Speakers

Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing is an international author, speaker and theologian who addresses the deep questions of our day with meaningful answers found in the Christian Faith. She is the author of multiple books including ‘Where is God in All the Suffering?’ and bestselling, ‘Why Trust the Bible?’ Over the last twenty years, Amy has given talks and answered questions on university campuses around the world. She has also addressed Parliamentarians in the Speakers Rooms and Chapel at the UK Parliament and staffers on Capitol Hill, and at the West Wing of The White House. She regularly responds to invitations to speak in banks, businesses, and consultancy firms as well as churches and conferences. Amy is interested in the intersection of questions of meaning and faith with the marketplace, education and policymaking. Amy holds a doctorate in Theology from the University of Oxford. She enjoys broadcasting in the media and giving public lectures. Amy is also the co-founder of REBOOT, an innovative youth initiative aimed at helping teenagers think deeply about faith, which now runs in countries all over the world. Amy lives in Oxford with her husband ‘Frog’. They have three boys, JJ, Zach and Benji.

Tim Chaddick is the Pastor for Preaching at Reality Ventura and Founding Pastor of Reality Church London and Reality LA. A native to California, Tim’s first ten years of church-planting ministry started as the Lead Pastor of Reality LA in 2006, a thriving church in the heart of Hollywood, before planting Reality London in the UK in 2016. In 2021, Tim returned to California to take up the Pastor for Preaching role at Reality Ventura.

These churches are a part of the Reality family of churches, a movement committed to relational church planting and serving the broader body of Christ. Tim’s first two books, Better: How Jesus Satisfies the Search for Meaning and The Truth about Lies, were projects which came from lessons learned while living and pastoring in urban areas. Pastor Tim and his wife Lindsey care deeply about the ministry of the local church and seek to devote themselves to helping churches begin and flourish in their mission to share and reflect the gospel.

Lauren Windle is a journalist, presenter and public speaker, published by Vogue, Marie Claire, HuffPost, Red magazine, MailOnline, The Sun Online, Fabulous Digital, The Star, Church Times and others. She also heads up the digital opinion page for Premier Christianity’s Woman Alive and presents Third Wheel Dates, a show on dating app Salt’s YouTube channel. On 22 April 2014 Lauren got clean and sober from a cocaine and alcoholaddiction and became a Christian five days later. She has a degree in Neuroscience and a Master’s in Addiction Studies, runs a charity recovery course for people struggling with addiction and, in 2018, gave a TEDx Talk about her personal story of addiction and recovery that has been viewed half a million times. She can recitevirtually every word of the BBC’s 1995 dramatisation of Pride and Prejudice by heart and never says no to a Toby Carvery. You can connect with Lauren @laurenwindle_on Instagram and Twitter (or‘X’, as Elon wants us to call it now).

Dr Andrew Ollerton is a theologian and popular communicator. Working with Bible Society, he’s developed The Bible Course for small groups and recently published a new book The Bible: A Story that Makes Sense of life (Hodder). Andrew is married to Charlotte and they have three kids, two fish, a snake and a dog.

Andrea loves Jesus and the bible. A Clinical Psychologist as first profession, Andrea loves to communicate the bible in a way that gives voice to our feelings and the messiness of our experiences yet shows how God is always weaving grace, boldness and faith through the embroidery of our every day lives. Andrea is the senior leader for One Life Church in Barnstaple and Tiverton alongside her husband, and they have two teenage boys, Charlie and Zack and a golden retriever called Milly. Andrea loves to champion growing leaders and currently serves as the Southwest Area Leader for Assemblies of God.

Andrew is one of the pastors of Grace Church in Truro where he’s responsible for overseeing preaching and theological training. He and his wife, Laura, gathered the team that planted Grace Church in 2010and, along with their two sons, are now involved with a new church plant in Porthtowan.

Dr. Andy Bannister is the Director of Solas, an evangelism and training organisation based in Scotland (but covering the whole of the UK). A highly in demand speaker, Andy speaks and teaches throughout the UK, Europe, Canada, the USA, and the wider world. From universities to churches, business forums to TV and radio, he regularly addresses audiences of both Christians and those of all faiths and none on issues relating to faith, culture, politics and society.

Andy holds a PhD in Islamic studies and has taught extensively at universities across Canada, the USA, the UK and further afield on both Islam and philosophy. He is also an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology and is also Adjunct Faculty at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.

Among Andy’s various books and publications are:

• How To Talk About Jesus Without Looking Like an Idiot: A Panic-Free Guide to Having Natural Conversations About Your Faith  — an incredible practical, highly accessible, and very funny guide to having conversations about Jesus with friends and colleagues.
• Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?  — a popular, witty, and engaging look at this vital question.
• The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist (or: The Dreadful Consequences of Really Bad Arguments) — a very funny (but also quite serious) engagement with the New Atheism.
• Healthy Faith and the Coronavirus Crisis  — Andy wrote a chapter in this multi-author volume looking at how we can engage in evangelism even in an age of lockdown.
• Heroes: Five Leaders From Whose Lives We Can Learn — an exciting and fast-moving looking at the lives of five incredible giants of the Christian faith.
• An Oral-Formulaic Study of the Qur’an — a groundbreaking and innovative study that reveals many of the ways the Qur’an was first composed.
• Burning Questions — a Canadian TV documentary exploring six big questions about God, faith, and Christianity.

Andy’s has contributed to and edited a brand new book, Have You Ever Wondered? (Finding the Everyday Clues to Meaning, Purpose & Spirituality), which is due to be published by 10Publishing in early 2024.

When not travelling, speaking, or writing, Andy is a keen hiker, mountain climber and photographer. He is married to Astrid and they have two children, Caitriona and Christopher.

Brian Brodersen is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California. Brian also serves as president of Calvary Chapel Bible College. He is the featured speaker on the Back to Basics radio program and the director of Creation Fest (UK). Brian is extensively involved in missions and church planting around the world. He has been married to Cheryl for over 40 years; they have four children and have six grandchildren.

More about Brian Brodersen

Cheryl married Brian Brodersen in 1980, and for many years, they ministered together at Calvary Chapel Vista, California. In 1996, the Brodersen family moved to London and planted Calvary Chapel Westminster. In 2000, at the request of Cheryl’s father, Pastor Chuck Smith, Brian and Cheryl returned from the UK to California to have Brian transition into the pastorate of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Brian became the senior pastor of the church in October of 2013.

Cheryl currently oversees the Joyful Life women’s Bible study at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. She also hosts a weekly podcast called “Women Worth Knowing,” highlighting women from all walks of life, past and present, and the lives they led for the Lord. Cheryl is also a frequent speaker at women’s retreats and conferences around the world. She has written several books with Harvest House Publishers. It is her joy and privilege to minister biblical truths to women of all ages.

Brian and Cheryl have four grown children and six grandchildren, including five grandsons and one granddaughter.

Claire Worth originally hails from Cornwall and is a Presenter & TV host at GOD TV. In addition to this, she also works as Executive Director at St Matts Church in Plymouth and is the Director of South West School of Worship. Claire is also a seasoned worship leader who studied Vocals at Nexus Music Academy, has a Degree in Psychology & Counselling and a Masters in Human Resource Management. She has been leading worship for over 20 years and has a real passion to inspire and encourage others in their walk with Jesus and abandoned worship!! Claire is married to Paul Worth and they have a son called Finlay. She loves the beach, earl grey, her family and pursuing all that God has created for her to be for His Kingdom and Glory!

Claire will be joining us this summer as a host on our Main Stage.

It was while back-packing in Australia, aged 18, that Dan encountered Jesus and went on to study for two years at C3 Bible College, specialising in Youth Ministry. When he headed back to the UK, aged 21, he started in a role as a Youth Pastor in Canterbury, Kent. There he led an interdenominational youth ministry called ‘Change’. He met his wife, Charlie, at a festival and after marrying they became active members of Hillsong Church, London. Over the next decade Dan worked as part of the staff team at Hillsong and led the youth and young adults and later, the Creative Team. Dan is now the Global Youth Director for Alpha, which he describes as his dream job! Dan and Charlie have two boys Knox age four and Niko six months. Dan supports Chelsea FC, Spends his free time at his boxing gym and decided that 2023 was the year he would finally learn to cook.

Dr. David Bennett is a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s College of Evangelists and researcher at the Faculty of Theology and Religion looking at the Public Legitimacy of the Church of England with the Centre for Cultural Witness. David is a graduand and recently completed his DPhil (2023), entitled ‘Queering the Queer: An Exploration of How Gay Celibate Asceticism Can Renew and Inform the Role of Desire in Contemporary Anglican Theology.’ From Sydney, Australia originally, he has lived in Oxford for the last decade. Author of the memoir, A War of Loves: The Unexpected Story of a Gay Activist Discovering Jesus (Zondervan, 2018), David has taken up a visiting theological residency at Reality Church in San Francisco.

Efrem Buckle is the Deputy CEO and Director of Training and Mentoring for London City Mission

An Urban Missionary, Church planter and Pastor of 20 years, Efrem studied at Oak Hill College and the Urban Ministry Program and is passionate about strengthening God’s people for mission to the least reached.

Gavin Calver is the CEO of the Evangelical Alliance. He has a burning passion to see the church working together to share the Gospel throughout the UK. Formerly the leader of Youth for Christ and chair of Spring Harvest, he’s an ordained evangelist, a regular public speaker, and has authored six books. Married to Anne, they have two children, Amelie and Daniel. He loves new challenges, is a passionate AFC Wimbledon supporter and was part of the team that broke the World Record for the longest 5-a-side football match.

Hey, my name’s Jesse! I’m a 20 year old living in London, and every day is different for me. It jumps between podcast filming, evangelising on the streets, drinking lots of coffee, creating videos for social media, and performing music at gigs! I love God, and love figuring out new things about him every day!

Prior to the Lord’s calling him into the ministry, Joel was a comedian in western Canada. After coming to Christ, he entered into full-time ministry in North Carolina and later moved home to serve as youth and young adult pastor at a Calvary Chapel in Calgary. In 2007, the Lord moved on his heart to plant a church, Mountain Springs CC, in NW Calgary where he continues to pastor. In 2020 Joel released his first book entitled, “Humor Me”; as a result he now shares his insights on the topics of humour, evangelism, and public speaking. Joel is married to Tania who runs the women’s ministry with her team and they have 4 children who they homeschool: Chloe, Tatum, Roman and Cruz.

Jordan Deen is an experienced multidisciplinary creative producer, having worked with various organizations across Europe and America. The current fatherless climate is something that he feels incredibly called to speak into and help guide people towards experiencing redemption and healing.

Hat making was never on the career agenda for Marcel. A love of fashion and an interest in the industry led him to a career as an apprentice at Cad & The Dandy on Savile Row in 2008. An obsession with exceptionally made hats was ignited.

Marcel started honing his techniques and soon found that people began to take notice of his creations. In December 2017, the Marcel Rodrigues brand was formally founded and just shy of 5 years on has now opened its second location at the home of bespoke tailoring, Savile Row.

Meg Loney hails from the South West of the UK and is passionate about Jesus, surfing and supporting young people. She was previously a member of musical trio Wildwood Kin until she sensed God calling her into Youth Work on a local scale. She now works for St Basil’s Church in Devon, where she aims to help young people deepen their own personal relationships with God and realise their Kingdom potential. Most days she can be found hunting for new wild swimming spots, befriending strangers or drumming on inanimate objects.

Paul Friend has been involved in leadership roles in charity (SWYM) and church for the last 25 years and is passionate about team leadership and healthy leadership culture. Paul leads SWYM and lives with his family in Devon.

The loss of a loved one may be one of the most difficult circumstances you will face in this life, regardless of where you are in your faith journey. In adjusting to your new reality, we want to help.

Whether you’re wondering if what you’re feeling is normal, finding yourself with “questions for God”, or just trying to imagine the way forward, we will be drawing on both biblical wisdom and personal experience, to remind you that grief is one of the times in life when it’s “okay to not be okay.”

Sarah Yardley is a follower of Jesus who is passionate about faith, travel, reading, coffee, and community. She grew up at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in California, served at Reality Carpinteria, and currently lives in the United Kingdom, serving full-time with Creation Fest UK. She loves discovering what it means to follow Jesus and inviting others to know and follow Him.

Simon Guillebaud MBE spent two decades living in war-torn Central Africa, and speaks out of that context with raw urgency and passion for the last, the lost and the least. He’s the Founder of Great Lakes Outreach, host of the popular ‘Inspired’ podcast, author of the award-winning book Choose Life, and travels widely stirring up the Church for radical discipleship. His wife Lizzie and he live in Bath with their three teenage children.

Tiva Daka, and his wife Sara, have recently stepped out of a church in Redruth, Cornwall, that they planted and led for 7 years. They are currently in a season of transition and are seeking God for their family’s next steps. Tiva and Sara have been married nearly 15 years and have three uniquely amazing children, Elijah, Eliana and Jedidiah

Toby Lee is the Worship Pastor at Bridge Church UK in Launceston. After his training at Worship Central with Gas Street Church, Toby moved back to Cornwall with a deeper love for the local Church. He has a huge heart for seeing people grow in their walk with Jesus, as well as leading and growing the culture of worship within church bodies. Toby is married to Lydia and together they also run a small media company in photo and video production.