Doug Fields: pastor, author, speaker & youth ministry Yoda

is currently the Youth/Parent/Marriage Pastor at Mariners Church in So. CA. He’s most well known for his longevity and influence in youth ministry (35+ years as a youth pastor) and for writing the award-winning book Purpose Driven Youth Ministry—which is a youth ministry textbook translated in over 30 languages. He’s the author of 60+ Marriage/Family/Youth books including Your First 2 Years in Youth Ministry, Speaking To Teenagers, and Intentional Parenting. He’s the co-founder of DownloadYouthMinistry.com where he currently helps lead a team of resource providers (Coleader.co) and youth ministry training events (DYMtraining.com). In addition to youth ministry, he speaks at Marriage Events thru HomeWord.com, where he shares stories of his 40 years of marriage to Cathy and displays too many photos of his children and grandchildren.

Josh Griffin: junior high pastor, speaker & YMU co-founder

is a trusted leader at Download Youth Ministry. He is one of the leading voices in youth ministry with over 25 years experience in the trenches. He is currently the junior high pastor at Mariners Church in So CA. Prior to co-founding DYM, Josh was the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church and the leader of the PDYM global movement. He has created more than 100 youth ministry resources and authored several books. In addition to training thousands of youth workers yearly, he is in demand as an emcee and all-around-great-guy. He’s been married to his college sweetheart (Angela) for 25 years, has 4 children, and more dogs than most kennels.

Dr. Chap Clark

is an amazing youth ministry thinker! As a well-known practitioner, adolescent and family scholar, and author, Clark has more than 30 years’ experience in direct ministry. He is the leader of two nonprofit organizations: ParenTeen™, committed to train and equip adults, schools, churches and communities to understand and respond to the developmental and spiritual needs of adolescents and emerging adults; and the Institute for Ministry Leadership (IML), a congregationally based recent graduate leadership program that helps churches to nurture and equip young people in their calling as agents of Christ and His Kingdom.

Dr. Virginia Ward

serves as the Dean of the Boston Campus, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Boston. Dr. Ward’s local and national involvement in the training and development of youth leaders spans three decades. She teaches youth ministry, leadership and urban ministry development courses for the Boston Campus. Dr. Ward comes with extensive experience as an urban pastor, ministry organizer, and youth ministry expert. A third-generation minister, Rev. Ward is an Associate Pastor at Abundant Life Church where her husband Bishop Larry Ward is the Senior Pastor. Dr. Ward is co-author on the book It’s Personal: Five Questions You Should Answer To Give Every Kid Hope, and she conducts research on ethnic/multi-ethnic youth and family ministry. Dr. Ward resides in Boston with her husband and they have two adult sons.

Katie Edwards

is currently the Campus Pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. Katie has played various roles within the student ministry at Saddleback for the past 27 years. She served as the junior high pastor for 10 years, and then went on to lead and serve as the student ministries pastor. Katie has a passion for teenagers and a love for equipping & encouraging youth workers. She’s an author and a conference speaker. She and her husband, Ron, have three kids: Abby, Ella, and Cooper.

Heather Flies

is the Junior High Pastor at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, MN.  She began her ministry at Wooddale when she joined the staff as the Junior High Associate in 1996. In 1998, she joined the pastoral staff. Outside the walls of Wooddale Church, Heather spends a great deal of time as a communicator. She is invited into local junior and senior high schools to present on a variety of topics, like self-esteem and abstinence. Heather also brings truth, hope and fun to students at various camps, seminars and retreats locally and across the nation. To get her adult fix, she also speaks to parents and youth workers.

Jonathan Mckee

is the author of over 25 books including the brand new "Parenting Generation Screen"; and the best seller, "The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket." An expert on youth culture, Jonathan speaks to parents and leaders worldwide. You can read more from Jonathan on his website BecomingScreenWise.com

Dr. Jim Burns

is a renowned youth and family expert, an acclaimed author, and the founder of HomeWord, a radio program that reaches more than a million people across the country each day. In partnership with Azusa Pacific University, he established and now provides leadership for the HomeWord Center for Youth and Family, a research and training institute offering biblically based resources for parents and youth. Under Burns, the center has become the largest provider of Christian parenting and youth seminars in the United States. His passion is communicating to adults and young people practical truths to help them live out their Christian lives. Burns is a three-time Gold Medallion Award-winning author and has written books for parents, youth workers, and students. He also speaks in person to thousands of people each year around the world. Burns and his wife, Cathy, and their daughters, Christy, Rebecca, and Heidi, live in Southern California. For more information about Burns, visit homeword.com.

Scott Rubin

After 27 years in youth ministry at Willow Creek Church in Chicago, recently relocated to Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, California. He's the NextGen Pastor overseeing JH, HS, Young Adults, and kids ministry.

Dr. Walt Mueller

is the founder and President of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding and has been working with young people and families for over 35 years. As a result of his work with CPYU, Walt has become an internationally-recognized speaker on contemporary youth culture. He is also the author of several books including Youth Culture & Youth Culture 101 and Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture.

Dr. Kara Powell

is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) and a faculty member at Fuller Theological Seminary. Named by Christianity Today as one of “50 Women to Watch”, Kara serves as a Youth and Family Strategist for Orange, and also speaks regularly at parenting and leadership conferences. Kara is the author or co-author of a number of books including Growing Young, Sticky Faith, & Deep Justice in a Broken World.

Doug Franklin

is the president of LeaderTreks, an innovative leadership development organization focusing on students and youth workers. I am passionate about leadership development in the church. As a veteran youth pastor for several years his ministry focuses included: evangelism, discipleship, missions, teaching, community, and service, but one thing made all of these focuses better: students leading them. He is one of the primary voices in empower students to lead.

Josh McDowell

As a young man, Josh McDowell considered himself an agnostic. After being challenged to intellectually examine the claims of Christianity, he discovered compelling and overwhelming evidence for the reliability of the Christian faith. After his conversion, Josh committed his life to telling a doubting world about the truth of Jesus Christ. Working with Campus Crusade for Christ and founding the youth outreach, Josh McDowell Ministry, Josh has shared the gospel with more than 25 million people in 125 countries. He is the author or co-author of 147 books including More Than a Carpenter and Evidence That Demands a Verdict

Dr. Sean McDowell

is a gifted communicator with a passion for equipping the church, and in particular young people, to make the case for the Christian faith. He is an associate professor in the Christian Apologetics program at Biola University and the author of 18 books including So The Next Generation Will Know, A New Kind of Apologist and Understanding Intelligent Design). Sean is the general editor for The Apologetics Study Bible for Students and blogs regularly at seanmcdowell.org.

Mark  Oestreicher

 

Marko has been involved in church ministry his whole life, particularly with teenagers and youth workers. He has had a broad experience working in churches in roles ranging from Junior High Pastor to Executive Pastor. The author of dozens of books, including Youth Ministry 3.0, Middle School Ministry, and Youth Ministry in Seasons of Disruption. Marko runs a popular coaching program for youth workers thru The Youth Cartel. 

Karl Romeus

is a pastor, speaker, leadership coach, and consultant. Karl has been in ministry for over 20 years . Most recently as the Executive Pastor of Ministry Development at Flatirons Church in and around the Denver area. He oversees children’s ,middle school, high school, college ministry, young adults, and groups across all campuses. And recently launched Flatirons College. He studied Christian Leadership and Biblical Theology at Grand Canyon University.

Jessica Sanchez

has been serving the local church for over 20 years in a variety of roles in children’s, youth, and adult ministry. Her deepest joy is found in empowering, ministering to, and caring for leaders in the church. She’s on the Download Youth Ministry team, a volunteer small group leader at her church, and a spiritual director.