Keynote Speakers
Ray Bakke
Senior Associate, Ray Bakke Associates; Professor, Ray Bakke Centre for Urban Transformation, Hong Kong
Ray Bakke is a pioneer in urban mission, who has spent his career studying the cities of the world. He has pastored in inner city Seattle and Chicago, and is a life-long academic. Dr. Bakke has taught at Trinity College, McCormick Theological Seminary, Northern Baptist Seminary (Chicago), and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (Philadelphia). He co-founded the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) in Chicago. He then founded the International Urban Associates (IUA) which animated a global network of 100+ urban church and mission leaders. He served as Senior Associate for Large Cities with the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism from 1979 to 1995. In this capacity, Dr. Bakke led or consulted in urban ministry consultations in hundreds of large cities. In 2002, Dr. Bakke was part of the team that gave birth to Bakke Graduate University which offered doctoral and master degree programs to ministry practitioners and leaders around the globe. Two-week plunge courses were delivered in cities throughout Asia, Africa, Central/South America, including across the US. Since his retirement in 2011, Dr. Bakke formed Ray Bakke Associates (RBA), through which he continues to invest in the next generation of urban ministry leaders. RBA strategically partners with those who are passionate about empowering the church to be creatively missional in an urban world. Ray Bakke is the author of many books including the ground-breaking works The Urban Christian and A Theology as Big as the City.
Read the interview in which Bakke previews his Pastors Conference talks here.
Brenda Salter McNeil
Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies and Director of the Reconciliation Studies program, Seattle Pacific University
Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is a dynamic speaker, author and trailblazer with over twenty-five years of experience in the ministry of reconciliation. Her mission is to inspire, equip and empower emerging Christian leaders to be practitioners of reconciliation in their various spheres of influence around the world. She is an Associate Professor of reconciliation studies in the School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University, where she also directs the Reconciliation Studies program. She previously served on the staff of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for fourteen years as a Multiethnic Ministries Specialist. She earned a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary, a Doctorate of Ministry from Palmer Theological Seminary and was awarded a Doctorate of Humane Letters from North Park University. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and is on the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors for Wycliffe USA and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA. Dr. Brenda is recognized internationally as one of the foremost leaders of reconciliation and was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today in 2012. She is also the coauthor of The Heart of Racial Justice and the author of A Credible Witness and Roadmap to Reconciliation. Dr. Brenda is married to Dr. J. Derek McNeil and they are the proud parents of two young adult children.
Karen Wilk
Missional Team Leader, Christian Reformed Church in North America and National Team Member, Forge Missional Training Network
Karen Wilk is a missional team leader with the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) as well as a National Team Member of Forge Canada’s Missional Training Network, leading their Neighbourhood Life initiatives and Edmonton hub. She is also a neighbour, wife, mom, and pastor of N.E.W. (Neighbourhood Engagement Workers’) Community and President of her neighbourhood Community League. She has been a vocational pastor in Edmonton for over 30 years and has a Doctorate in Missional Leadership from Northern Seminary (Chicago). Along with preaching and teaching in numerous places, Karen has written a number of books including Don’t Invite Them To Church: Moving From a Come and See to a Go and Be Church. Recently she was included in the Bridgeway Foundation’s list of “100 fantastic Canadian Christian women leaders."
Eric O. Jacobsen
Senior Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Tacoma
Rev. Eric O. Jacobsen, PhD, is the Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Tacoma, WA where he lives with his wife (Liz), four children (Kate, Peter, Emma, and Abe) and 8 chickens. He is the author of The Space Between: A Christian Engagement with the Built Environment, Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith, and a number of articles exploring the connections between the physical aspects of neighborhoods and our experience of community. He has a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctorate in Theology and Culture from Fuller Theological Seminary.
Conference Host
Dr. Ross Hastings
Sangwoo Youtong Chee Associate Professor of Theology
Ross Hastings, a Zimbabwean Scot, holds PhDs in organometallic chemistry (Queen’s University, Kingston) and theology (University of St Andrews, Scotland). His teaching interests include Trinitarian theology, pastoral theology, theology and spirituality of mission, ethics, and the interface between science and theology. In addition to teaching theology and chemistry, he has served as a senior pastor in several churches, most recently pastoring Peace Portal Alliance Church in White Rock, BC for 11 years.