life was radically transformed when he first entered into a relationship with Jesus. His message will mimic the title of the book he authored:  Unstuck: Your Life, God’s Design, Real Change. 

For 18 years, Dr. Cole was founder and president of First Step & Cole Vocational in Redland, CA where he revolutionized the treatment of severely disturbed patients in mental health institutions.  After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1998, he sold his business, planning to tour the world in his 60 foot yacht while he still had the capacity to do so.  During a storm that threatened his life, Dr. Cole made a genuine profession of faith and a plea for his life.  What happened next was astounding.  He was not only saved from being shipwrecked, but when he returned from his trip his doctors discovered that he no longer had Alzheimer’s.

He subsequently gave his remaining years to serving in ministry leadership positions.  For the last nine years he has served as the CEO of Back to the Bible and Director of Research and Development for the Center for Bible Engagement.  Dr. Cole is dedicated to the mission of leading people into a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ through daily Bible engagement.

Dr. Cole has a BA and MA in Psychology, as well as an EdD in Institutional Management from Pepperdine University.  He is married and father of now adult children.

Bob served for 31 years in the U.S. Army in a wide variety of command and staff positions culminating in his last three assignments as Assistant Division Commander for Operations, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault); Commander, Second Infantry Division, United States Forces Korea; and as Deputy Commanding General, V (US/GE) Corps in Europe, concurrently serving as Commander, US-Israeli Combined Task Force for Missile Defense. Commissioned a second lieutenant after graduating from West Point in 1972, he is also a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and Royal College of Defense Studies in London, England.

Following military retirement in January 2003, Bob served as Executive Director, Defense Strategies, Microsoft Corporation; followed by leadership of a non-profit outreach to the military. While authoring The Resilience Trilogy (Resilient Warriors, Resilient Leaders, and Resilient Nations), he pioneered resilience programs for the military and beyond as Associate Vice President for Military Outreach, Adjunct Professor, and Director of the nation’s first Institute for Military Resilience at Liberty University. Bob subsequently served as National Security Advisor and Campaign Chairman, Dr. Ben Carson for President 2016. His primary endeavor now is leading the National Center for Healthy Veterans at Valor Farm near Liberty University, with the mission of “Returning Healthy Veterans to America.”.

Bob speaks at numerous seminars and conferences, as well as commentary on national security, Resilience God Style, and cultural topics in numerous media venues, churches, military bases, and business organizations across America. He was featured as one of 30 "Master Leaders" in America by noted author George Barna. You may recall him from his tour-of-duty as speaker at the 2017 NCS Metro NYC Regional Retreat, as well as his “Resilient Aging” talk to our group a year ago!

Bob has been married to the former Kathleen Robinson of Houston, Texas, for 48 years. They have two children and nine grandchildren, and are currently moving to the National Center for Healthy Veterans at Valor Farm in Virginia. General and Mrs. Dees are grateful for the privilege of serving God, Nation, and others during these critical times.

Jabbar Collins was incarcerated for 16 years for a crime he did not commit. Today, he is the president of Horizon Research Services, a consulting firm that provides legal research and writing services to attorneys. In 1994, Jabbar was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. He spent the time in prison teaching himself the law and helping other prisoners overturn their convictions. In 2010, Jabbar was finally able to have his own conviction overturned in federal court. His amazing story of grace and salvation point to Christ at every turn!

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jabbar-collins-62ba9830/

Jack Deere has been a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, started and pastored numerous churches, and authored several books. He is a highly sought after speaker, and has been the headlined speaker at several NCS chapters and NCS retreats.

Jack is currently the senior pastor of Wellspring Church in Ft. Worth, Texas, a church he started in the spring of 2004. The mission of the church is threefold: to help people cultivate an intimate friendship with Jesus; to help people discover and effectively use their spiritual gifts in significant ways in the church; and having learned how to use these gifts effectively in the church, then to use their gifts in the market place where they spend the majority of their time. He has also pastored churches in California and Montana.

Jack was a professor in the Department of Old Testament Exegesis and Semitic Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary from 1976 – 1988. He graduated from Texas Christian University with a B.A. in Philosophy, and Dallas Theological Seminary where he received a Th.M. and Th.D. He has written several books including The Beginner’s Guide to the Gift of Prophecy, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit and Surprised by the Voice of God. Currently, Jack and his wife, Leesa, live in Colleyville, Texas.

John has been a highly successful executive in the strategic business development arena for the last 30 years. He currently serves as President and CEO for D’Alessandro, Inc., a consulting firm that raises performance for their not-for-profit clients. With an expertise in strategy implementation and business consulting, John has successfully led many organizations to reach their goals. John spent 13 years with Pascack Valley Hospital,  over five of which included leading the Foundation through an organizational transition and a successful capital campaign. Before leaving the hospital when it closed in 2007, John held the positions at the hospital of Sr. Vice President of External Relations, Chief Operating Officer and Interim Chief Executive Officer, as well as President of the NJ Hospital Association Fund Raising Executives. John serves on several not-for-profit boards, and as a consultant has achieved success with many sizes and types of organizations. Having worked in healthcare, consumer products and consulting services, John has a unique understanding of the business landscape. He is a graduate of William Paterson University and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Commerce and Industry Association of NJ. John is a frequent conference speaker in the not-for-profit, as well as the for-profit arena. In addition, as a panel moderator, John uniquely keeps the event pace on target, while inserting humor and a smooth transition between panelists and topics.

John Jay Crandall, AIA will speak on the journey Christ has laid out for him, especially during the transition to retirement. The path has had hardship, joy and life altering implications, not always realized at the time they were happening! John looks for ways to work for our Lord in all endeavors and tries to realize the presence of Christ in every moment.  John will speak on his journey and how Christ is calling him today.

John is a “retired” Architect with over 40 years of experience in the design, construction and leasing of a wide variety of facilities. He has been responsible for the coordination, planning and construction efforts for Fortune 500 companies, managing their design professionals, working with their project teams as well as both tenant and landlord leasing teams.

For 25 years John has been a volunteer serving our Lord through the Appalachia Service Project (ASP). ASP serves the people of Central Appalachia performing emergency home repairs. The focus of the organization is to make homes "warmer, safer and dryer". Mr. Crandall has served on the ASP Board of Trustees and helped spear head the "New Build–Appalachia" projects as well.

John serves on other Christ centered not-for-profit Boards and started "ACT Now!" Youth Fellowship in Morris county. ACT (Applying Christ Touch) organizes and funds youth mission trips and projects. John also is a past President for Tres Dias of Northern New Jersey. 

Len Deo is the Founder and President of the New Jersey Family Policy Council (NJFPC) a public policy education and research group committed to the ideals of the nation’s founding fathers: the primacy of marriage, the family, free expression of faith, religious freedom, and the free enterprise system.

The Council promotes integrity and character in the leadership of New Jersey’s government, businesses, churches and families through 3 focus areas: Education (Preparing Leaders), Legislation (Promoting Values), Accountability (Keeping Elected Leaders Accountable). NJFPC is associated with Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council in Washington, DC, and the Alliance Defense Fund. A strong desire and dedication to pursue justice and righteousness energizes the Council.

In pursuit of the Council’s mission, Len has appeared on many local news programs, as well as Fox News Channel. His op-ed pieces have been carried in many New Jersey newspapers, including the Star-Ledger and Record of Bergen County.

Born in Newark and virtually a lifelong resident of Parsippany, Len has been active in business, community and church organizations over the past 35 years. He and wife Andrea have been happily married for 34 years and have three children, two married and three grandchildren.

Leroy Cannady grew up in Philadelphia, PA and worked his way up from a butcher shop at the age of 16 to District Supervisor for Wal-Mart. Along the way, Leroy served as Meat Manager for Philadelphia A&P stores, cattle buyer for the American Cattleman Association and Kroger Store Manager in St Louis, MO. He retired from Wal-Mart in 2007 after serving on the management team a Co-Manager, Store Manager, and District Supervisor.

Leroy recently published a book based on my life story: Let Us Reason Together. In addition, he works as a Behavior Health Counselor, dealing with men, women, boys, and girls with behavior, drug, and alcohol additions.

In the early 1980s, Leroy and his wife joined the Gideon’s International in Edwardsville, IL. He subsequently served as Camp President’s Chaplin, Church Ministry Chairman, and a Regional Program Leader for the State of North Carolina. Currently he is a Testimony, Banquet, and Church Speaker for the Gideon’s International. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Leroy lived in India working with missionaries from Germany and the United Kingdom planting churches in villages and rural areas of South India, Sri Lanka and Pakistani.

Currently Leroy lives in Winston Salem, NC. He has eight children, 13 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His hobbies includes boating, golfing and traveling.

LeroyCannady.com

Branch Commander, Homeland Security Branch, New Jersey State Police

Christopher M. DeMaise was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on June 1, 2023, and has faithfully served more than 24 years with the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). He currently oversees the Homeland Security Branch which encompasses the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management and the Special Operations Section. This group is comprised of more than 438 enlisted Troopers and 442 civilians. He serves as the Deputy State Director of Emergency Management and has held roles such as State Emergency Response Commission Co-Chair, State Coordinating Officer (SCO) and Governor Authorized Representative (GAR) for numerous Presidentially Declared Disasters. He also serves as the Accountability Officer for the American Rescue Plan funds awarded to the New Jersey State Police and has been tasked with integrity monitoring for $2.4 Billion Coronavirus Relief Funds for the State of New Jersey.

Prior to this assignment, LTC DeMaise served in various assignments within the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management. He served as the Unit Head of the Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Unit and oversaw the transition of New Jersey Task Force 1 (NJ-TF1), the state’s Urban Search and Rescue team, into the Federal US &R system. As the NJ-TF1 Representative, he led deployments to incidents such as Hurricane Matthew (North Carolina), Hurricane Harvey (Texas) and Hurricane Florence (North Carolina). He also served as the Incident Commander and other Command and General staff positions for several Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) deployments to Puerto Rico (Operation FURIA- Hurricane Fiona-2022, NJSPEAR- Earthquake Response- 2020, and NJPRIDE- Hurricane Maria-2017.)

Preceding his assignment to the Emergency Management Section, LTC DeMaise spent 12 years in the Special Operations Section. He was promoted to Lieutenant of the NJSP Technical Emergency and Missions Specialist Unit (T.E.A.M.S.) where he initiated numerous programmatic goals based on enhancing the training and certification of the Unit’s membership, enabling grant funding of resources as well as realigning the records management processes of the Unit to a more professional standard.  During his assignment in the Special Operations Section, he served as the Station Commander of the Atlantic City Marine Station and Training Officer for the Section.   He served as Chair of the Training and Civil Disturbance Response Committee for Superbowl XLVIII held at Met Life Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ.

LTC DeMaise proudly served the United States Marine Corps for six years (active duty/reserves) before joining the NJSP. He has earned a Master’s in Human Resources Administration from Seton Hall University and a Master’s in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School.  He also attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Law & Justice with a Minor in Spanish from Rowan University, where he now serves as an adjunct professor. He has been married to his wife Chrissy for 24 years, and they have three children, Tyler, Emma and Layla. Emma currently attends Rowan University and Tyler has recently graduated from the institution.

It’s a little strange compiling a biography to send to our chapter, since I'm the current individual who manages our digital content, so I won’t.

I, Matthew Carpenter, am the Director of Communications for Star of Hope Ministries (as well as for our NCS chapter). Also, because this is North Jersey and I have a family, I have roughly 3 additional side hustles out of necessity.

Now, some quick details:

• Adopted
  
• Grew up in a Pastor’s home
• Saved and baptized at a young age
• The US Military sent me to 1 year of Bible College and that relationship dissolved
• The NYPD sent me to a 2nd year of Bible College but God had another plan
• I was a pastor, in some capacity, for nearly 20 years but God had different plans once again
• Married for 17 years, 4 kids, living in Ramsey (trying to buy the house we are currently in)

I have been through many things throughout my life. The fact of the matter is, we all have a story and within that story are crossroads where a man decides how to translate his identity in Christ.

My story is a life in translation and, if you are planning to join us this week, I’ll share what I’ve learned about providence and identity through the lens of adoption.

Michael is Vice President at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and he directs both the Evangelicals in Civic Life and Religion & the Media programs. He is also a senior advisor to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and a senior fellow with The Trinity Forum.

In addition, Michael is an adjunct professor at the Reformed Theological Seminary, an advisory editor of Christianity Today, and served as an advisor to the PBS documentary series With God on Our Side: The Rise of the Christian Right in America. He was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

Michael has edited numerous books, including Piety and Politics: Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Confront the World (co-edited with Richard John Neuhaus), which was selected as one of the twenty-five best books of 1988 byEternity magazine.
For his perspective on religion and politics, Michael has been appeared on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, NBC’s Evening News with Brian Williams, ABCWorld News Tonight, CNN and BBC Radio among others. He has been quoted in the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, The New Republic, the New York Times,Christianity Today, U.S. News & World Report,The Weekly Standard, the Boston Globe, Associated Press, and numerous other newspapers and magazines in America and Europe.

Michael is a graduate of Covenant College (GA), and holds an M.A. in Justice from The American University in Washington, D.C.

Col. Thomas M. (Mike) Durham serves as head Chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point).  Chaplain Mike will be sharing a message entitled “Consider the Call of God!: from Micah 6:1-8.

The son of a Marine, Mike was born in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. He joined the Army Reserve in 1974 and achieved active duty status in 1978. He subsequently served for six years as an officer in the Adjutant General Corps. In 1984 he left active duty to attend seminary. He returned to active duty as Chaplain in 1989 after pastoring Shannondorah Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Among Mike’s many service awards and decorations are the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star.

Mike holds a bachelors degree from Wake Forest University and a Masters of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Janice, have two children and one grandchild.

As the Development Coordinator of Servant’s Heart, Nate is responsible for the growth and progress of a local Christ-centered, construction-based nonprofit. Since graduating from Ramapo College with a degree in Business Management, he is has been professionally serving in ministry for the last ~15 years: pioneering a multi-site youth program, starting a church location as Campus Pastor, and working as a Pastor of Community Engagement.

Nate’s deepest passion is to see the Church mobilized into the local community. For that reason, it was a smooth transition from working inside the walls of the church to now working outside the walls at Servant’s Heart, where he oversees roughly 400 volunteers a year. 

As a Jersey native, Nate met his wife Kaitlyn at Pequannock Township High School. They’ve been married for 11 years, and have four kids: Hailey (10), Melida (8), Luke (6), Madison (4). 

Nicholas Di Iorio has been part of the NCS Manhattan community since November 2012. After leaving the seminary to be a Roman Catholic priest, he moved to New York to start his career at Pfizer Inc. During his career, he has been a financial contractor, political candidate, educator, and development officer.

Nicholas and his wife Dana have been married since 2017 and live on the Upper West Side. He has degrees in philosophy from Providence College and Fordham University. Nicholas is passionate about helping those in need and ensuring is included and part of a community. He currently raises money for a mobile outreach to our neighbors experiencing homelessness called City Relief.

Paul has served as a Managing Director and Head of Global Sales for BNY Mellon Capital Markets (BNYMCM). He was responsible for developing BNYMCM’s Institutional Taxable trading capabilities and developing their trading capabilities in Asia (Hong Kong). Paul was selected as a Chairman Circle Award recipient in 2007.

Prior to joining BNYMCM in 1998, he completed an intensive Fixed Income training program at Lehman Brothers, where he held various positions in Fixed Income trading and sales. He holds a B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Scranton.

Paul lives in Mahwah, NJ with his wife of 16 years, Kelly, and their three young children.

Paul D’Alessandro, J.D., CFRE, is the author of “The Future of Fundraising: How Philanthropy’s Future is Here with Donors Dictating the Terms.” He’s the founder and chairman of High Impact Nonprofit Advisors (HNA), and also D’Alessandro Inc. (DAI), which is a fundraising and strategic management consulting company with more than 30 years of experience in the philanthropic sector.

He has worked with hundreds of nonprofits to raise over a billion dollars for his clients in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, as a nonprofit and business expert — who is also a practicing attorney — Paul has worked with high-level global philanthropists, vetting and negotiating their strategic gifts to charitable causes. Paul understands that today’s environment requires innovation and fresh thinking, which is why he launched HNA to train and coach leaders who want to make a difference in the world.

Phil is Managing Director at Cathedral Consulting Group, LLC.  Cathedral provides consulting to small- to mid-sized private companies on key business matters to help them grow.

Phil’s experience gives him unique qualifications to aid companies and their owners in these important transitions: he was Vice President of Standard & Poor’s Corporate Value Consulting (CVC) division after leading CVC through the process of acquisition by S&P. Phil previously ran Coopers & Lybrand’s Corporate Finance Practice for the U.S.  He has served on the boards of both Coopers & Lybrand and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Phil also has a passion for developing future generations. He is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Business at The King’s College in New York City, and serves as an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University, teaching Business Valuation.  Phil is a frequent lecturer and writer on business and economics.

Phil holds a LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, a J.D. from the University of Puget Sound School of Law, a M.T.S. from the Reformed Theological Seminary, and a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound. Phil also holds the designation of Certified Financial Planner.

Rob has a heart for men and is a very effective communicator. He currently serves as the Senior Pastor of Zarephath Christian Church. He served as President of Somerset Christian College (now Pillar College) from 1992-2004. He can be heard on his radio spots “Go For It” on STAR 99.1 and on-air live with Johnny Stone on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, churches and retreats. Rob also has a heart for young people, and is the overseer of Autumn Blaze and Co-Founder of Victory Sports Camps. Rob also serves as the Director of Urban Impact, the newest Pillar of Fire ministry, that shares the love of Jesus with teen and pre-teen, urban boys through academic and athletic development, mentoring, and spiritual nurture. He and his wife, Debbie, have two children.

Scott Coppola has been married to Kristen for 20 years and they have 4 children. Their family motto is “Defenders of the Defenseless” and this is manifested in their passion to help special needs children find forever families.

Initially God called them to adopt two children that are Down syndrome. Joshua and Taylor joined their family in 2004 and 2007 and have been little brother and sister to Lauren and Justin since then. After the sale of a family business in 2007 the “C6 Fund” was set up to offset the cost of adoption for families that want to bring home their special needs child.

Since 2010 Scott has been employed at Bethany Christian Services as a regional development manager focusing on raising money to help fund special needs adoptions. In 2013 Scott partnered with a gentlemen in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and founded Good Stuff Thrift. To date the thrift stores have generated over 150K for charities mainly that deal with vulnerable children and employ a few adults that have some intellectual challenges.

Stuart and Jody Chadban moved from Newcastle, Australia in August 2013 with their two children. They arrived in NYC with two suitcases each and an immoveable belief that God was about to do a new thing in this city and The Salvation Army. Having ministered in The Salvation Army for the previous thirteen years in Australia, God whispered a calling over their lives on New Years Eve 2009, drawing them into destiny days for “such a time as this.” A new chapter is about to begin for ministry within The Salvation Army in NYC – a city and a denomination that influences the world.

God has spoken clearly and promised much. The Chadban’s have taken God at His word and given their lives for the vision before them. They have laid down their everything in order to pick up all that God needs them to carry. They are motivated for the sake of His kingdom and His will being done in NYC as it is in heaven.

Both Stuart and Jody are lovers of God, people, and life. Ministry for them is not a position, but rather it is who they are and the way they do life. They are fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit and walk in the paths God marks out for their feet.

Stuart is a powerful man of God with an apostolic gifting over his life. He is passionate about creating a culture and an arena whereby all people can experience the very real presence and miracles of God in the midst of the everyday. Stuart is an incredible leader, preacher, and worshiper, and is an amazing father and husband.

Tom Cole joined Citigroup in July, 2010 as Co-Head of US Leveraged Finance, Citigroup Global Markets.  He is responsible for the non-investment grade loan and bond financings for US Corporate Clients and leveraged buyouts.

He joined Citigroup from HSBC where he was Co-Head of Global Banking, Americas.  His responsibilities included Client Coverage for Corporate and Investment Banking,  Leveraged Finance, Equity Capital Markets, Private Equity, M &A, and Project Finance for the region.

Prior to joining HSBC, Tom was the head of Deutsche Bank’s North American leveraged finance practice, which he started in 2001.  IFR Magazine recognized the group as U.S. Leveraged Finance house of the year in 2006.  Prior to 2001, he ran the chemical industry group practice within Investment Banking.  He joined the firm in 1987 in Corporate Finance in the Chicago office, and moved to London in 1992 where he oversaw the risk management associated with the firm’s distressed debt trading, derivatives, and corporate finance activities.  Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, he spent three years at Continental Bank, and two years at General Electric.

Tom Cole is on the Management Committee for The New Canaan Society nationally and is a leader of NCS Manhattan.

Tom received a BS in Finance from Indiana University, where he currently serves on the Dean’s Council, and a MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.

He is married to Kim, and they have three children, Jenna, Tara, and Jonathon.

Chris Godfrey is the President and Founder of Life Athletes, Inc. and a member of the Indiana Bar. Prior to graduating from the University of Notre Dame Law School, Chris played nine years of professional football. As the starting right guard for the Super Bowl XXI champion New York Giants, he earned honors as All-Pro NFL Films, and All-NFC (AP, UPI). He also played on three University of Michigan Rose Bowl teams. Chris is the author of the popular curriculums That’s Where I Live® – A Guide to Good Relationship, Mike and Will’s Not-So-Excellent Adventure, As in a Mirror, and the See I Make All Things New series.

Chris speaks at schools and forums across the nation and has appeared in various media. A frequent contributor to the NCEA, he is president of the St. Joseph’s High School Board of Education, and resides in South Bend, Indiana with his wife and six children.

Dave grew up in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Boston Latin School, where he played varsity football. He then attended Springfield College, where he earned a degree in education and played offensive tackle on the freshman football team. Gettleman has two master's degrees: one in physical education from Southern Connecticut State in 1978, and another in sports administration from St. Thomas University in 1986.

He began his football career as a teacher-coach at Spackenkill High School in Poughkeepsie, New York. As the head coach from 1973–78 and 1980–81, Gettleman led his teams to two league titles, competing against schools twice the size of Spackenkill. He spent a season as a volunteer assistant at Cal State Long Beach in 1979. Gettleman joined the faculty of Kingston High School in 1982 and became the head coach in 1984, leading his team to a Section I Bowl berth.

From here Dave was hired in 1986 as a scouting intern for the Buffalo Bills. He spent the next seven years working in their scouting department before leaving to accept a scouting job with the Denver Broncos after the 1993 season.

In 1998, he was hired as a scout by the New York Giants, who promoted him to Pro Personnel Director the next year. In 2012, he was given the title of Senior Pro Personnel Analyst.  In January 2013, he was chosen to become the general manager of the Carolina Panthers and in the 2015 season, the Panthers started 14–0, before falling to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 16.

During Gettleman's tenure as general manager the Panthers compiled a regular-season record of 51–28–1. In that 5-year timeframe the Panthers advanced to the playoffs 3 seasons and won 3 NFC South titles.

On December 28, 2017, Gettleman was named as the new general manager of the New York Giants, returning to the Giants fold after six years.  Dave has since retired following the 2021 season finishing his tenure with the Giants.   

While every team Dave worked for played in a Super Bowl and even though he was named the NFL Executive of the Year in 2015, his greatest accomplishments continue to be the loving marriage to his wife of 38 years, Joanne, and the blessing of their 3 children – Aaron, Sam, and Ana Jane.  The Gettleman's are looking forward to serving in whatever way the Lord will use them in the coming years.

Dave Gustavsen is the Senior Pastor at Jacksonville Chapel in Lincoln Park, NJ. He is committed to grace-oriented, gospel-centered ministry that resonates with skeptical, educated people in the New York City area. He blogs atdavegustavsen.com, tweets at @pastordavegus, and is excited about the recent launch of Acts 17, an organization that offers the hope of Christ in the public square by promoting intelligent conversations about key cultural issues. - See more at: http://biologos.org/author/dave-gustavsen#sthash.ghv9FIeS.dpuf

Doug Fike serves leaders and organizations in the non-profit, government, business, education, family, technology, and arts sectors. He specializes in executive coaching and organizational transitions, working in dozens of countries on five continents. Doug and his team provide sabbatical and transitions coaching for Kingdom leaders and their families at critical life-junctures. He is a trusted advisor and executive coach to an array of national and international leaders.

Doug serves as the Executive Director of Growth Dynamics International (GDI). In collaboration with GDI, Doug and his team recently launched the LifeLong Learning Community, an interactive virtual community enabling Jesus-followers worldwide to connect and pursue a proactive, intentional journey of transformation 24X7.

Doug is a founding board member of the Trac5 peacemaking organization. He was a founding partner and member of the executive team of New Africa Initiative. He was also a founding partner of the Transformational Leadership Coaching coach-training organization.

Ed served as Treasurer of NCS-Bergen County from 2011 to June 2017. He is retired from Columbia Bank, Fair Lawn NJ where he worked for 21 years. His most recent position was Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. Prior to that that he held the positions of Controller, Treasurer and Director of Strategic Alliances with the bank. Previously he worked for Ernst and Ernst (Big 8 accounting firm) and the Prospect Park Savings bank, as bank Board member, EVP, COO and CFO.

Ed is a graduate of Seton Hall University with a BS degree in accounting and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University. In addition he serves as Chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Bethany Christian Services, Fair Lawn, NJ. Bethany is a global non-profit adoption and family service agency headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As the largest adoption agency in the US, Bethany’s mission calls them to demonstrate the love and compassion of Jesus Christ by protecting and enhancing the lives of children and families around the world. The Fair Lawn office directs and oversees the operations of Bethany offices in NY and Connecticut. Ed also is on the Board of NCS-Bergen County (NJ), as well as its Treasurer and also Treasurer of NCS national.

Ed and his wife Susan live in Wyckoff, NJ and attend the Hawthorne Gospel Church in Hawthorne. They have 2 children; Michelle and Dave. Michelle lives in Richmond, VA with her husband Patrick and Dave lives in New York City with his wife Lindsay. Ed and Susan feel blessed to have Patrick and Lindsay in their family and are the proud of grandparents of J.E.B., Reagan, Matti, Ginger, Lotte and Seanpatrick (all Michelle’s children).

Ed can be reached at ed@gurak.com.

Gian Paul Gonzalez, a high school teacher in Union City NJ, was asked to lead a chapel service for members of the NY Giants football team the night before their Christmas Eve 2011 game against the NY Jets. Playoff hopes were slim. To illustrate the concept of commitment, Gian Paul handed each football player a poker chip, instructing them to write their number on one side and what they wanted to be committed to on the other. He then shared the meaning behind the poker phrase “All In” and challenged them to fully commit to anything they take on, as a father, husband, son or even football player.

The next day the Giants beat the Jets 29-14. In a post game interview, Giant’s DE Justin Tuck credited Gian-Paul’s “All In” message as the reason.  The team went on to run the table that season, winning every game, up to and including Super Bowl XLVI, where they beat the New England Patriots 21-17.

Gian Paul’s life mirrors his message. A former NCAA First Team All-American forward from Montclair State University, he scored nearly 1,400 points in his 3 year career. After playing in the NBA Summer League in 2007 he was offered professional basketball contracts, but turned them down in order to continue his work with at-risk youth. He is a gifted motivational speaker and founder of 4-One, an organization dedicated to using basketball to share a message of hope and striving for excellence in inner-city public schools and juvenile jails.

Gian Paul is the Founder and Executive Director of Hope + Future Foundation. Hope + Future is located in West New York, NJ, it is one of the most diverse cities in the county, and is one of the most densely populated areas in the US, yet there was no youth Center for students to go after school. The mission of the Hope + Future is to provide health and wellness programs for youth to give them hope in their academic, social and economic future. The Hope + Future Foundation provides opportunities for youth to proactively become empowered members of their community through extracurricular activities, events and programming to provide health, and wellness while bridging the gaps between individual growth, improving families, and unifying communities around a common core belief that there is a hope for each child personally, academically, socially, and economically while creating numerous mechanisms to achieve in the present and in the future.

Henry Eugene "Hank" Erwin Jr. was the son of Henry Eugene "Red" Erwin Sr., a U.S. Army Air Forces sergeant who earned the Medal of Honor in World War II. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and graduated from Ensley High School in 1967, before going on to earn degrees at Troy State University (1972), Southeastern Bible College (1974), and the Dallas Seminary (1981).

Erwin broke into broadcasting in the 1970s and served radio and TV stations in Dallas, Texas, and Birmingham, Alabama, for almost 35 years.[citation needed] He was elected to the Alabama Senate in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

Erwin and his wife, Shelia, have two sons, filmmakers Andrew and Jon Erwin.

Joe Farrell is Chairman and CEO of Brooklawn Consulting, CEO of eWater America and Chairman of Impact of Hope International.  During his varied career, he has served as Chaplain for the San Antonio Spurs, led Tsunami Relief in ASIA and participated in the “President’s Council of Faith Based Initiatives” under George Bush.

An entrepreneur, with expertise in tech-enabled business startups, consulting, operations, project management, and international business development. Joe’s platform for business is “Business as a Mission.”  He has a passion and long track record for serving those in need, with a focus in the U.S., Africa and Asia. His efforts include organizing and funding projects for children’s health, lower and higher education, economic development, micro loans and self-sustaining business strategies in rural areas.

Joe is a Bridgeport, Connecticut native and the last of 8 children.  He served in the United States Air Force where he met his wife Stephanie.  They have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Joe and his family currently reside in Raleigh, NC.

As a major league catcher from 1989 to 2004, Joe Girardi played with the Cubs, Rockies and Cardinals.  He found his greatest success, however, with the Yankees, helping lead the club to three World Series titles in the 1990s.

Following his days as a player, Joe went on to a highly successful managerial career.  He was named the 2006 National League Manager of the Year in his first year as skipper of the Florida Marlins.  In 2007, Joe returned to the Yankees as the 17th manager in club history (and 4th former Yankee catcher to do so).  Just two seasons later he led the team to their 27th World Series title.  This past June, Joe won his 500th career game as a manager.

Joe and his wife Kim have 3 children.

Juan is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, focusing on Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Temperament Therapy & Marriage and Family Systems.  He has earned a PhD in Clinical Counseling.

Dr. Garcia serves NBA and NFL players, both current and retired, as a Certified Professional Life Coach and Chaplain, since 2005.  In his work, he uses different assessments that have proven measurable results towards healing and sustainable optimal living.

Dr. Garcia has been featured on FOX News, “Beyond the Dream”, speaking on the topic of the importance of mentorship in the lives of young people.  He has also appeared on TBN NYC as a speaker and has traveled all over the world as part of the National Speaker’s Association.

Dr. Garcia has been contracted by the US Department of Human Services as a trainer for staff all over the country, including the US Virgin Islands.

Dr. Garcia has a private practice along with his wife Deborah in Hawthorne, NJ called, Restored Counseling Center.  They have been married since 1996 and together have 2 children: Jordan and Hannah.

Keith Elias played professional football for six years with the N.Y. Giants and Indianapolis Colts of the NFL and the Hitmen of the XFL. Prior to his professional career, he was a college football standout at Princeton University, where he twice earned All-American and Ivy League Player of the Year honors. He retired with 21 school football records and several Ivy League records (and was and second only to Ed Marinaro of Laverne & Shirley and Hill Street Blues fame in several others).

Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Giants in 1994, Keith made the roster out of training camp. He spent 3 seasons as a running back and special teams player with the Giants, earning the 1995 Giants Unsung Hero Award from the NFL Players Association.

After retiring from the NFL, Keith accepted a position as Vice President of Investments for First Ivy Capital, where he helped raise $29 million for their Healthcare Fund. Today he is Vice President of Business Development for Hemo-Concepts, helping them raise capital and aiding in the international launch of the Integrated Blood Conservation Company. He also writes with his brother Brian; they have written 16 screenplays and are currently working on a pilot for a TV show.

Keith’s popularity as a player launched his public speaking career while he was still with the Giants. Today, as a youth speaker, Keith works with Heroes and Cool Kids, a mentoring program, as well as South Jersey Youth Alliance (SJYA), speaking to youth about making positive life choices.

Keith Getty and his wife Kristyn are among the preeminent modern hymn composers of this generation. Best known for “In Christ Alone” (by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend), they are writers of an acclaimed repertoire of 21st century hymns revered both for their theologically astute lyrics and universally beloved melodies.  They have shared their music at Franklin Graham crusades and the GMA Dove Awards, as well as feature performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall and the legendary Grand Ole Opry.

Keith & Kristyn’s latest work is Hymns for the Christian Life, a thematically-focused original collection showcasing Irish melodies as well as American bluegrass and country music influences.  It is their most personal album to date, exploring themes of work, family, money and social action.  The collections features noteworthy collaborations with Alison Krauss, Ricky Skaggs, Moya Brennan and fiddle virtuoso Ross Holmes.

Hailing from Northern Ireland and now residing in Nashville, the couple welcomed their first child, Eliza Joy, last year.

Logan Gentry is the Generosity:NYC Director for Generous Life. Generous Life is creating a movement of generosity among Christian philanthropists by awakening the hearts of those blessed with capacity to transform the way we give, and leading the next generation to give with purpose.

Logan was a pastor for 12 years in Manhattan, where his last role was the Lead Pastor at Lower Manhattan Community Church in Tribeca. LMCC was known for the miracle of generosity, giving away over $1 Million annually to 25 ministries and missions while Logan served as the pastor. 

He is also an executive coach who combines strategic planning with personal care. He assists clients and their teams unlock their potential to live the best vision for their lives and businesses.

Logan’s distinct coaching style empowers clients to align their personal life vision with their professional ambitions.

Before two decades in pastoral ministry, Logan’s career journey began as a civil engineer working in urban planning. His distinct career path has allowed him to work with and impact hundreds of CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.

Michael Franzese grew up as the son of the notorious Underboss of New York’s violent and feared Colombo crime family. At his most affluent, he generated an estimated $5 to $8 million per week from legal and illegal businesses. He masterminded brilliant scams on the edge of the legitimate business world and quickly became the target of Manhattan’s famed federal prosecutor, Rudy Guiliani who promised Michael 100 years behind bars after indicting him on racketeering charges. Michael Franzese truly seemed invincible, escaping Guiliani and four more idictments.

While producing Knights of the City, a break dance movie filmed in Florida, Michael met a beautiful dancer from Anaheim, California, named Camille Garcia, whose innocent beauty turned his world upside down. He fell in love, married Cammy and at her urging pled guilty to racketeering charges. Michael accepted a 10 year prison sentence and vowed to do the unthinkable – walk away from the mob. He is the only high ranking official of a major crime family to ever walk away, without protective custodies, and survive.

He is now a man on a mission. Determined to use the compelling experiences of his former life for the benefit of corporate executives, professional and student athletes, at-risk youth, church audiences, and for anyone seeking the inspiration to beat the odds and make positive changes in their lives, he has become a highly regarded motivator and a source of invaluable information. He has written 3 books about his life: Blood Covenant; The Good, the Bad and the Forgiven; and I’ll Make You An Offer You Can’t Refuse.

Michael’s compelling story has been featured on high profile media outlets including Fox News, Fortune magazine, GQ, The Today Show, Nightline, NBC Nightly News, ESPN and more.

Pastor Anthony Fleming was born and raised Aussie, has a passion for God, people, and life.

From the young age of 19, Anthony believed he was called to preach the word of God. He earned a tennis scholarship to Liberty University and represented the school during college while earning a Bachelor of Business of Science in Business Marketing. It was here that he also met his beautiful wife Miriam. They have 3 beautiful children and together they founded and currently serve as the Senior Pastors of Church Alive in northern New Jersey.

From a basement with 8 people at the start of the church, Church Alive has grown to over 1300 people in attendance, and is known for its passion for God, love for people, and generosity in the community.

Wanting to practically equip people to have a fresh, real, and powerful walk with God, in 2018, Anthony launched Transform. Through a dedicated focus to develop men, he continually sees to it that men find genuine faith and continue to get unstuck and flourish in all areas of life. What started as a men’s group at Church Alive grew in 2021, when Anthony Fleming released his first book, Transform. He is now the President of Transform the Movement and continues to coach leaders throughout the nation and empower men to rise up and transform their lives.

Pastor Tim is the Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel North Jersey in Passaic, NJ. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Pastor and Worship Leader at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Manhattan for 12 years.

In 2003, the Lord lead him to start a Bible Study in North Jersey which quickly grew and CCNJ was founded later that year. In 2006, he left his career as an IT Professional and Project Manager with a large multi-national insurance company to serve at the church full time.

Tim believes strongly in raising up leaders and has taken dozens of men through 2-year mentorship cycles. In addition to serving at CCNJ, several of these leaders have planted churches, become missionaries, and started other ministries.

He and his wife, Michelle, have been married for 33 years and work together in facilitating pre-marital sessions for young couples at the church. In his downtime, Tim practices Shorin-ryu Karate and enjoys periodically performing in a local cover band.

Perry Fewell is the Defensive Coordinator of the New York Giants. His defense was at its best in the Giant’s 2011 postseason run that was capped by a 21-17 victory over New England in Super Bowl XLVI.

Perry is a 27-year coaching veteran who is in his 15th season as an NFL coach. He joined the Giants after serving as interim head coach of the Buffalo Bills in January 2012, a position he assumed with 7 regular season games left in 2009.  Previously, Perry served as the Bill’s defensive coordinator from 2006 to 2009, as defensive back coach with Chicago from 2004-2005 and as secondary coach with the St. Louis Rams in 2003 and 2004.  He entered the NFL as the defensive backs coach for Coach Tom Coughlin and the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1998, following a 13-year collegiate coaching career at the University of North Carolina, Army, Kent State and Vanderbilt.

Richard Galloway is the co-founder of New York City Relief (NYCR). NYCR reaches out to the poor and the oppressed by taking converted school buses armed with soup, bread and volunteers to poor neighborhoods throughout the NYC area. Richard is a former business guy – his background includes owning and operating a chain of convenience stores, banking, building a Christian TV station, starting a computer company and a commercial real estate business.

Dr. David D. Ireland is senior pastor of Christ Church, a multisite, multiracial congregation in northern New Jersey. Founded in 1986 with six members, today the congregation numbers 6,000 representing over 40 nationalities. Through their community development corporation, they offer a home for domestic violence victims, a youth leadership institute, and a statewide abstinence-based program in partnership with New Jersey schools.

Diversity is at the heart of everything David does, including his service as diversity consultant to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and leading chapel services for the N.Y. Giants and Jets, or the U.S. Pentagon. He has written over 20 books and appeared on The Dr. Phil Show, The CBS Evening News, and The 700 Club.

David began his career in civil engineering and later earned a master’s degree in theology from Alliance Theological Seminary and a doctorate in organizational leadership from Regent University with post-doctoral work at the University of Pennsylvania.  He was appointed to the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Faith-Based Initiatives, and serves on the boards of Nyack College, Alliance Theological Seminary, the Advisory Board of the National Basketball Retired Players Association, Advisory Board to New Jersey Governor’s Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Oversight Committee, and as an adjunct professor at Drew University training doctoral students in the area of leadership.

Dudley Hall is the president of Successful Christian Living Ministries in Euless, Texas. Dudley has worked with youth, pastured churches, and been an active conference speaker. Particularly relevant to BCS, for more than 25 years Dudley has focused on empowering men to arise and take their masculine spirituality seriously. He is known for the father and son “rites of passage” dynamic that he continues with his son David. His emphasis on generational transfer has led to mentoring relationships with hundreds of young men, many of whom are today making a vital difference for the kingdom of God. He is intensely focused on the centrality of Christ in preaching, teaching, and living.

A graduate of Samford University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dudley has authored several books including: Grace Works, Incense and Thunder,Glad to be Left Behind, and Men in Their Own Skin. He develops teaching and discipleship material for churches which look to him for guidance.

Dudley is a member of the NCS Advisory board. He is also on the leadership council for The Fellowship of Connected Churches and Ministries giving care to numerous churches and ministries in the U.S. and abroad. He and his wife Betsy live in Grapevine, Texas.

Jay Helvey serves as the Managing Partner of the New Canaan Society (NCS) Management Committee, which NCS’ national governing board.  He co-founded and leads NCS Winston Salem, which has over 900 men on the roster and attendance of over 200 men across three weekly meetings.

Jay is a Managing Partner with CMT Asset Management based in Chicago, Illinois. He is a former Managing Director with J.P. Morgan & Co., having served as Vice-Chairman of the firm’s Risk Management Committee and Global Head of Counterparty and Hedge Fund Risk Management during a 17 year career with the firm. Jay has a Masters degree from Columbia University, specializing in international finance and banking, was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Cologne, Germany, and is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wake Forest University where he serves as Trustee and Vice Chairman of the Investment Policy Committee.

Jay is also a Director of Pike Electric Corporation (PEC) which is listed on the NYSE. In 2004, he was a candidate for the United States Congress in the 5th District of North Carolina. Jay lives in Winston-Salem, NC with his wife Jane and five children, including twins adopted from Ethiopia in March of 2008. He is a member of River Oaks Community Church, and of interest to NJ guys, Baltusrol Golf Club.

John Hanna is New Jersey State Capitol Minister with Ministry to State, a ministry to those serving in government. Ministry to State is an evangelistic gospel outreach to government, which also exhorts those who profess faith in the Lord to be faithful to him in their calling within government. It also serves a voice of witness and conscience to government. In addition, Ministry to State aims to be a bridge between the government and the Church of our Lord in New Jersey.

John is a graduate of Binghamton University (B.A., Pol. Sci.), The American University Washington College of Law (J.D.), and Westminster Theological Seminary (M. Div.). Prior to going into full-time ministry, John practiced law for over a decade. He has served as Associate Pastor of All Souls Community Church in Suffern, NY, and as Pastor of Restore Fellowship in Oakland, NJ. He and his wife, Nevine, have five children.

John believes that the opportunity to serve with Ministry to State in New Jersey brings together his education, experience, and interests. His hope is that in and through Ministry to State, the powerful, gracious, redeeming, dying, and rising, truth and love of God through Jesus Christ in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit would be at work in and among the people in government in New Jersey.

Josiah Haken is the Chief Executive Officer with City Relief, a non-profit organization that creates connections for the homeless community to hope and resources that can improve their lives. Growing up in Yaoundé, Cameroon, as well as working as an advocate and an outreach leader in the streets of New York City since 2010.

Josiah has a unique perspective on the complexities of urban poverty and homelessness and believes that our unhoused neighbors deserve our best, not just our leftovers. Josiah often leads workshops and webinars to equip and empower people to see their homeless neighbors and engage them with intentionality and compassion.

He holds a Masters Degree in Ministry, Leadership, and Culture from Fresno Pacific University and currently resides with his family in New Jersey.

Marten Hoekstra is Chief Executive Officer of Emerging Global Advisors(EG/A).  Prior to joining EG/A in 2011 he was CEO of UBS Wealth Management Americas and a member of the Group Executive Board. He worked a total of 26 years at UBS and predecessor PaineWebber. After 2001, Marten held various management roles in Zurich and the United States on the executive committee of the firm’s Global Wealth Management & Business Banking unit.  He became a member of UBS’ Group Managing Board in July 2002.  He previously served as a Director of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Marten is a graduate of the University of North Dakota and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Marten serves on the board of Prison Fellowship Ministries. He and his wife, Val, live in New York City. They have four children.

Nick Hall is the founder and chief communicator of PULSE, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit organization at the center of the largest student-led prayer and outreach efforts in America today.  He is married to his best friend Tiffany.  When they are not on the road, they make their home in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St Paul.

Launched through an English paper Nick wrote as a junior at North Dakota State University, the PULSE movement has grown to impact over 30 university campuses and more than 250,000 people each year through PULSE events, festivals and conferences. PULSE exists to awaken culture to the reality of Jesus.

Traveling as a youth communicator for more than a decade, Nick has played a role in equipping tens of thousands of students while impacting over a million people with the life giving message of Jesus.  As an emerging national leader in the areas of evangelism, prayer and youth movements, Nick serves on the executive board for the US Lausanne Committee and the student advisory team for the Billy Graham Association.

Rupert is the President of Pillar College, the only bible based Christian College in the state of New Jersey.  He is also the Founder and Chairman of Organization and People Dynamics, Inc., an organizational consultancy focusing on emotional and leadership development under the auspices of The Center for Emotional Development and the Center for Emotional and Spiritual Development.  He is the former Chief Operating Officer and Executive Pastor of an 10,000-member (Christ Church) and 3,500-member (The Life Christian Church) organization.  He is one of the founding members of the board of the Movement.Org, (formerly the New York City Leadership Center) and chief architects of Advance Leadership Intensive (formerly, Leadership Fellows Program), a program dedicated to the development of leaders in the for-purpose and social sectors. He is a board member of Salvation Army specific to Newark, NJ.  He has coached executives in the for-profit and for-purpose organizations.   He has over thirty years in the field of strategic management from such organizations as Cytec Industries, Prudential Financial, Christ Church and Merck Pharmaceutical.  He served as an Officer in the United States Air Force.  He received his Ph.D. from Regent University with a specialization in leadership, change management, and emotional intelligence.  He has an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in the field of Decision Sciences and Finance and BS in Accounting and Information Technology.  He is a previous lecturer and adjunct professor for American Management Association and Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University and current professor at Pillar College.  Rupert is author of the books, Practical Strategy: Aligning Business with Information Technology and Emotional Intelligence and the Church.  He, his wonderful wife-Maryann, and children Stephen and Savannah lives in Wantage, New Jersey.

Rupert’s specialties, research interests, and certifications for individual, teams and organizations are:

• Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Leadership
• Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Virtues
• Authentic Leadership within Organizational Types
• BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I and EQ-360) Assessment
• Team Emotional and Social Intelligence (TESI) Assessment
• Duncan Strategic Organizational Planning Framework
• Maslach Burnout Index (MBI)l Assessment and Deployment
• Team Leadership Development through Team Dysfunction
• Linkage William Bridges Transition framework for Organizational Change
• Linkage William Bridges Transition Framework for Individual Transition

Bryan joined Regency Wealth Management in 2013. He started in the financial services industry in 2003 with Morgan Stanley in Newport Beach, California, and transitioned to A.G. Edwards (which later became Wells Fargo Advisors) in 2005 in Short Hills. As a Financial Advisor he has worked with a broad range of clients including many multi-generational estates and the Savings Bank of Hafnarfjordur in Iceland. Prior to his financial career, Bryan worked in the legal field with defense litigation and estate planning attorneys. He earned a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 2001, the AAMS® (Accredited Asset Management Specialist) designation from the College for Financial Planning in 2005, and became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional in 2015.

He has served on various boards and helped with local organizations including the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Habitat for Humanity, and Young Life. Currently, he is active in his church community at Grace Church in Ridgewood, serving as an Elder and helping with several programs inside the church. He also serves on the Board of the Bergen County Chapter of the New Canaan Society. Bryan and his family have been committed to the development of family and youth in the area. They support multiple organizations who encourage youth to be leaders, serving our community and beyond.

Bryan is an active road biker, runner, and classical pianist. He enjoys spending time with family in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and North Carolina.

Dan Knapke Jr. serves as Director of Undergraduate Student Ministry forChristian Union at Princeton University.

Dan and his wife, Laurie, are developing students at one of our Nation’s most influential – and secular – universities into Christian leaders to transform culture. Under Dan’s leadership, Christian Union’s Christian Leadership Development Program at Princeton offers intense, in-depth, semester-long Bible Courses taught by ministry staff of exceptional caliber. The courses are complemented by weekly group Bible studies and one-on-one mentoring by ministry staff, as well as a weekly Christian Leadership Development Lecture Series.

Unbelieving students hear the Gospel in culturally relevant ways. Each year the ministry hands out 2,000 free Bibles or Christian books. Every spring the ministry runs a series of 10 full page evangelistic advertisements, thoughtfully proclaiming the Good News, in the student newspapers. And, ministry staff and students personally share the Gospel with interested students.

During the week, Dave Lyman works as an engineer and owns his own business. But a few years ago he sensed a call from God that culminated in his ordination as part-time Associate Preaching Pastor at Covenant Christian Reformed Church in North Haledon. Perhaps this call grew out of Dave's 35 years of involvement in leadership of various men’s ministries including a weekly men’s Bible study in Midland Park and NCS Bergen County. Today, Dave preaches regularly at local churches and men's ministries; his website has reached over 60,000 people from over 110 countries around the world!

Gerard Long is the Executive Director of Alpha USA.  Following a dramatic encounter with God in 1980, Gerard has lived with one burning ambition: to please the Lord Jesus and to obey His will. He had been planning to build on his success as a runner and businessman but, after his encounter with God, he felt a calling to serve in a church in North London. He was at this church for 22 years, including 17 as a pastor, while also working in the banking and finance industry.

Gerard has a BSc (Hons) Banking and Finance degree and worked for HSBC (one of the largest banks in the world) for 30 years, retiring at the end of 2006 as Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing. His banking career took him around the world and included some fascinating roles, including Director of the Year 2000 Program (Millennium Bug) for the UK and Europe. In 2001 he moved to New York to launch a global product and then moved to Chicago to direct the integration of HSBC and Household International, following the latter’s $13.8 billion purchase in 2003.

He has appeared on TV and in major newspapers both as an advisor on the Millennium Bug (Y2K) and as a Christian living for Jesus Christ in the City of London. All through his banking career, Gerard sought to introduce his colleagues to Christ and led many Alpha courses in the workplace. Prior to moving to the US, he was also Chairman of Christians in Finance (founded in 1875).

As well as experiencing wonderful joy in knowing and serving the Lord Jesus, Gerard has known the deepest grief and suffering in the loss of his youngest son. This, and a number of other painful trials, has served to heighten Gerard’s desire to complete the work that God has for him and, in particular, to see as many people as possible come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

In 2006, Gerard decided to leave behind a highly paid banking career and join Alpha USA. He now leads the organization whose mission is to serve local churches in presenting the Gospel through the Alpha course. He has witnessed many incredible conversions to Christ while leading over 50 Alpha courses in his home, church, clubs, the workplace and a jail. (Alpha is now being run in over 169 countries and more than 15 million people have gone through the course).

Gerard lives with his wife Jeannie in Chicago, IL. His daughter Rebecca also works for Alpha USA, and his son Ben works in the City of London, UK. To relax, Gerard enjoys spending time with family and friends, his two golden retrievers, golf, skiing, tennis and gardening.

Jesse Kroeze is a passionate innovator, a lover of culture, and a coffee connoisseur. He is known for being a deep-thinker, a peace-making leader, an avid entrepreneur, and an eternal student. Jesse and his wife, Andrea, are a power-team full of enthusiasm related to global missions, adoption and living out the Kingdom of God. 

A New Jersey native, Jesse traveled around Central America after graduating from Taylor University seeking adventure, mastery of the Spanish language and God’s leading on his life.  It eventually brought him back to the Northeast where he took a position with Touch the World managing a coffee-house ministry.  It was here that his path crossed with the woman who would become his wife and their combined passions eventually carried them across the Atlantic to begin a ministry in Uganda, Africa.  

After five years exploring the intricacies of community development as the Country Director of Touch The World - Uganda, Jesse was asked to return to lead the future path of the mission organization, Touch The World as Executive Director.  Along with his wife and three children, their oldest adopted from Uganda, Jesse seeks to partake in sharing the global perspectives of missions we have been called to as Christ’s ambassadors.

Jim Lane is Chairman of the New Canaan Society, a non-profit organization which he founded in 1995. He is a Principal of Devonwood Capital Partners and currently serves on the corporate Boards of Acacia Capital Management, LLC and Payoff.com. Previously, Jim was Chairman and CEO of SG Capital Partners, the private equity business affiliated with Societe Generale and SG Cowen Securities. Prior to establishing SG Capital Partners, Jim spent 20 years at Goldman Sachs & Co. where he was a General Partner and a founding member of the Firm’s global private equity business.

Jim has a BA from Wheaton College and an MBA from Columbia University. He has served on several charitable boards including the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, The Trinity Forum, Wilberforce Forum (Prison Fellowship Ministries), and the New Canaan Society.

Jim and his wife, Susie, live in Dorset, Vermont, have three daughters, and two dogs, also female. Jim is a member of NCS Manhattan and NCS Manchester, Vermont (Green Mountain Boys).

Joseph Kelley is the Founder of Building For Him Ministries, an organization with the mission to educate, advance economic development and raise up disciples and leaders throughout the world. They are currently working closely with pastors in India, Venezuela, Pakistan, and Kenya.

He is also the president of On-Site Construction- he has built the highest quality architecturally designed custom houses in the Hampton's for the past 40 years, which vary in style from classic to ultra-modern. Several houses he has built have been showcased in books and magazines and featured across various forms of digital and social media. His assembled team of skilled sub contractors are among the finest skilled craftsmen in their various fields of expertise.

Joseph additionally serves as the Senior Pastor of Hampton’s Church, faithfully guiding his congregation. He has been married for 45 years, is a proud father of six grown children, and is a grandfather to nine grandchildren.

Joseph Loconte, PhD, is an Associate Professor of History at The King’s College in New York City, where he teaches Western Civilization and American Foreign Policy.

Loconte previously served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University, and as a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. From 1999-2006 he held the first chair in religion as the William E. Simon Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Loconte is the author of everal books, most recently The Searchers: A Quest for Faith in the Valley of Doubt (Thomas Nelson, 2012). His commentary on religion and democracy, human rights, and international religious freedom appears in the nation’s leading media outlets, including The New York Times,The Wall Street Journal,The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, and National Public Radio.

Loconte has testified before Congress on international human rights and served as a human rights expert on the 2005 Congressional Task Force on the United Nations, contributing to its final report, “American Interests and U.N. Reform.” He was an informal advisor/speechwriter for British MP Andrew Mitchell, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. From 2001-2003, he was an informal advisor to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He now serves as a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum and as an affiliated scholar at the John Jay Institute.

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Loconte divides his time between New York City and the Washington, D.C. area.

Ken is a lifelong resident of the area. He ran a family-owned business for a number of years before passing it to his sons. He and his wife, Judy, recently celebrated their 51st anniversary. Their two sons and grandchildren live in the immediate area.

He is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickenson University and Biblical School of Theology. He was ordained as a Baptist minister. In 1975, he began Applied Biblical Counseling which was a counseling center based on Biblical principles. It served multiple area churches, police departments, children’s homes, and prisons.

He retired for a brief period in 2013, found himself taking naps in the afternoon, and realized retirement was not for him. He then worked as Executive Director and Counselor at Grace Redeemer Church as well as providing counseling advice to other ministries. Now he’s trying retirement a second time. So far his retirement/COVID interment have resulted in he and his wife painting the interior of their home and a few days at the Corvette race track.

Pastor Lionel King is the Teaching Pastor at East Campus in Montclair, NJ.  Prior to taking on this role Lionel served as the church’s Teen Director for two years (2014-2016). 

Using his bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Elementary Education, and Masters of Divinity at Nyack Alliance Theological Seminary he also serve as a part-time professor at Nyack college and served in a leadership capacity within the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA).

Throughout the years Pastor King has had the opportunity to share the good news in prisons, schools, political functions, NFL/NCAA chapels, national conferences, and churches throughout the country.

Lionel is married to Stephanie King and together they enjoy the arts, various cultural food experiences, making one another laugh, discussing political issues, listening to music, and randomly making up songs while being in the house.

Ray was in the National Football League for seven seasons: four with the Jets, one with the Patriots, and two with the Miami Dolphins.

Lucas was a favorite player of Bill Parcells during Parcells' time in New England and with the Jets, and was one of the players Parcells eventually brought over from the Patriots to the Jets. The son of a Giants season ticket holder, Lucas, who grew up at Exit 15W has said that he could have walked to the Meadowlands and knew the stadium well.

Lucas started in the Jets' 1999 preseason opener against the Green Bay Packers, and Parcells had him in the running for the starting and second-string quarterback role during that season. After starting QB Vinny Testaverde was injured in the first game of the season, Lucas started several games.

Following his playing days, Lucas began to talk about the game. Lucas worked for SportsNet New York as an analyst to Jets programs such as pre-game and post-game shows and weekly updates, before leaving in 2020.

On March 28, 2008, Lucas was named to the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame and in 2014, Lucas co-wrote the book Under Pressure: How Playing Football Almost Cost Me Everything and Why'd I'd Do It All Again.

In the book, Lucas explains how he turned to painkillers after his career-ending injury, and how the abuse of painkillers leaves many former players unable to lead a normal life once their playing days are over. Lucas also tells how he overcame the addiction and turned his life around.

In March 2018, Lucas was named Executive Director of the Harrison New Jersey Housing Authority serving in the same capacity that his father did for 27 years.\

Lucas, lives in his hometown of Harrison with his wife, Cecy, and their three daughters: Rayven, Madison, and Kayla.

Robert Levy joined Jamaica Broilers at age 19 in 1959, one year after the official formation of the company. During his first year at Jamaica Broilers, he fast-tracked his knowledge of the operation by working in three key areas: the Field Department, the Hatchery and the Processing Plant. By 1978, he had assumed the critical post of Director of Development, putting him in charge of directing the company towards becoming a model, vertically-integrated entity that would take its place as one of the Caribbean’s leading agro-industrial organizations.

After being appointed to the post of joint CEO in 1994, Robert Levy assumed the position of President and CEO of the Jamaica Broilers Group of Companies in 2001. During his tenure, the Group realized significant increase in profits and, in the more recent past when the Group expanded into the production of ethanol, Jamaica Broilers Group Ltd. also saw substantial growth in its operations.

The new Jamaica Broilers Group Chairman is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, where he completed the Owner/President Management Programme. He received his earlier education at DeCarteret College and Jamaica College.

Robert Levy, an excellent communicator, is able to speak as effectively with farmers, who are pivotal to the success of his business, as he can with leaders in both the private and public sectors. This ability comes from an innate love of people – a love that is rooted in his strong belief in God. Known for his philanthropy, Robert Levy believes his organization is blessed and this serves as the driving force behind his desire to give back to society.

He serves in several capacities, including working as Chairman of the Board of the Sugar Company of Jamaica, Director of the Board of Kings House Foundation, Director of Regent University – Virginia, Director of the Caribbean Poultry Association, Chairman of the National Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology and Director of Back to the Bible Broadcast (Jamaica). A longstanding member of the Jamaica Agricultural Society, he is also a Past President of the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM), former Chairman of Jamaica Exotic Flavours and Essences Co. Ltd. and of Moorlands Camps Limited and has served in the past as a Director of the Board of the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf, as well as a Director of the Rotary Club.

In October 2002, Robert Levy was awarded the National Honour of the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander (CD) for his contribution to the development of the livestock industry in Jamaica. On March 29, 2008, he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts Honoris Causa from the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in recognition of his exemplary life as a family man, in business, in church and in the society at large. In August 2009, Robert Levy was conferred with an Honorary Degree – Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from the Northern Caribbean University for his significant contribution to nation building.

Robert Levy has been married to Judy since 1964 and they have four children – Christopher, Wendy, Amanda and Stephen.

Tim Lucas is Founder and Lead Pastor of Liquid Church, one of NJ’s fastest growing churches. Liquid started in a humble fashion – Tim began leading a Bible study with a small group in the basement of a church in Basking Ridge. The group began to grow when they started meeting in a local tavern nearby. Now headquartered in Morristown, Liquid was officially launched in 2007 and has four metro locations plus an online global community through LiquidChurch.com

Liquid has similar DNA to the New Canaan Society. It is Bible based, edgy, fun, and very involved in community outreach.Tim is an engaging speaker and leader.

Tim graduated from the esteemed institution of higher learning, Wheaton College. He met his wife Colleen there, and they have two children, Chase and Del.

Tom Lane is Vice Chairman and a founding partner of ECP.   ECP is a private equity firm that invests in the energy infrastructure sector and has $20 billion under management.   He serves on the boards of Wisconsin Energy, Sendero Midstream and US Development Group.

Prior to helping establish ECP in 2005, Tom worked for 20 years in the Energy investment banking group at Goldman Sachs.   Tom has extensive experience in financing and merger related transactions and helped to source a number of Goldman Sachs' principal investments within the energy sector. He has testified before the House Energy Subcommittee on energy related matters.

Tom has a BA in Economics from Wheaton College and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.

Tom serves or has served on a number of nonprofit boards including Place of Hope, Street2Street, New Life of NYC, Urban Youth Impact Foundation and the New Canaan Society.  Tom is married, has four children and nine grandchildren.

Tom Lane
917-363-1324

The Bergen County Chapter of the New Canaan Society (NCS) will meet on Friday, May 5, 2017.  We welcome Yeathus Johnson as our guest speaker.  Please join us at the Brick House restaurant in Wyckoff (179 Godwin Ave, directions link below) at 6:30 a.m. for a buffet breakfast. We'll have you on your way by approximately 8 a.m.

Pastor Yeathus Johnson is an ordained minister of the C&MA denomination, served on the C&MA Board of Directors, and is currently serving as the Urban Region Superintendent of the Metropolitan District overseeing 40 urban churches in the Greater NYC area.  Yeathus is primarily responsible for recruiting, equipping, coaching, and serving church planters, pastors and ministry leaders from West Africa, Ethiopia, the Caribbean Islands, Haiti, Latin America, Guyana, Russia, Armenia, the Middle East, India, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, Europe, and North America.  Some he supports affectionately call him “Bishop.”

Yeathus received much of his organizational management training and skills while working as a product manager in Information Technology with United Parcel Service for 10 years. He holds a B.S. degree in Accounting from South Carolina State University, a Master’s in Urban Ministry from Alliance Theological Seminary (ATS), and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree in Global Leadership at ATS.

After serving 4 years in the U.S. Army, Yeathus served as a lay leader and on staff with independent churches in South Carolina, New Jersey, and the Bronx.  For 6 years Yeathus served as a bi-vocational youth pastor and elder with another independent church.  He served 2 years on the executive board of Touch The World Ministries, and served as an elder on the Governing Board at Cornerstone Chapel of the C&MA in Pompton Plains.  These experiences were instrumental and formative in providing the ministerial skills Yeathus would later hone for greater ministry impact.

Yeathus is a certified cultural intelligence trainer and coach with The Cultural Intelligence Center where he facilitates CQ for organizations and churches, and a certified Strengths Deployment Inventory trainer and coach through Personal Strengths Publishing helping leaders develop EQ—emotional intelligence.

Yeathus’ greatest gift is his family; he is wonderfully married to Katherine, his soul mate of 24 years, and has two sons, Isaiah and Jeremiah.  Today, Yeathus can say that God has used his family to help shape him into a man that hungers and pursues the heart of Christ!

Barry Milazzo is a father of three. The passion of his life and ministry is to lift up Jesus Christ to be seen as the magnificent God and King He truly is, knowing that He is the Answer for every human problem, every broken dream, and every “impossible” situation.

With a happy family and millions in assets, Barry seemed to have it all. Like that fairytale egg, his second child, Bryson, was suddenly shattered by catastrophic brain-injury. It was predicted that he would never walk or speak, and he would be virtually uneducable. An unwanted divorce resulted in his raising his children alone. Financial ruin came and he lost his family home. Shocking episodes of bullying and abuse caused his impaired son to threaten suicide. Finally, physical disease and collapse nearly ended this single father’s life. Tempted to curse God and die in the face of unbearable pain, he chose to rely fully upon God, discovering timeless Scriptural truths which Barry shares in his book All the King’s Horses: Finding Purpose and Hope in Brokenness and Impossibility.

Former head football coach of the University of Colorado, Coach Bill McCartney is the Founder, and Chairman of the Board of Promise Keepers.

Coach Mac led the University of Colorado to a share of the national championship in 1990. He is a member of the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and was honored as Big Eight Conference Coach of the Year in 1985, 1989, and 1990. He won National Coach of the Year honors in 1989. He received the Honorary Dr. of Ministries from Azusa Pacific University for extraordinary work in the field of racial reconciliation.

Coach Mac is also the founder of The Road to Jerusalem ministry and the author of five books: Ashes to Glory, Sold Out, Sold Out Two-gether with Lyndi McCartney, Blind Spots and Two Minute Warning.

Coach Mac lives with his wife, Lyndi, in Westminster, CO. The McCartneys have four grown children: Mike, Tom, Kristyn, and Marc, and ten grandchildren.

After four years of volunteering at the New York City Rescue Mission, America’s first shelter founded in 1872, Craig was appointed in 2012 as the Executive Director.

Craig has been in ministry for over 35 years, starting with the Detroit Rescue Mission after graduating from Talbot Theological seminary. While at the Detroit Mission, Craig continued his graduate studies, eventually completing a masters in counseling from Oakland University and a Ph.D. in counseling from Wayne State University. He served for 10 years in higher education as a Professor of Counseling Psychology. He has served as a pastor at two churches in the Detroit area.

His compassion for the poor has grown over the years, leading to the founding in 2003 of Impact India 360, an organization which has built schools, orphanages and a hospital in India. In 2008 Craig and Chris moved to NYC to start and co-lead a new church, Communitas, where he still serves as a pastor.

Craig has been married to Chris for 28 years are they are the parents of three grown children.

Duanne Moeller currently serves as the Director of Operations for Empowerment Academy Charter School and Beloved Community Charter School in Jersey City.

In 1999 Duanne joined a small entrepreneurial team committed to re-opening The King’s College in midtown Manhattan. Duanne played a variety of roles in the college’s first years including Dean of Students, VP of Operations, and Chief of Staff.

Before moving to New Jersey, Duanne worked as a campus minister with Campus Crusade for Christ in San Bernardino, California, Szeged, Hungary, and Columbia, Missouri.

Duanne holds a BA in Music from Miami University (OH), and a Masters of Divinity from the International School of Theology, San Bernardino, CA. He also is a licensed real estate agent and Project Management Professional (PMP).

Duanne is married to, Susan, who works in business development for the UK based tech start-up, Buzzsumo.  Together they run a small marketing and real estate company called Meadowlands Mirror. They also have two children. Zachary, who will be a junior at St. Peter’s Prep, and Isaac, who will be in the 8th grade at Sacred Heart in Lyndhurst.

Duanne can be reached via email at DuanneMoeller@gmail.com.

Eric Metaxas in an author, comic and co-founder of the New Canaan Society. His latest book is the acclaimed BONHOEFFER: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, which illuminates for a new generation the moral courage of pastor and author Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he opposed the evil of Hitler’s Third Reich.

The best-selling author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (But Were Afraid to Ask) and Amazing Grace, a biography of William Wilberforce and his fight to end slavery in England, Eric is also well known for his work with Chuck Colson, Veggie Tales and other children’s books and videos.

Eric is also one of three men that co-founded the New Canaan Society when they began meeting in Jim Lane’s family room in the early 1990’s. Today he serves as the Emcee for the NCS Annual Retreat, bringing his own unique flavor of humor and wit to that role.

Eric grew up in Danbury, Connecticut. He attended Yale University, where he edited the Yale Record (the nation’s oldest college humor magazine) and delivered the Class History, a satirical address that is a Yale graduation tradition. Eric is also the director and host of Socrates in the City: Conversations on the Examined Life, an “entertaining and thought-provoking” discussion on life, God, and other topics that meets monthly in NYC. You can learn more about Eric, his work and the inner workings of his mind at his aptly-named website, www.ericmetaxas.com.

George Martin played his entire NFL career for the New York Giants, missing only six games in 14 years (1975-1988). He was a part of the 1986 Giants team that won a franchise record 14 games, and was a team captain for Super Bowl XXI, recording a sack of Denver QB John Elway in the end zone for a safety on the way to the championship.

Martin once held the NFL record for career touchdowns scored by a defensive lineman with 6. In addition, he amassed over 90 sacks in his Giants career, during which time he was generally regarded as one of the league’s most feared pass rushers. Martin won the NFL Man of the Year Award in 1986, honoring his “work in the community as the NFL player who best served his team, community and country.” He went on to serve as President of the NFL Players Association in 1988-89. In 2004, Martin was inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame of New Jersey, and to the Giants’ Ring of Honor in 2010.

On September 16, 2007, Martin began walking from New York City’s George Washington Bridge to San Diego in order to raise money for medical care for the first responders to the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States. He arrived in San Diego, California on June 21, 2008, having walked a total of 3,020 miles and raising about $2 million for this cause.

George is on the staff of Athletes in Action, the sports ministry division of Campus Crusade for Christ. George serves as the chapel coordinator for the New York Giants and the New York Yankees. His responsibilities include leading the team Bible studies, serving as personal chaplain for some of the players and their families, overseeing the in-season chapel services, and helping to organize sports outreaches around the New York metropolitan area. He also gives leadership to four other AIA couples who serve in the New York metropolitan area.

George received an undergraduate degree in business administration from American University in 1976 and a masters degree in Biblical studies in 1990 from the International School of Theology. George met his wife, Cyndy, at a Bible conference during the summer of 1974. While in college and through their involvement with Campus Crusade, they both sensed God’s call to missions. They were married in June of 1977.

Prior to his current responsibilities, George fulfilled similar duties for six years with the New York Mets and Jets teams. George and Cyndy began vocational Christian work with Campus Crusade for Christ after graduation from college. They served in the campus ministry (of Campus Crusade) for 14 years before switching over to the Athletes in Action effort. George and Cyndy have two married daughters (Kelly and Emily), a senior in college (Mary), a freshman in college (Allison) and reside in Oradell, New Jersey. George and Cyndy are the proud grandparents of Grace Noel, Miguel, Mya, and Robbie.

Joseph Mattera has been in full-time ministry since 1980 and is currently the Presiding Bishop of Christ Covenant Coalition, one of the largest and most influential clergy groups in the greater New York region, working for citywide, national and global transformation.  He is also Overseeing Bishop of Resurrection Church in New York, a multiethnic congregation of 40 nationalities that has successfully developed numerous leaders and holistic ministry in the New York region and beyond.

Joseph’s passion to see the Lordship of Christ revealed in every realm of society has resulted in extensive ministry nationally and internationally.

He has hosted his own radio and cable TV shows and is a regular contributor to Christian newspapers.  Through the years has given numerous radio and television interviews, including guest appearances on nationally-known Christian networks such as TBN, Daystar Television Network, and Cornerstone Television Network. He is also the author of four theological books on the Kingdom of God, entitled Ruling in the Gates (2003), Kingdom Revolution (2009), Kingdom Awakening (2010), andWalk in Generational Blessings (2012). Numerous articles, position papers, seminars, sermons, podcasts and videos are presently posted on his website,www.josephmattera.org.

Joseph has also served on the board of Concerts of Prayer Greater New York, the Advisory Board of Worldvision New York, CURE (Community Understanding for Racial Equality), New York Billy Graham Crusade, and New York Clergy Coalition for Racial Reconciliation.  He also serves as a consultant and mentor to numerous political, business and church leaders and has worked extensively with the NYPD, the local community board and numerous other service agencies.

Joseph has a Doctor of Ministry degree in Biblical Worldview from Bakke Graduate University, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree in Theology in Culture from the Antioch School.  Joseph, his wife and their five children live in Brooklyn, New York.

Mike Massey is a “Hall of Fame” pool player that has won 23 major titles and numerous 8-ball and 9-ball tournaments.

He has traveled to at least 40 countries playing tournaments, teaching pool, doing exhibitions and the Gospel trick shot ministry.

Once Mike had 330 breaks and runs playing 9-ball in a 24-hour marathon shoot in Austria on live TV.  Another time he made 8,090 balls playing with one arm in 24 hours.

Mike has been on many live TV talk shows all over the world, Euro Sport, CCTV Ching, 700 Club 3 times, Regis and Kelly show.  ESPN Cold Pizza, ESPN Best Damn sports show, PM  Magazine, Real People 2 times and many more.

He helped write the movie “The Baron and the Kid” staring Johnny Cash.  He was also the technical advisor and taught Johnny how to play pool.

Mike is part of a ministry that’s called “Gospel Trick Shots”.  They go all over the world preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Mostly Muslin countries and 3^rd world countries.

Gospel Trick Shot ministries uses professional pool players that have received Jesus as their Savior to spread the Gospel.

Steve Lillis started this ministry and he was a professional Pool Player, College Professor, and Ordained Minister.

Tom Rossman is also part of the ministry and is also a “Hall of Fame” pool player.

Here are some of the places they have been doing the ministry.

Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, Tanzania, Kenya, Dubai:, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Russia, Ukraine, Albania, Korea, China, Honduras, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Kosovo.

Mike and Huckabee have some things in common besides being a Christian.  Mike’s passion is writing country gospel songs.  He also plays the guitar.

Mike is on “YOU TUBE”, probably a few hundred times.  He picked out some that you might be interested in watching which basically tell his life story.

Mike has served his country from 1964 to 1967 is proudly a Veteran.  He also had worked as a firefighter in Chattanooga, Tn in his earlier years.

Mike was born in 1947 in a small mountain town, Loudon Tn, and he was so talented that, by the time he reached the 8^th grade he was known as “Tennessee Tarzan” being sought after to play in pool tournaments and move into a profession that would certainly encompass him through the rest of his life.  He has lived the rough life of a hustler and he is alive today because God was with him through all the rough and hustling times he lived as a pool hustler.

Mike has been married twice and he has a son named David and a daughter Anna that have blessed him with two grandsons, Zachary and A.J. with them all residing still today in Chattanooga, TN.

“YOU  TUBE VIDEOS”

1. Mike Massey Pool Hustler
2. How Faith Transformed world renown pool player Mike Massey
3. Hall of Fame Billiard player Mike Massey Using pool to spread the WORD OF GOD
4. Mike Massey doing the BOOT SHOT ESPN
5. Mike Massey Gospel trick shot shoe in Egypt
6. Mike Massey music video- “Picking and Grinning Pool”  Albert Lee plays guitar and piano
7. Mike Massey music video in “Heaven it’s Impossible to Lose” Mike playing a guitar and singing in the mountains
8. Mike Massey Music Video “The Baron and The Kid” clips from the movie Johnny Cash made that Mike help write and technical advisor, teaching Johnny how to play pool.

Pastor Orlando Moncrieffe was born in Jamaica. He received his Bachelor of Theology degree from West Indies College (now Northern Caribbean University), a Masters in Religion from Andrews University and a Ph.D. in Old Testament Studies from Duke University.

During his 45 years of ministry Pastor Moncrieffe has served as an executive of over 50 churches, companies, schools and denominational offices, as well as a college/university teacher and administrator. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Central Jamaica Conference (1974-1977) and the Allegheny East Conference (2006-2012). He has held seminars on religious topics and conducted evangelistic crusades throughout the United States and Caribbean.

Twenty-five years of his ministry was in Adventist higher education. Currently, he is an award-winning Visiting Professor with Andrews University, and has taught at the graduate level for that institution in Jamaica, Trinidad, the United States, and Zimbabwe.

Dr. Moncrieffe has received recognition for services rendered to the wider community.  He served for four years as President of the United Nations Association of Jamaica. He was head of Jamaica’s delegation to the World Federation of United Nations Associations Plenary Sessions in Ottawa in 1987 and Moscow in 1989. He received the Outstanding Service Award from the United Nations Association of Jamaica; was appointed by the Jamaican Government to the National Council for the International Year of Peace (1986).

Paul Michalski became involved with the New Canaan Society in October 2003 when his marriage hit a wall (and nearly ended in divorce).
Paul has been leading NCS New Canaan (the founding Chapter of NCS) since September 2007, and serves as a Director and the Vice President and Corporate Secretary of NCS. He also serves as Chairman of the Benjamin Franklin House Foundation, as a Director of the New England Prayer Center and the New York Law Institute and as a member of the Young Life Committee for Darien/Rowayton.

Paul graduated from Harvard College in 1983 and Harvard Law School in 1986. He was an attorney in the corporate department of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP for over 22 years, joining Cravath in 1986 and becoming a partner in 1994. From 1996 through 2000, Paul was resident in the firm’s London office.

Paul took a leave of absence from October 2008 to June 2009 to help NCS in its transition from a regional to a national organization and realized that he was meant to begin a new chapter in his life. While continuing to work with NCS and other non-profits, Paul tries daily to “show up”, be “faithfully present”, love Lisa and the kids, and listen.

Purely through the grace of God, he and his wife Lisa are together in Darien, CT with their children, James and Annie.

Rajan S. Mathews was named the 13th president of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary in May 2021.

From 2010 to 2020, President Mathews was the Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the Telecom Communications Industry Association in India, leading a $36 billion advocacy group representing the industry in India and around the globe.

His remarkable leadership background also includes various senior executive positions including Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer, and Vice President-Controller of companies such as AT&T, Telargo Inc., Afghan Wireless Communications, Call Sciences Inc., Beatrice Foods International and Columbia Tri-Star Pictures.

While at AT&T, Mr. Mathews was named President and CEO of Birla AT&T, then AT&T’s largest international investment. There he introduced digital mobile telephony services in India, building out and operating one of India’s largest Global System for Mobile Association networks. A licensed certified public accountant, his professional career began with Price-Waterhouse Coopers where he audited and consulted with Fortune 100 Companies such as Phelps-Dodge, IBM, Exxon, and Colboro. He has considerable expertise in international operations having managed and operated companies in England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Afghanistan and India. He has spearheaded fundraising initiatives resulting in more than $1 billion in public and private equity, debt, private placements and new venture funding.

Mr. Mathews served as President of Woodstock School, a premier residential international baccalaureate world school in India, after previously serving as the school’s Finance Committee Chair. In the past several years, he has been instrumental in raising over $50 million for other schools and charities.

Devoutly living out his faith and deeply involved with local churches, Mr. Mathews has also been a speaker at family and youth conferences in the United States and abroad. He holds board memberships with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Far East Broadcasting Association.

President Mathews and his wife, Grace reside in Manhattan. They are members of Stone Hill Church in Princeton, NJ where he is a board elder. They are the parents of two daughters—Kavita and Nithya, who is married to Jeffy Joseph and the grandparents of one grandson, Avi.

Nyack College currently serves more than 2,000 students in its undergraduate, graduate, doctoral degrees programs offered on site and online. In addition to its main campus in New York City, an extension site is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Nyack is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools and is chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. Nyack’s Alliance Seminary is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.

Richard J. Mouw returned to teaching in the position of Professor of Faith and Public Life after 20 years as president of Fuller Theological Seminary (1993–2013). A philosopher, scholar, and author, prior to his two decades as president, he served as provost and senior vice president for four years, and as professor of Christian philosophy and ethics beginning in 1985. Before coming to Fuller he served for 17 years as professor of philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has also served as a visiting professor at the Free University in Amsterdam.

A graduate of Houghton College, Mouw studied at Western Theological Seminary and earned a master’s degree in philosophy at the University of Alberta. His PhD in philosophy is from the University of Chicago.

Mouw has a broad record of publication. He has been an editor of the Reformed Journal and has served on many editorial boards, including currently Books and Culture. He is the author of 19 books, including The God Who Commands, The Smell of Sawdust, He Shines in All That’s Fair, Culture and Common Grace, Calvinism in the Las Vegas Airport, Praying at Burger King, an expanded and revised edition of Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World, and most recently, Abraham Kuyper: A Short and Personal Introduction, The Challenges of Cultural Discipleship, and Talking with Mormons: An Invitation to Evangelicals.

Mouw serves as a panelist in the online forum “On Faith” offered by the Washington Post. In 2007, Princeton Theological Seminary awarded Mouw the Abraham Kuyper Prize for Excellence in Reformed Theology and Public Life. Mouw has also participated on many councils and boards, recently serving as president of the Association of Theological Schools. He served for six years as co-chair of the official Reformed-Catholic Dialogue, and is a leader in interfaith theological conversations, particularly with Mormons and Jewish groups.

Mouw’s wife, Phyllis, is an art historian who is involved in seminary and community programs. Their son, Dirk, daughter-in-law, Christine, and grandsons, Willem and Peter, live in Arkansas.

Ron Nikkel served as President and CEO of Prison Fellowship International for more than 30 years before stepping down in June 2013 to assume the role of President Emeritus.

When Nikkel joined the PFI team in 1982, there were only five national Prison Fellowship ministries. Now, the movement includes more than 50,000 staff and volunteers in 127 countries.

Born in Alberta, Canada, Nikkel was taught by his father to love the unlovable because everybody matters. Before starting at PFI, he worked with juvenile offenders in Canada and the United States through Youth for Christ, an international, non-denominational ministry. He became a father figure to many teenagers who didn’t have a father in their homes. Working with children and young people affected by crime inspired his passion for justice and the treatment of prisoners.

In his time at PFI, Nikkel has visited more than 1,000 prisons in more than 100 countries.  He has seen horrendous injustice during his visits but has established strong relationships with prison officials who grant PFI the access to launch innovative programs, which bring dignity and hope to prisoners and opportunities for them to prepare for a brighter future.

In addition to more than 30 years with PFI, Nikkel has served as chairperson of the United Nations Alliance of Non Governmental Organisations in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and Vice President of the International Association of Volunteers in Criminal Justice.

He serves on the board of directors for Advocates International, The Jericho Road Foundation and Love in Action. He is on the Advisory Council of the International Center for Religion & Diplomacy and is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

He is the author of several books, including “Your Journey with Jesus,” and “Radical Love in a Broken World.”

“Like our founder, the late Chuck Colson, I view my work with PFI as a life sentence,” Nikkel said.

As the Senior Partner and CEO of Hampton Square Wealth Management, Scott helps over 170 households and organizations to plan, invest, and steward their money in a way that reflects their values and life goals.

Formerly with Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Northwestern Mutual Insurance, Scott holds the designations of Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC^®) by the College for Financial Planning and Certified Kingdom Advisor^®.

Before joining the financial services industry in 2009, Scott was president of an international manufacturing and importing company in New York City, where he enjoyed a long and successful career.

Scott has taken many active leadership roles in Sussex County, New Jersey. He has served on a local Board of Education, his township government board, his church elder board, and two non-profit boards of directors. He is a member of the Sussex County Chamber of Commerce and Business Networking International (BNI). He is also the leader of a local Kingdom Advisors® monthly study group for Christian Financial Advisors in northwest New Jersey.

Scott lives in Hampton Township, NJ with his wife Jan.  Together, they have six adult children and enjoy spending time with (and sometimes without) them at their vacation home near Camp-of-the-Woods in the Adirondacks.  Scott is an active member of C12 New Jersey.

For twenty years, Bill Paige was a policeman and detective in and around New York City. He served fourteen years as the associate chaplain at Children’s Village, where he worked with emotionally disturbed boys in the city. He has also served 10 years in senior leadership of Young Life. He is a certified trainer for “Therapeutic Crisis Intervention” involved in areas of emotional and behavioral issues among young people. Paige now serves as Special Assistant to the President of Young Life.

An ordained minister, Paige speaks frequently at chapel services for National Football League (NFL) teams, including two opportunities to speak at the NFL Pro Bowl.

Bill is the Executive Director  of Impact Paterson, a faith-based not for profit that launched in April 2015.  It’s downtown Paterson, NJ location makes it the ideal nexus for being a neutral convening agent in its fight to arrest poverty through job creation and economic development.  At it’s core, Impact Paterson is helping launch, grow and support businesses and nonprofits through a unique platform that leverages social enterprise investments for the Kingdom of God which in turn are re-invested into the community through leadership development, capacity building, collaborative partnerships, and programs & services designed to restore men and women.

In addition to his work in Paterson, Bill Roesch currently serves as the President of the Elementary Group, a boutique management consulting firm he founded in 2013.    The firm specializes in strategic planning, execution and leadership coaching for a variety of organizations, including for-profit businesses ($500k - $50m in top-line), nonprofits and local church’s.  His expertise is facilitating and engaging teams in activating strategy, developing operating plans and helping individual leaders identify their unique purpose in life.

Prior to launching Elementary Group and Impact Paterson, Bill was the CEO of Standards Solution, an educational support services company servicing public schools systems primarily in New Jersey.  Before acquiring Standards Solution, Bill was the Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operating Officer of Prism Capital Partners, a private equity backed, real estate investment and development company.  Bill obtained his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Accounting from the University of Connecticut.

Bill is married to his dearest friend and business partner Kelley.  They have a daughter, Saylor who is in kindergarten.  At the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Bill and his family have committed their careers towards becoming urban missionaries for Christ in the City of Paterson making kingdom impact.

Bill serves as the President of Impact Paterson Ministries CDC, the non-profit arm of Impact Paterson harnessing his skills to serve many and impact the community of Paterson for Jesus Christ, one life at a time.

Debbie Provencher has served as Executive Director of Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center since 2006. Lighthouse is a ministry in North Jersey that guides women, men and teens facing unplanned pregnancies toward life-enhancing choices. She came to Lighthouse with a background in public relations, and a heart for serving young adults. Debbie has been instrumental in growing the center from one to four locations, and forming creative collaborations to support under-resourced parents. Debbie and her husband, Fred, who serves as senior pastor of Cornerstone Christian Church in Wyckoff, have four adult children, a daughter-in-law, two sons-in-law, and a grandchild on the way!

Ten years in youth ministry and nearly three decades of parenting and premarital counseling motivated the Provenchers to create a student curriculum called Sex Matters, which is now part of the pregnancy center’s REALife Relationship and Love Training. Debbie and Fred serve as REALife presenters, and also spend time together preparing couples for marriage. In their spare time, they enjoy walking their dogs, reading, gardening, and hanging out with their children. Debbie is currently pursuing a Master’s in Evangelism and Leadership at Wheaton College.

Eric Rojas is the Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Six+One LLC a creative branding and category redefinition firm based in New York City.  Eric graduated from FIT with a degree in Communication Arts. He started working at Deutsch Advertising working his way up from Art Director to Creative Director.  He then moved to Amarati and grew their creative team from 8 to 60 people.  Eric then transitioned to Havas before starting his own creative agency in July 2014.  He and his team have worked on brands that became household names including CPGs such as Vitamin Water, Pirate’s Booty, Body Armor Sports Drinks as well as working in the financial sectors with giants such as New York Life and Charles Schwab.

Through Six+One, Eric is always challenging the advertising industry conventions and as far as he can tell, he’s just getting started!  His deep faith in Christ informs how he stewards the business and his creative team.  Eric and his bride have been married 9 years and have 3 children ranging in age from 5 to 21.  He is active with ministry outside his business and enjoys hosting a men’s business breakfast gathering in Montclair and a family ministry called God’s Garage.  He and his wife have a heart for children and actively minister to 20+ children in their home every week!  In 2018, Eric also started For The Greater Hood, a 501c3, that ministers to homeless people in our inner cities with their next event scheduled for Dec. 10^th in Paterson.  Sponsors of For the Greater Hood include Nike, Under Armor, IZOD, Frye Boots, Steve Madden Shoes, Echo Clothing and other global brands.  So far, For The Greater Hood has served 15,000 men, women and children donating 35,000 articles of clothes, over 2000 backpacks for kids, over 300 haircuts and over 2000 pairs of footwear and as Eric is just getting started! Eric is an active member of C12 New Jersey.

Fred Provencher has been the Senior Teaching Pastor at Cornerstone Christian Church since February 1996. Before coming to Cornerstone, he was the Youth Pastor at Hawthorne Gospel Church, where he was ordained in 1994. He has also served with churches in Colorado Springs and Somerset, NJ.

Fred has a B.A. in history from Rutgers University, an M.Div. from Denver Seminary and a D.Min. in preaching from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Debbie, have been married since 1986. They live in Hawthorne with their four children.

Placed in an orphanage at the age of six, and sentenced to the Texas State Penitentiary at the age of nineteen, James Ryle’s life is a powerful and uplifting story of how God’s grace can work all things together for good. His ability to connect with people of all ages, combined with a keen sense of humor and sensitivity to the moment, make James one of the most engaging speakers in today’s world. His is a seasoned voice that brings moral clarity and refreshing insights for people of all walks of life.

James is the President and Founder of TruthWorks, a teaching and resourcing ministry helping you experience God’s presence. James is one of the founding Board members of Promise Keepers, and has spoken at multiple PK stadium events. On October 4, 1997 in the Nation’s Capitol, James delivered the Gospel message at Stand in the Gap ~ an event attended by over 1.4 million men, and broadcast to over 20 different nations around the world. He has served as pastor of two churches, chaplain for the University of Colorado football team, and is a best-selling author. The topic for his message will be “How to Win Without Being Wicked — Taking the High Road in a Low-Down, No Good, Dirty Situation”.

Jason Pankau is the president of Life Spring Network, an organization that trains and coaches people to realize life’s potential. He is a sought after author, speaker, organizational consultant and life coach. Jason is the author of the Omega Seminar as well as several seminars that he teaches throughout North America.

Jason is also a leading authority on leadership and teams as they relate to employee and customer engagement. He is a cofounder and partner at E Pluribus Partners, a consulting firm that specializes in helping leaders create “Connection Cultures” to form strong bonds among the management, employees and customers of an organization. Connection Cultures increase employee and customer engagement as well as productivity, profitability, innovation, employee retention and customer loyalty. In the past year, clients have included Wachovia, UBS, General Re and several hedge funds.

Jason is a co-author of the book Fired Up or Burned Out and a chapter in the book What Managers Say, What Employees Hear: Connecting With Your Front Line (So They’ll Connect with Customers).

Previously, Jason was an associate pastor at Stanwich Congregational Church in Greenwich, CT where he focused on mentoring and leadership development. He serves as a consultant and life coach to many corporate executives and ministers. Jason earned a Masters of Divinity from Southern Theological Seminary and has completed the course work for his Doctorate in Christian Leadership at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Jason is married and has two daughters and two sons.

Jim has been the Men's & Family Ministry Manager at Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center for a little under a year. His move to a full-time ministry position is a story that will encourage and inspire your heart. 

Lighthouse PRC is a faith-based, non-profit organization that provides free, confidential services to lovingly guide and support women, men, and teens facing unplanned pregnancies and related concerns toward life-affirming choices.

Jim brings his experience of over 20 years as a Sales and IT Management Vice President where he developed, trained, and mentored leaders as well as his more recent experience in the life sciences and healthcare industry.

Jim is a former world record holder in the mile and a former US Representative from the state of Kansas. The title of his talk will be “The Courage to Run”.

Jim Ryun achieved national acclaim as a track and field star while a high school student in Wichita, Kansas. In 1965 Jim set the male High School Mile Record of 3:55.3 – a record that stood for 36 years. Jim participated in three summer Olympic Games: 1964, 1968, and 1972, winning a silver medal in the 1500 meter run in 1968. Jim Ryun also held the World Record in the mile, 1500 meters and 880 yards. Recently he was voted as the ESPN Best High School Athlete Ever (ahead of Tiger Woods and Lew Alcindor).

Congressman Ryun served five terms in the U.S. Congress, representing the Second Congressional District of Kansas. He was a member of the Armed Services, Budget and Financial Services Committees. Jim served as a citizen-statesman, with a commitment to honesty and integrity.

Jim Ryun is the founder and president of Jim Ryun Sports, Inc., a public relations company. He has also partnered with the ReSound Hearing Aid Co., creating his own program “Sounds of Success,” aimed at helping hearing impaired children fulfill their potential.

Married in January of 1969, Jim and Anne Ryun live in Lawrence, Kansas. They have four adult children, and ten grandchildren.

Joe Pellegrino is a men’s pastor, author, speaker, certified professional life coach, consultant, and entrepreneur. He is the President and founder of Legacy Minded
Men, whose mission is to “Transform lives by engaging, encouraging and equipping men to build a Christ-centered legacy".

Joe is also the founder of Not Just An Average Joe which focuses on coaching and consulting those in need.  He has appeared several times on television including Fox News and TBN and has been featured on many radio programs across the country speaking on men’s issues. Joe is the co-author of the books Safe at Home, Transformed, That’s My Dad!, Fathers Say & The Men’s Struggle Cycle.

Joe has also developed and presented several workshops and seminars including Standing in the Gap, Not Just An Average Joe, and The 5.5 Questions Everyone Must Answer and Transformed.

He and his wife of 31 years, Bethanne, founded and managed “Adopt a Child”, a program, designed to provide abused children with gifts at Christmas. For 11 years Joe served as the Chaplain for the New Jersey Jackals minor league baseball team. He and Bethanne have three children.

John Rivera began working with local nonprofit organizations during the late 1980′s and continues serving throughout the northeast to this very day. Over the years, John also enjoyed the opportunity to serve in a variety of volunteer leadership positions with numerous organizations. Some of those roles included that of board member and adviser.

John has an extensive background as a trainer and consultant in organizational and leadership development. Through his work, John has helped many nonprofit organizations grow, define their vision and execute in excellence. His primary tools have been coaching, training, and comprehensive assessments that have consistently led to positive and lasting change for his clients. Most recently, he added his new book: “The Climb” to his cache of effective leadership and organizational development tools.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in communication from William Paterson University of New Jersey. He graduated with high honors (Summa Cum Laude). He also received the Excellence in Interpersonal Communications Theory Award. Senior faculty members select one student each year based on academic performance, leadership and overall command of the subject area.

Today John continues to use his years of experience and education to assist area business and nonprofit leaders with their communication, organizational and leadership development needs. In this journey, he is committed to encouraging, equipping and empowering leaders to accomplish their mission as well as creatively multiply their impact and footprint. John strongly believes that “individuals and organizations can all ascend to a higher level of excellence as they pursue their personal and organizational mission in life.”

To learn more about John’s leadership work, book or to schedule a speaking engagement, send your inquiry to: Jrivera.vive@gmail.com or call 704-594-0815.

• Email John Rivera
• Tel: 704-594-0815

Lee is from Greensboro, NC. He attended Page Senior High School. Lee varsity-lettered in several sports and was an integral part of the Page Pirate community. He went on to receive a full scholarship to the University of Colorado where he played for Coach Bill McCartney. Lee was the 4th all-time leading rusher at Colorado from 1980 - 84. He was a key factor in turning the Colorado Buffaloes’ program around to become a National Champion.

Lee was drafted by the New York Giants and played under Bill Parcells for six years and won two Super Bowl rings with the Giants. He was Special Teams player of the year in 1986. Lee's Professional Football career was ended because of ankle injury. In his final year in the NFL, he was a starting Full Back and Tight End with the Cleveland Browns under Coach Bill Belicheck.

Lee has worked as a professional speaker with Sports World Ministries for over 20 years. He has served as Director of North Jersey for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes for 15 years, and presently sits on the board, serving North Jersey FCA. Lee helped to plant the New Horizon Church Ministry serving as Associate Pastor and praise and worship leader under the leadership of Pastor Michel Faulkner beginning in 2006.

Lee recently worked as manager for the mentoring and leadership program in the Mount Olive Township School District.  He serves as a board member for Legacy Minded Men and a Board Trustee for Pillar College. Lee obtained a BA in Business Management at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. Also, Lee has an MBA with a concentration in Workplace Conflict Management. Currently, Lee is the Principal Executive for an LLC; Move Your Chains, a consulting company that looks to work within the educational and business industries. Lee works tirelessly throughout the community encouraging everyone from the youth to the elderly with the message of Hope.

Lee and his wife, Lisa, have four children and eight grandchildren.

World-renowned evangelist Luis Palau has preached to scores of millions around the world, and to most folks outside the U.S. he is as well known as Billy Graham.

More than four decades after arriving in America from his native Argentina, Luis Palau is more intent than ever to follow his calling: to spread the powerful word of God throughout the world. Whether on stage speaking to crowds of a quarter million people; through his radio messages heard daily in over 40 countries; or in counsel and prayer with leaders from the local church to the White House, Palau consistently remains one of the world’s most effective and compelling spiritual communicators.

For more on Luis Palau and his worldwide ministry, visit his website.

Luis Robles is the goalkeeper for Major League Soccer’s (MLS) NY Red Bulls.  He was drafted by MLS’s D.C. United with the 50th overall selection in the 2007 SuperDraft; however, he passed and signed with Germany’s FC Kaiserslautern where he worked his way to starting goalkeeper.  Robles also played on the United States 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup squad.

After five seasons in Germany as a starter and backup, Robles was acquired by the Red Bulls. He made his debut on September 29, 2012 and served as starter for the Red Bulls during the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs. Robles cemented his position as the club’s starting goalkeeper during the 2013 season as he started all 34 league matches, helping New York to its first title, the MLS Supporters’ Shield.

Robles was named Red Bulls 2013 Humanitarian of the Year.  He finished the year tied for the MLS lead with 17 wins, third in saves (103), fourth in shutouts (11), tied for sixth in goals-against-average (1.21), sixth in save percentage (70.1%), and fourth in the voting for MLS 2013 Goalkeeper of the Year.  He was 1 of only 7 MLS players to play all 3,060 minutes of the regular season and set or tied 6 Red Bulls club records.

Mark joined Regency Wealth Management as a Partner in 2010 after a five-year affiliation with LPL Financial and five years with Waddell & Reed as a Financial Advisor. He was given the Financial Planning Excellence Award in 2003, was included in Waddell & Reed’s Circle of Champions for three consecutive years, and received the company’s top award, Crest in 2005.

He received his B.A. from Calvin University with a double major in Business & Psychology in 1995 and graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Financial Planning Certificate Program in 2003. Mark completed the requirements for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional and Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor (CMFC) designations in 2004 as well as the Accredited Estate Planner ® designation (AEP®) in 2022. He is also a current member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and The Greater New Jersey Estate Planning Council (GNJEPC).

Mark has held active roles as Trustee with various Non-Profit Boards throughout the years including past service with Christian Health, The Foundation for Eastern Christian Schools, The Bergen County Chapter of the New Canaan Society, and the NJ/NY Chapter of the Calvin University Alumni Committee. His current Board appointments include Eastern Christian School Association and City Relief. He is also an accomplished musician and performer and is a member and former Deacon of Rockpoint Community Church in North Haledon where he currently serves in the music ministry. When not working or volunteering, Mark enjoys spending time with his wife Pamela and their five children.

Mason Rutledge is the national Executive Partner of the New Canaan Society. His appointment was announced at the 2023 NCS National Retreat.  

Mason is also President of Grand Avenue Consulting and Red Door Investments and serves on the Board of KIROS, a marketplace ministry in Seattle/Bellevue, WA.  Prior to starting at NCS, he was the President of C3 Leaders, a ministry to business owners.  Mason previously served CRISTA Ministries, which his grandfather helped found, as the Senior Director of Donor Relations, and he served for 25 years with Young Life, as Senior Regional Director for Young Life’s largest region, as worldwide Director of Training, and in other local, regional and national roles. 

Known as an excellent communicator and trainer, Mason has taught around the world. NavPress published his first book/study, Memorize This! TMS V3.0. He has also been published in numerous magazines, including Pray!, Discipleship Journal and Christian Reader.  His second study, God Moves, will be released in 2023.

He has a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University.

Matt Parker has spent years in the trenches of humanitarian work. Living on four different continents in his career, he has led global efforts in poverty reduction, economic development, and child services. Most recently, he spent three years in Thailand where he served as Chairman of a charitable foundation, Joy to the World. He spent one year directing a Children’s Home which provided education for nearly 50 at-risk girls.

While still in SE Asia, he later became deputized in 2011 with the Thai Royal Police as a sanctioned informant into the underage sex industry and human trafficking. Working with local police, he investigated over 300 brothels. During his time spent undercover, he began a coalition of investigators called The Exodus Road. He saw the need for collaboration and spent two years networking with those active in the field, including quality after-care facilities, NGO’s, and government partners. In July of 2012, he moved back to the United States to spearhead efforts for the coalition.

In the past year, the coalition has grown to include 124 undercover investigators, most of whom serve as volunteers. The Exodus Road has field directors, whom Matt manages, in the United States, India, and Thailand. Matt’s organization has supported the rescue of 191 victims of human trafficking in the last 12 months. He is an innovator and has personally delivered over 114 pieces of cutting-edge covert gear to field teams. He serves as the chief fundraising officer for the organization and in this fiscal year, they have raised over $315,000 alone.

Matt still works undercover when he travels and visits field teams several times a year, providing oversight and leadership.

Mike is Managing Director of Deerhill Pond Investment Partners, LP.  He will share with us his perspective as a survivor of both attacks on the World Trade Center.

Mike and his wife Julie are passionate about their faith and helping the next generation, including their own five children.  They provide scholarships for inner-city children, and Mike is a former board member of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, and of the Scholarship Fund for Inner-City Children.

Currently he serves on the boards of directors of NCS-Bergen County Chapter and of The Village School in Waldwick.  He also runs a volunteer ministry at his church, working with students at St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark.

The 30-year owner of a construction company, Mike Palombi has been building foundations—both for houses and for young lives. In 2008, Mike was able to accomplish what even the law said he’d never be able to accomplish; he received a Standard Certification for Teacher of Carpentry allowing him to teach in any school in the State of New Jersey. Since his release from prison, Mike has used his trade skills and experience of overcoming the entanglements of addiction and incarceration to teach at-risk youth the importance of building foundations for life.

In January 2014 Mike released his award-winning memoir, How’s It Feel, Tough Guy? From Prisoner of Pride to Prisoner of Hope. His memoir, received 1st Place recognition in The Christian Writers Awards, in the category of Counseling/Recovery and is currently in over 400 prisons and county jails nationwide. Together with his wife Heidi, they use the book as a vehicle to bring a message of hope to those most others deem to be hopeless.

Most recently, Mike has completed the Brooklyn Teen Challenge School of Ministry and is pursuing his ministerial credentials to help position himself to have access to the prison populations he desires most to minister to.  Mike regularly speaks at men’s groups, churches, recovery events, drug treatment facilities, and jails. Mike and Heidi attend and serve at El Bethel International Ministries Church, Inc. in Port Jarvis, NY.

Nick grew up in the Catskill Mountains working alongside his father and mother in a small family run restaurant. He attended SUNY Cortland, played varsity football, concentrated in athletic training, and graduated with a degree in Physical Education. Upon graduation from college Nick married Betsy and in his early 20’s was given the opportunity to own a small family market in Bedford Hills, NY. Under an apprenticeship to his uncle, he learned to become an artisan butcher… Yes, that’s right, a butcher...

In the years to follow, after several attempts at business, his backgrounds in meat cutting and foodservice opened the door for him to teach aspiring culinarians the basics of cutting and selecting meat. Moving from teaching to administration, Nick spent the greater part of his eighteen-year career at The Culinary Institute of America in the office of Advancement where he learned the business of development and fundraising.

​Today, Nick is the Development Director for Hoving Home. Hoving Home is a Christ centered program dedicated to helping women overcome addiction.  Hoving Home has been helping women overcome addictions of all kinds for the last 55 years and has provided opportunities for recovery to over 26,000 women. Currently, with locations in Oxford, NJ; Garrison, NY; Las Vegas, NV; Pasadena, CA; and Rose Hill, NC Hoving Home has the vision to have a presence in 50 states by 2050. In addition to his full-time job as Director of Development, Nick is an ordained pastor at The Reformed Church of the Comforter in Kingston, NY.

Paul Pettit serves as Director of Career Services and teaches in the departments of Spiritual Formation and Leadership and Pastoral Ministries. Dr. Pettit and his wife, Pamela (a Neo-Natal Nurse Practitioner) have five children and live in Rockwall, Texas, where they are involved in their church and a local Christian school.

Paul’s background includes experience as a sportscaster, author, and speaker. His books include Dynamic Dads: How to Be a Hero to Your Kids, Congratulations, You’ve Got ‘Tweens, Congratulations, You're Gonna Be a Dad!, which he coauthored with his wife, and Foundations of Spiritual Formation.

Paul holds degrees from the University of Kansas, Moody Bible Institute's Advanced Studies Program, and both the Master of Theology and Doctor of Ministry from Dallas Seminary. He enjoys coaching emerging leaders.

Sal Poliandro has a big heart to see men get unstuck. This comes from being stuck for a good portion of his life. Significantly overweight and not managing his life very well caused him to make a significant change. Down from a 44 waist and almost 100 pounds since 2018. Sal has had successful careers in Real Estate and Television Production. These days he gets to mentor and support coaches and clients locally and across the country. Interesting life achievements: Won an Emmy Award for his work on the Olympics and has bowled a 300 game. Sal lives in Wyckoff with his wife of 26 years, Dawn, his 3 children Tina, Henry and Brianna as well as the family cats Ray and Donovan.

Skip Ryan is the founding Pastor of the 5000-member Park Cities Presbyterian Church and a former Moderator of Presbyterian Church in America’s General Assembly. An author and popular speaker, he received his B.A. from Harvard and his M.Div. from Westminster Seminary. Dr. Ryan currently serves as Redeemer Seminary’s Chancellor and Professor of Practical Theology. A speaker at the recent NCS National Retreat, Skip has a compelling personal story of how he overcame a substance addiction that led him to step down from his position as Pastor. With the successful founding of Redeemer Seminary, it is clear that God had other plans for him. A warm and personable servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, you’ll be encouraged and inspired by his message.

Tim was named a Partner of Regency Wealth Management in 2010 when it became the new brand name of Hudson Capital Management, LLC, the firm he founded in 2004. Prior to Hudson, Tim provided investment advisory services to individuals and businesses through the Bank of New York’s Personal Asset Management group for five years. He has a deep and broad private and public investing background encompassing over twenty-five years of business experience. He also managed corporate finance and pension investing activities at advertising and communications firm Young & Rubicam.

Tim has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Business Week, SmartMoney, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Bloomberg News, Journal of Financial Planning, US News and World Report, Dow Jones Newswires, CFA Institute Magazine, Investment News, and the Star-Ledger. He had an essay published in NAPFA Advisor Magazine.

In 1989, Tim received a Bachelors of Business Administration degree from San Diego State University and in 2001 was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst professional designation. He has served as President of the Greater New Jersey Estate Planning Council and is a member of the CFA Institute, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, and the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils. In addition to his membership in the New York Society of Security Analysts, Tim has been active in NYSSA student mentoring programs since 2004.

Tim is a member and former Elder at Cornerstone Christian Church in Wyckoff and enjoys time with his wife Kyong and their two children.

Tucker Rodkey is a visionary leader, artist, communicator and founder of Painting Freedom Ministries. At the age of 17, Tucker was given a vision to use art to spread the Gospel. Over the following years, Tucker travelled all across the United States painting and preaching the Gospel. In 2017, this gave birth to Painting Freedom Ministries, a team of artists dedicated to the sole purpose of using art to impact lives.

Painting Freedom has gone on to share the Gospel with hundreds of thousands of people and is actively involved in the revitalization of inner city Chester. Additionally, Tucker is an avid reader and coffee drinker.

Waikiki "Kiki" Paulino: Fusing Profound Commercial Real Estate Acumen with Christian Faith-Driven Leadership for Comprehensive Impact

Waikiki Paulino, affectionately known as Kiki, is a dual force in commercial real estate development and Christian faith-based community service. Leveraging more than 25 years of experience, Kiki has managed projects with budgets totaling an inspiring $2.5 billion and has successfully overseen the construction of over 3.5 million square feet of commercial real estate. His business, CRE Construction Partners, is a leading light in the sector, representing Private Commercial Real Estate Investors, Family Offices, and Institutions across the United States.

Kiki’s educational background is equally robust, with a degree in Structural Engineering and Architectural Studies from New York City Technical College, a bachelor’s in Construction Management from Pratt Institute, and additional real estate master's courses at New York University. His portfolio boasts transformative projects such as the Bear Sterns headquarters, the SEC headquarters, The Flatiron Building renovation, Baccarat Hotel, Waldorf Astoria Renovation, and NYACK College Jersey City Dorms, among others.

Having grown up facing the multifaceted challenges of Brooklyn, Kiki developed resilience and a commitment to community that have shaped him personally and professionally. These values shine through in his role as the non-profit founder of Kings in Christ, a men's group based in Wyckoff, NJ, focusing on spiritual and personal development. He also leads a commercial real estate men's mastermind group in NYC, a testament to his skill in merging professional expertise with a passion for community and mentorship.

Since finding salvation at the age of 26, Kiki has been unwavering in his devotion to Jesus Christ. He credits all his accomplishments to God's grace and blessings upon his life. Currently, he is furthering his biblical studies and pastoral training, a pursuit that dovetails perfectly with his role as a trained chaplain and grief counselor. Kiki's emotional intelligence and compassionate leadership make him a dynamic force for positive change.

He is steadfastly committed to generational wealth-building, community enhancement, and, most importantly, helping individuals find their purpose in both spiritual and material realms.

At the heart of Kiki's life and ambitions lies a deep-rooted commitment to his family. As a loving husband to his wife Neivis and an attentive father to his two precious daughters, Angie and Celeste, Kiki embodies the family values that are central to the mission of Kings in Christ.

BCS is pleased to welcome Bob Shank as our speaker on Friday, January 7, 2011.

Bob is a sought after speaker who brings a unique blend of marketplace and ministry experiences. A native and lifetime resident of Southern California, Bob Shank spent 14 years as a businessman/entrepreneur in the construction industry. At 31, he transitioned from business to ministry and founded Priority Living, a faith-based organization serving business men and women in the marketplace. In 1997, he launched The Master’s Program, a leadership mentoring program that has helped thousands of leaders across North America to expose and exploit their unique Kingdom calling. He is currently leading a group from BCS and other NY-area NCS chapters. While the CEO of Priority Living since 1984, Bob was also the senior pastor of an Orange County megachurch for four years in the early 90’s. He is a frequent speaker for churches, conferences, retreats and leadership training events across the country.

Bob serves on numerous church, ministry and company boards of directors. Among them are Samaritan’s Purse, the Foundation for Christian Stewardship, Harvest Christian Fellowship, The Barnabas Group, Reasons to Believe and Priority Living/dba The Master’s Program.

Bob and Cheri have been married since 1971 and have two married daughters and five grandchildren.

Bret Schundler has had a successful career in politics, education, and business. Most recently he served the State of New Jersey as the Commissioner of Education and The King’s College as the Chief Operating Officer.

In 1992 Bret became the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, one of the biggest cities in America. Under his management the city saw unprecedented growth and prosperity. According to a Harvard University study, during Bret’s tenure Jersey City was first among the nation’s 100 biggest cities for job growth and poverty reduction. His success prompted him to run for New Jersey governor and he received his party’s nomination in 2001. The campaigns provided him with a national platform to discuss important policy issues, and he became one of the leading voices for charter school legislation.

Before entering politics Bret accrued extensive experience in the financial sector. In the late 1980s he built a successful career on Wall Street working for Salomon Brothers and C.J. Lawrence, now a part of Deutsche Bank. At Salomon he dealt with institutional fixed income sales and worked in institutional equity research sales at C.J. Lawrence.

Bret graduated Cum Laude from Harvard in 1981. He and his wife Lynn live in Jersey City. Bret and Lyn have two children a daughter, Shaylin, and a son, Hans Otto III.

Dave Swanson is a co-founder of the New Canaan Society (NCS) Fairfield chapter, the first split-off group in Connecticut from the original, founding NCS New Canaan. Dave has a passion for prayer and helping guys do life. He is committed to reaching the next generation for Christ through Christian Service Brigade for Boys.

Dave will be speaking about forgiveness, and sharing an incredible story he revealed in a recent interview on Moody National Radio. Here’s a video clip of why Dave’s involved with the NCS movement today (open the webpage and click “Dave S” in the lefthand column).  The clip is part of a new Global Media Outreach project with NCS, and many decisions for Christ have been made because of Dave’s bold testimony in this clip.

Dave lives in Westport with his wife of 26 years, Rebecca.  They have been active at Black Rock Church for more than 18 years, and have two sons, Peter (21), a senior at Biola University, and David (25), who’s attending medical school at Wright State University. Dave is a graduate of the Ithaca College School of Business and serves as CEO of Optimus Companies, a marketing and development services firm located in Bridgeport, CT.

Dave Szott is beginning his eighth season as the Jets director of player development, his 10th season with the Jets overall and his 24rd season in the NFL. Originally selected in the seventh round (180th overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft, the Penn State grad played 14 seasons in the league with the Chiefs (1990-2000), Redskins (2001) and Jets (2002-03). He appeared in 162 games (156 starts) and 12 postseason starts, and was a consensus All-Pro and All-Madden choice in 1997.

After retiring from football, Szott coached the offensive line for the Jets for two seasons and served as team chaplain for two seasons before being named the director of player development in April 2008.

Szott oversees a number of NFL-mandated programs including Players Assistance, Continuing Education, Financial Education, and Career Development. With the Jets relocation to the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Summer 2008, Szott was a key figure in the smooth transition and relocation of the entire Jets organization. Szott’s efforts were recognized as he was awarded the player development award in the area of Player Assistance in 2008, the first rookie player development director to be so honored. He was also awarded the 2009 Player Assistance Award for this past season for his work in this area regarding the players.

Szott has served the community by receiving the Ed Block Coverage Award twice, once while playing for Kansas City and the other while playing for the Jets. He is on the Board of Directors for the Matheny Medical and Educational Center, which is a school and medical center for special needs children and adults located in Peapack, NJ. He also serves as special advisor and coach of the Morristown Wildcats Football Club, where he is consulted on coach and player code of conduct guidelines, helped establish a playbook, practice plans, coaching clinics for the coaches, etc.

Szott and his wife, Andrea, started Szott for Tots, a foundation whose mission is to bring awareness to the special needs community. The annual Szott for Tots Golf Outing is held every fall to raise money for the Matheny Medical and Educational Center.

Szott, a native of Clifton, NJ, Andrea, and their sons Shane, 20, and Joshua, 16, and a 1 year old foster daughter.  The Szotts reside in Morristown, NJ.

A graduate of Nyack College, Manhattanville College, New York Theological Seminary and New York University, Dr. Schroeder served churches in New York, New Jersey, and England.  On the missional front, he has served overseas and at home with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Trans World Radio and International Teams, and continues preaching ministries in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.

​Dr. David Schroeder is currently serving as Chancellor of Pillar College after 14 years as President. He was also president of the Philadelphia Theological Seminary for three years and Nyack College for twelve years. Besides his work in Christian higher education, he has served in missions with International Teams, Trans World Radio, and The Christian and Missionary Alliance, under whom he was ordained in 1974.

He has served three alliance churches as a full-time Pastor and four churches part-time, most recently at Grace Chapel in Bedminster, NJ, and Washington, NJ Alliance church.

He is the author of twelve books, the most recent being The Lion, the Church, and the Warfare, published in 2020.

Serving the next generation within a context of spiritual renewal, ethnic diversity, and Christ-centered higher education has been his passion for over thirty years.

RETIRED FORTUNE 100 PRESIDENT AND AUTHOR

Fred Sievert started his career as a teacher, later entered the insurance business and retired in 2007 as President of New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 corporation. 

During his reign as president, New York Life first achieved a number one market share ranking in the sale of Life Insurance in the United States and repeated that distinction for seven years. 

Fred has held numerous leadership positions in industry-related associations and organizations. He is a past chairman of the Life Insurance Council of New York (LICONY), The American College of Financial Services, and The Actuarial Foundation. 

He received the highest honor bestowed upon industry leaders by the American College (The Solomon Heubner Gold Medal Award) in 2008 and was named a “Legend of the Industry” in 2012; a joint award bestowed by the American Council of Life Insurance and The Actuarial Foundation. In December of 2013, Fred received the Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by the Million Dollar Roundtable of New York.

Following his retirement, Fred attended Yale Divinity School and was awarded a master’s degree in religion in May of 2011. He has taught business school courses on strategy and leadership and has done over 30 guest lectures on the same topics. He serves on the boards of three non-profit organizations and two for-profit corporations. 

In 2014 Fred published his first book on his many personal encounters with God titled: God Revealed: Revisit Your Past to Enrich Your Future. In 2018, he published his second book containing stories of people he’s known who were in crisis and only found comfort and relief through their faith. The second book is titled: Grace Revealed: Finding God’s Strength in Any Crisis. 

In 2021, he has published his third book titled, Fast-Starting a Career of Consequence: Practical Christ-Centered Advice for Entering or Re-entering the Workforce. All of his books are available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and on many other retail websites.  Fred has been interviewed on numerous radio and TV shows since publishing the books.

In addition to remaining active throughout his career in industry activities, Fred has also regularly participated in civic and volunteer activities in his local community and church.

Fred earned a B.A. from Amherst College, an M.A. from Wayne State University, and a M.A.R. from Yale Divinity School. He and his wife, Sue, have five grown children and five grandchildren.

Jeffrey Sica serves as the president and chief investment officer of Circle Squared Alternative Investments, as well as Sica Wealth Management. Throughout his career Jeff has advised clients and businesses with financial planning, asset management, and private equity services. As he found more and more clients were looking to diversify their portfolios and reduce volatility, he created Circle Squared to create unique opportunities in the alternative investment space. With more than 20 years in the financial industry, Jeff has also held positions at AG Edwards and Wachovia/Wells Fargo Advisors. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes.

Ken Sande is the founder of Peacemaker Ministries and president of a new ministry, Relational Wisdom 360. Trained as a mechanical engineer and lawyer, Ken is passionate about bringing the life-changing power of the gospel into the lives of Christians and their churches. He has used biblical peacemaking principles to minister to parties in hundreds of conflicts ranging from simple personal disputes to complex legal conflicts.

Ken is the author of The Peacemaker, which has been translated into 15 languages, and has written numerous books, articles, and training resources on biblical conflict resolution and relational wisdom. He is a Certified Christian Conciliator, an Editorial Advisor for Christianity Today International’s Church Management Team, and a Certified Emotional Intelligence Instructor.

He and his wife, Corlette, are delighted to be grandparents and love to hike with their family in the mountains near their home in Billings, Montana.

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In 1983, Mel Shultz along with David Eaton and Jerry Colangelo, formed JDM Properties, Inc., a full-service real estate firm engaged in the development and management of quality real estate properties in Arizona and Colorado. The Group has owned and developed 16 business parks in Arizona and is a partner in developing the 36,800 acre Douglas Ranch/Trillium Community, which is the largest master planned community in the greater Phoenix area.

Shultz is also a managing partner of the 5,000 seat Comerica Theatre and was a general partner in the Phoenix Suns basketball team until its sale in 2004. Additionally, Shultz was one of the original general partners of the 2001 World Championship Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team.

Reginald Smith serves as a Research Analyst for Eventide Asset Management, a values-based investment firm based in Boston. He is primarily responsible for finding and evaluating new investment opportunities in clean tech, clean energy, and traditional energy.

Mr. Smith spent five years at Johnson Controls where he developed large energy conservation and solar projects and, most recently, led the development engineering for an energy storage start-up business within the firm. Before Eventide, he spent the Summer of 2019 at Marathon Capital, an investment bank in clean energy.

Mr. Smith holds an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University.

After ten years of marriage, two kids, numerous losses of loved ones, and more difficult seasons in ministry than they could count, Rob & Jen Schwinge found themselves weary and wondering how they would be able to keep going. Little did they know that when they reached the end of their rope God had already begun their RESTORATION journey.

In the following years with God’s strength and leading, they made the decision to intentionally retreat, and refocus their hearts on who God created them to be, and how He wanted them to live out their callings in everyday life. Through their restoration journey, they found healing, hope, and a passion to help others that were just like them.

You can find out more about their ministry by visiting www.restorationfamilyfarm.com

They say there are two things you should never discuss in polite company: religion and politics. Holding a BA is Political Science from Calvin College, therefore, makes Dave Zuidema particularly unpopular at parties. As a tradeoff, however, he has the distinction of being one of the vaunted 1% that actually used a political science degree for something related to politics. He served for 7 years on the staff of U.S. Congresswomen Marge Roukema, and for 6 of those years as her District Administrator. He also managed 2 successful re-election campaigns. Dave later served a Communications Manager for the N.J. Conservation Foundation, one of the state’s leading, private, statewide land conservation trusts.

All that changed with the decision Dave and his wife Yvonne reached to add more Zuidemas to the global population. Dave went freelance in order to structure his time around being home with their children. He worked with several small not-for-profits – including NCS Bergen County! – during the following years, offering organizational, administrative, communications and marketing services.

Most recently Dave returned to the “traditional” workforce and his roots in public administration, accepting a position as North Jersey Regional Administrator for PathStone Corporation. In that role, Dave manages a federal employment program for low-income seniors in Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties.
Dave has also served as a catechism teacher, deacon chairman and outreach ministry team leader at Covenant Christian Reformed Church in North Haledon. He has been married to Yvonne for 23 years; their 3 kids – John (age 13), Matthew (11) and Sylvia (6) are increasingly sassy. He has slowly been robbed of most of his hobbies by the expense of raising 3 children and living in Northern NJ.

Dr. Ron Walborn is the Vice President and Dean of Alliance Theological Seminary and Nyack College in New York City and San Juan Puerto Rico. He has a B.A. in History from Nyack College, an M.Div. from Alliance Theological Seminary, and a DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary.

​​Dr. Walborn has planted and pastored churches in Connecticut and California. He has authored one book and numerous articles and chapters for other publications. He has lectured and spoken at churches, conferences and other events both nationally and internationally.

​​Dr. Walborn was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania in a Ministry focused family. Ron and his wife, Dr. Wanda Walborn have four married adult children and four beautiful grandchildren.

George Verwer is the Founder and former International Director of Operation Mobilization (OM), which is a ministry of evangelism, discipleship training and church planting. George led Operation Mobilization for over 40 years before stepping down in August 2003. Saved at the age of 16, George returned to his school in northern New Jersey and within a year about 200 of his classmates had found a relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ. He also started with distribution of Gospels of John in Mexico in 1957, which continued during summer vacations.

Attending Maryville College after high school, he transferred to Moody Bible Institute where he met, Drena, who would later became his wife. They went to Spain in 1961, and the work of OM was born: to get to know God together in discipling young Christians while concurrently carrying out a rigorous program of world evangelism.

Today OM reaches across the world through over 6,100 people working in over 110 nations to make Christ known in the lives of all they meet. For many years George served as International Director of OM and helped raise up dedicated leadership to pursue this task across the world, freeing him to travel and speak, helping many find their role in extending the Kingdom of God.

George and his wife are now involved in Special Projects Ministries (still part of OM) full-time. They have three adult children;five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren and make their home in England.

Gregory Alan Thornbury was installed as the sixth president of The King’s College on August 1, 2013. A writer and speaker on philosophy, theology, education, spirituality, and public thought, Greg was formerly a Professor of Philosophy, Dean of the School of Theology and Vice President for Spiritual Life at Union University in Tennessee.

The son of an American Baptist pastor, Greg initially intended to pursue a career in media at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, but his interests turned toward philosophy and theological studies during his undergraduate years. After graduating from Messiah Greg moved to the campus of Southern Seminary where he served on the staff of seminary president Albert Mohler and as a minister at the First Baptist Church of Clarksville, Indiana. After graduating with a Master of Divinity with biblical languages in 1996, Thornbury continued in Southern’s Ph.D. program, where Mohler served as his doctoral supervisor.

In 1998, David Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, recruited Greg as a philosophy professor in the Department of Christian Studies. In addition to the many roles he filled there, Greg oversaw the startup of Union’s first fully online Master’s degree program.

Greg and his wife Kimberly have been married for more than 20 years. They have two daughters and live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Hector is Senior Pastor at East Harlem Fellowship, where he has led since 2009 alongside his wife Michelle and their children. He is the founder of the City Lights academic enrichment and mentorship program in NYC. He has served on mission trips in five of the seven continents and was formerly the Executive Director of the Goodwill Rescue Mission in Newark, New Jersey.

Raised in midtown Manhattan, drug addiction and dysfunction ruled 15 years of Hector's life. He spent 10 of those years in and out of the prison system until he was radically saved in 1995. It was the unconditional love of God in the Gospel message that transformed him.

Hector released his biography Arrested by Grace (Freiling Agency, December 2018) to share his story of hope. It presents the full gospel as the missing ingredient for true freedom in our nation. Opioid addiction, a growing prison population and a national discussion about criminal justice reform, all find parallels in Arrested by Grace.

Jerry White serves with The Navigators as President Emeritus and Chairman of the U.S. Board of Directors.

Jerry earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, and received a commission in the U.S. Air Force where he served in many capacities, including an assignment as a mission controller at Cape Kennedy during the height of the American space program. He received a master’s degree in Astronautics from The Air Force Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in Astronautics from Purdue University. After 13-½ years of active duty, Jerry retired in 1973 with the rank of general; he spent another 24 years in the Air Force Reserves, retiring in 1997 as a major general. Jerry was twice awarded the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedom Foundation, as well as the Legion of Merit Medal and Defense Service Medal.

Jerry was introduced to The Navigators as a student at the University of Washington and he maintained close contact with the organization throughout his military career. He began the organization’s ministries at the Air Force Academy and Purdue University, and subsequently served in several Regional Director roles. He accepted the position of Executive Director in 1983 and International President in 1986, where he served until 2005.

In addition to co-authoring a nationally recognized textbook on astrodynamics, Jerry has co-authored with his wife, Mary, a number of books on practical (but no less complex!) topics such as work, ethics, and relationships. His most recent books include Rules to Live By (NavPress, 2010), The Joseph Road(2009), Making Peace with Reality: Ordering Your Life In A Chaotic World(2002) and Dangers Men Face (1997).

Jerry is also a nationally competitive handball player, licensed commercial pilot and an active member of his local church. Jerry and Mary White live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Jim White is the Executive Director of Covenant House New York.  He has been a part of the Covenant House family for thirty years, joining 1982 as a full-time volunteer and working as counselor at the New York crisis shelter.

In 1985, Jim helped develop Rights of Passage (ROP), Covenant House’s transitional program in which homeless young people live at Covenant House while going to school and training for jobs.  He was hired as Executive Director of Covenant House New Jersey (CHNJ) in 1994.  During his 12 years at CHNJ, Jim grew the budget to close to $8,000,000, expanded residential services to 120 young people each night and added a comprehensive array of services through Crisis, ROP and Mothers and Babies programs.  Jim has also been a successful advocate, leading the charge for Covenant House to change laws in New Jersey that mandate better care of homeless young people.

From 2006 through 2011, Jim served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Development and Marketing at Covenant House International, where he served as the force behind the first annual “CEO Solidarity Sleep Out” that saw fifty CEO’s and business leaders spend the night outside of Covenant House New York to raise awareness and funds for organization.

Jinu's story begins in Calcutta, India where he was born to missionary parents. After completing his engineering & mba, he spent 20+ years in manufacturing, technology and pharmaceutical industries and worked for 8 Fortune 500 companies.

​​He is currently serving part-time as the Chief Growth Officer at Phos Creative and only recently founded his consulting firm, The Grit Room. As many of you know, he was the founder of Collyde and Rethink Creative.

​​Jinu is a strategic thinker and works companies and non-profits to develop vision, communications, strategy and culture.

Jinu describes himself on his blog as a perpetual dreamer, cautious builder, passionate instigator and a struggling disciple of Jesus. He believes that the greatest story is the one in the making. He desires that all his friends, leaders, readers and family will see a reflection of the Perfect One through his imperfections, struggles and failures.

​​When Jinu is not working on a strategic plan or thinking up new ideas, he is relaxing at home with his wife, Ann, and their two sons, Joshua and Judah. Jinu loves listening to music or podcasts and is always up for a Starbucks run.

Dr. John Townsend is a psychologist, business consultant and leadership coach. He has written or co-written 25 books, selling 5 million copies, including the 2 million best-seller Boundaries; Leadership Beyond Reason; andHandling Difficult People. For more than twenty years John has engaged with leaders, organizations and individuals around the globe, offering them life-changing solutions to their problems. He is co-host of the nationally-syndicated talk show “New Life Live” which is heard in 180 markets with 3 million listeners. He has been interviewed on venues such as Fox News television, and published in magazines such as Personal Excellence and Leadership Journal.

John works with leaders and organizations by providing team and executive coaching, corporate consulting, and by giving conference presentations. He conducts his own Leadership Coaching Program for executives, managers and small business owners with settings in Newport Beach, CA, Dallas, TX, and Indianapolis, IN. John co-founded and directed a healthcare company for ten years, with operations in 35 cities in the western U.S. It was here that he learned the strategies for change and success which he now employs in his coaching and consulting.

John recently joined the New Canaan Society (NCS) Advisory Board.  He is also active on the board of Mustard Seed Ranch, a residential program for abused children. A resident of Newport Beach, California, Dr. Townsend and his wife Barbi have two sons. One of John’s passions is playing in a band which performs at southern California lounges and venues!

John Wagner serves as the Senior Vice President for the Greater New York Division of Young Life. He first began with Young Life in 1982 by working with kids in the Shaw community of Washington DC. He later became the ‘Metro Director’, overseeing all of the city’s urban work. Following that, John served as a Regional Director of the DC Metro Region overseeing Young Life ministry in both the city and the surrounding metropolitan suburbs. Prior to becoming the SVP of Greater New York, John was the Eastern Division Vice President.

John grew up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, earned his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University, and his Masters in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the PC-USA in 2003.

John and his wife Gae currently live in New York City with their 15 year old son David. They have two other children, Jessi who attends Wake Forest and Michael who lives and works in Brooklyn.

As a member of Generation “Z”, Jordan is uniquely positioned to impact his Generation with the Gospel. Jordan has grown up in a multi-generational ministry family. He is a graduate of Liberty University, with a Bachelor’s in Religion: Biblical and Theological Studies, and is an ordained reverend.

As a frequent speaker at churches and conferences, Whitmer challenges both young people and adults to join Jesus in fulfilling His Great Commission. He has been the subject of numerous local and national media appearances for radio, television, and print.

Jordan is passionate about mobilizing student leaders around the world to impact their generation for Christ. Jordan is the host of the Gen Z Today Podcast. He travels frequently, and can often be seen at Starbucks mentoring and encouraging young people to boldly lead for Jesus.

Mark Whitacre is an Ivy League Ph.D. and is considered the highest-ranked executive of any Fortune 500 company to become a whistleblower in U.S. history, and was responsible for uncovering the ADM price-fixing scandal in the early 1990s.  Mark wore a wire for 3 years for the FBI in the early 1990s.  Mark’s website has further info about this ADM case:   www.markwhitacre.com

Mark Whitacre is Executive Director of the t-factor initiative at Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. since December of 2019.  Mark had served as COO of Christian Business Men’s Connection (CBMC) from 2013 to 2019.  Mark was the COO and Chief Science Officer from 2006 to 2013 at Cypress Systems, Inc., a California biotechnology company where Mark still serves on their advisory board today.

After completing his B.S. and M.S. degrees at Ohio State University, Mark earned his Ph.D. degree at Cornell University in biochemistry.  He worked as an executive for three Fortune 500 companies, including Ralston Purina (now Nestle), Degussa (Evonik), and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM).  He was recruited at ADM, number 56 on the Fortune 500 in 1989, when he was 32 as the President of the Biotech Division.  Mark has extensive international business experience, having lived in Germany for four years working for Evonik at their world headquarters in Frankfurt.

Mark and his wife Ginger have been married over 42 years and have three adult children.

As an Assistant Vice President at LAN Associates, Matt is responsible for the development and management of LAN’s New Jersey Architectural Department. He has been in the architectural industry for over 17 years, working at several local and global firms including Wells Associates and Gensler.  He is a licensed architect, member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), LEED Accredited Professional, Construction Document Technologist (CDT), and is NCARB certified.  Matt graduated Magna Cum Laude from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s in architecture.

Matt’s diverse background in design, construction and technical knowledge has led to a creative and well-rounded leadership style.  He plays a vital role in LAN’s business development and project contract acquisition efforts, and his expertise in project management has led him to efficiently direct various projects ranging from hospitality, commercial, retail, mixed-use, multi-family, and non-profit institutions. Matt’s background in historic adaptive reuse, and passion for sustainability, have proven the ideal mix to support the development and execution of many award-winning projects across the region.   Recently, he was recognized by NJBIZ as a Leader in New Jersey Real Estate and Construction.

Beyond his day-to-day professional role, Matt is passionate about community service and donating his time and talents to underserved communities and non-profits in need.   He has designed and coordinated the construction of a school in an impoverished area of Mexico and lead the master planning and design efforts for a medical center development in Uganda, Africa.  Matt was also the co-founder of a local Christian skateboarding non-profit called Solid Foundation.  Currently, he serves on the facilities committee at his local church, involved in teaching at the Servants Heart Workmanship training program in Paterson and serving on the board as chapter president of the Bergen chapter of New Canaan Society.  He is married to his wife Monica for 17 years and has three children, Riley, Madison, and Evan.    

Mike Timmis is Chairman of Prison Fellowship, succeeding Chuck Colson.

Born in Detroit, Mike was senior partner of the law firm of Timmis & Inman LLP and vice-chairman of a privately-owned manufacturing company with extensive real estate holdings. A member of St. Paul Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, Mike is President of the Archdiocese of Detroit Endowment Foundation, Inc. and Trustee of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center. He helped found the National Fellowship of Catholic Men.

Mike’ autobiography Between Two Worlds: The Journey of an Evangelical Catholic, published in 2008, is a fascinating, vulnerable account of his life before and after he found faith in Christ. He writes openly of his preoccupation with legal and business matters at the expense of marriage and family.

Michael Tremain is a Managing Partner at Sovereign’s Capital where he leads the firm’s lower middle market private equity practice.  Sovereign’s Capital is a diversified asset manager focused on matching faith-aligned capital with faith-aligned entrepreneurs.  At their core, the partners at Sovereign’s Capital believe that capital equals influence and we should steward capital toward business leaders capable of expanding their faithful presence in the marketplace.  Michael concentrates on investment sourcing, portfolio optimization and investor relations.  

Michael’s career includes stints with Andersen Consulting, the Walt Disney Company, Hard Rock Cafe International and TrinRock Capital.  He has also led a number of privately held companies from a broad range of sectors including technology, wholesale distribution, residential construction, oil & gas, healthcare and commercial services. 

Michael earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his master’s degree from the London School of Economics.  He serves as the Chairman of the New Canaan Society and as a Trustee of the Maclellan Foundation.  He and his wife, Kristin, live in Lookout Mountain, GA and have four children, Noah, Jake, Chapel and Brooks.

Miguel has been a core member of BCS since its early days. He is a second generation Puerto Rican from Paterson, NJ. He is currently Senior Pastor at Cranford Alliance Church in Cranford, NJ. Miguel has a passion for reaching, training and leading Christ-followers of all nationalities. The title of his message is “Momentum: Releasing an Unstoppable Force in Christ”. Miguel holds a BA from Moody Bible and a Master of Divinity from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Church Leadership. Miguel is married and has 3 children.

Richard Van Houten is a real estate advisor with over 40 years of experience in corporate real estate, working in house for some of the largest national owners and developers of real estate, including Trammell Crow Company, Lincoln Property Company, (SJP), National Realty & Development and Mountain Development Corp. His responsibilities ranged from the sourcing and acquisition of development and investment opportunities, to completing the feasibility analysis and underwriting the project through managing the marketing and sale or lease up of the projects. He led the lease up of large blocks of space in contracted time frames in many Class A Office developments and Industrial/Flex parks, significantly increasing the value of these investments. He has been involved with over 25,000,000 square feet of transactions, investment property sales, project management and development. His experience as a Senior Level Project Manager and Broker with CBRE included representing J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Starwood Financial, Bank of America, Citibank, Pfizer, Pearson and Quest Diagnostics.

Robert Tenney is licensed realtor with Terrie O’Connor real estate, after a long focused career as an analytical research chemist for a major sunscreen manufacturer. As a member of Hawthorne Gospel Church, Robert is the Deacon of visitation ; providing comfort and assistance to the heavy hearted.  He is a faithful volunteer at Preakness Healthcare Center . He is a board member of Gospel Trick Shots and on the advisory board at Star of Hope Ministries.

Robert is married to his wife Alice for nearly 13 years. He enjoys kayaking, fishing and finding new travel adventures.

As a result of The Lord’s continuous Favor, Steve Wolf has been fortunate to experience a track record of demonstrated, continual business success within large and small organizations in the marketing research and consulting space. Over the years, God enabled Steve to excel in simultaneous, multiple roles (in the US and globally), creating/implementing vision and strategy, attracting/retaining/leading world-class talent - creating powerful teams, resulting in dynamic, sustained, and profitable growth for the businesses themselves and clients which included many of the Fortune 100 companies. He has revitalized several failing businesses, written articles and spoken at local and global conferences.

On a more personal level, for 22 years, Steve has co-led and mentored men in areas of character enhancement, integrity, and accountability which includes spiritual, business, relational, and financial matters as well as mobilizing the group to tangibly assist others in need. For decades Steve and his wife have helped young people identify their life purpose, deepen their relationship with The Lord, and learn principles upon which to base their lives. They have worked with some of these same individuals later in their lives to help them discover and utilize their personal treasure trove of talent and gifts. Over the years Steve has been involved in virtually every church ministry and has financially supported scores of initiatives focused on those who are less fortunate. As a temporary, part time CEO for Crossroads Job Network in 2014, Steve and the Impact Paterson team helped individuals in need of a second chance, find employment.

Steve has been on the ground in 47 countries to guide senior business associates and/or for Missions purposes. He commits time and resources to various organizations and outreaches including New Canaan Society, where he is a very active member and has presented on a number of occasions, to several chapters across the state of New Jersey, on the topics of disruptive discipleship and forgiveness.

In educating the next generation of marketing researchers/consultants, Steve has guest lectured at Rutgers University Business School, at Eli Broad Graduate School of Management and at Michigan State University. He also served as both Faculty and Client Advisor for the Masters in Marketing Research
Program at Eli Broad.

At the present time he runs his own marketing research and consulting firm named Wisdom, Insight and Mojo (www.wisdominsightmojo.com) and also is a Certified Executive Coach for Five Capitals (www.fivecapitals.net), an organization that trains leaders in how God’s truth connects to both their personal and professional lives, creating greater levels of integration, wholeness and fulfillment. Steve and his wife Lynda have a blended family with four grown children, their spouses, and one delightful grandson.

Tom is founder and President of the C.S. Lewis Society and a professor at Trinity College in Tampa Bay, FL.  He is a frequent speaker at conferences and university campuses across the U.S., hosts a weekly radio program and has appeared on CNBC.  He has written several books including Doubts about Darwin (2003), and most recently, Darwin Strikes Back:  Defending the Science of Intelligent Design (2006).  The title of his message is “The God Hypothesis Returns to Science”.  Tom is a graduate of Princeton University, a Dallas Seminary, and holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Florida.  Tom is a bright and effective speaker who will engage us in issues related to defending our faith.

William Graham Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) is a Florida native, the pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, a visiting professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and a grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham.

A graduate of Columbia International University (philosophy) and Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Tullian is the author of Do I Know God? Finding Certainty in Life’s Most Important Relationship (Multnomah),Unfashionable: Making a Difference in the World by Being Different(Multnomah) and Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels(Crossway). Tullian is also a contributing editor to Leadership Journal. He speaks at conferences throughout the U.S. and his sermons are broadcast daily on the radio program “Godward Living.”

When he is not reading, studying, preaching, or writing, he enjoys being with people and relaxing with his wife Kim and their three kids Gabe, Nate, and Genna. Tullian loves the beach, loves to exercise, and when he has time, he loves to surf.

Some of Tullian’s favorite authors include C.S. Lewis, J.I. Packer, Francis Schaeffer, Jonathan Edwards.

Walt Wilson is the founder and chairman of the Internet ministry Global Media Outreach (GMO). He was previously co-founder, chairman and CEO of Exclaim Technologies, Inc., an applications service provider in the business-to-business Internet market. Before that, he served as senior vice president and corporate officer of the consulting group Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC), a $16 billion, U.S. global corporation with 600 offices worldwide, employing over 100,000 people.

With over 40 years’ experience as an operating executive, Walt has served in a variety of management positions with three Fortune 50 companies. Prior to CSC, he was an early employee of Apple Computer, serving as managing director of U.S. operations as the company grew from just a start-up to a globally-recognized corporation with $5 billion in revenues. He has spent most of his career with Silicon Valley-based companies.

In addition, Walt is an international speaker at corporate management meetings, government conferences, universities and executive seminars. A past and present board member of many Silicon Valley corporations, he has also served on the board of Bob Buford’s Leadership Network in Dallas. Walt was chairman of the National Advisory Board for Christianity.com and authored the book, Internet Church. He is a contributing editor and monthly columnist for Christian Computing Magazine and is a member of the technology council of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA.

Prior to his business career, Walt served three years active duty with the United States Marine Corps.