Alyssa Esparaz

Main Session

Alyssa Esparaz is a communicator with a passion for inspiring and equipping Christians to live compassionate lifestyles. As a young person in the church, Alyssa loves seeing her generation bring Christ’s hope to this messy and broken world. She serves as a Writer and Communicator at Compassion Canada, one of the world’s leading child development organizations. She also studies International Development at the University of Toronto. She blogs at alyssaesparaz.ca and is a regular contributor to Love Is Moving magazine. When she is not doing any of the above, Alyssa can be found cheering for the Raptors, dreaming about traveling on an airplane, or eating way too much ice cream.

Cheryl Bear

Main Session

Cheryl Bear, from Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, is well known as an important and respected voice on behalf of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. As a speaker and teacher, she has traveled to over 600 Indigenous communities in Canada and the United States, sharing her songs and stories. She also visits non-Native communities (schools, government, churches, and businesses) holding workshops to raise awareness and understanding of Indigenous issues.

She has released three albums sharing stories of Indigenous life: Cheryl Bear (self-titled), The Good Road, and A’BA. Cheryl’s albums have received three Indigenous People’s Choice music awards, two Covenant Awards and a Native American Music Award.

Cheryl is a founding board member of NAIITS, an Indigenous learning community. She is also an Associate Professor at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. Cheryl has an earned Doctorate from The King’s University in Los Angeles, and a Master of Divinity degree from Regent College.

She has written two books, Introduction to First Nations Ministry and a children’s book called The Honour Drum.

She is currently serving as a Strategic Associate to the Indigenous Relations Specialist with Canadian Baptist Ministries.

Jen Pollock Michel

Main Session, Workshop

Jen Pollock Michel is the award-winning author of Teach Us to Want and Keeping Place. Her third book, Surprised by Paradox, released in May 2019. It traces four themes in the Bible—incarnation, kingdom, grace, and lament—as a way of discovering some of the surprise of God’s story. Jen writes widely for print and digital publications and travels to speak at churches, conferences, and retreats. She holds a B.A. in French from Wheaton College and an M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University.

She is an American living in Toronto. Her husband Ryan and five children moved to Canada in 2011, planning on a two- or three-year adventure. They are still here and quite naturally finishing their sentences with “eh?” Their family attends Grace Toronto Church. As part of her volunteer work with her local church, she is the lead editor for Imprint magazine.

You can subscribe to her monthly newsletter at jenpollockmichel.com.

(Pronunciation Guide: Pollock = Paul-luck (like Jackson Pollock, painter) Michel = Michelle (like the woman’s first name).

John Sundara

Main Session, Workshop

John D. Sundara is a minister in the Episcopal (Anglican) Diocese of Dallas. He currently ministers at Church of the Incarnation through regular preaching and teaching, and is in charge of discipleship and formation. He is also part of the Racial Reconciliation Commission in his diocese. Originally from India, John immigrated to Vancouver when he was 13, and got involved with P2C at UBC as a student. He later served on staff with P2C for 9 years in Vancouver and Toronto, was involved with our global partnerships to North Africa and South Asia, and trained new staff.

John loves to read the Bible and contemplate theology, desires for skeptics and the curious to engage with Christ, and often wonders about the intersection of faith, politics, and justice. John’s passion is for Christians to echo Peter’s words, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

He has a degree in Biology from UBC, and an M.Div from Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. He is married to Naomi, and they have a son, Daniel and a daughter, Emma (on the way).

John Van Sloten

Main Session, Workshop

John Van Sloten is a pastor, teacher, and writer who lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His passion is to know God more (and to read everything he’s written). For the past 20 years, John has been exploring a worldview that seeks to discern God’s voice in all things: the Bible, the arts, sport, science, film, music, literature, history, mathematics, nature, and human nature. His first book, The Day Metallica Came to Church: Searching for the Everywhere God in Everything, listened for God’s whispers in pop culture. John’s second book, Every Job a Parable; What Walmart Greeters, Nurses, and Astronauts Tell Us about God, listens for God’s words at work. John has taken part in three John Templeton Foundation sub-grants to explore the intersection of faith and science in the context of preaching, and just finished draft one of his third book, God Speaks Science.

Jon Corbin

Main Session

Jon Corbin is a Canadian hip-hop artist, spoken word poet, speaker, band leader, writer, and DJ based in Milton, Ontario. Since 2001, first under the name The Runaway, Jon has blessed stages big and small with lyrical themes of faith, love, family, social justice, and personal growth.

Corbin is a veteran artist who has quietly carved a niche in Canada’s hip-hop community, collaborating with multiple Polaris Music Prize nominee Shad, Juno Award winner Caroline Brooks of The Good Lovelies, and many other revered emcees on both sides of the border.

As a speaker, Corbin speaks passionately on topics of identity, race and racism, mental health, and community connections.

Jon is signed to LSTNFND music. You can find links to his work on the LSTNFND site.

Jon Tyson

Main Session, Workshop

Jon Tyson is a widely respected church planter and pastor in New York City. He is the author of Sacred Roots, A Creative Minority, and The Burden is Light.

Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Jon moved to the United States two decades ago with a passion to seek and cultivate renewal in the Western Church. His preaching is known for the rare fusion of passion and depth. He regularly speaks at large events around the world including Q Conference and Catalyst.

Jon lives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood of Manhattan with his wife and two children. Visit him at churchofthecitynyc.com.

Katharine Hayhoe

Main Session, Workshop

Katharine Hayhoe is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and why it matters to us here and now. She is also a remarkable communicator who has received the American Geophysical Union’s Climate Communication Prize and the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication She has been named to a number of lists including Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Thinkers, and FORTUNE Magazine’s World’s Greatest Leaders.

Katharine writes and produces the PBS Digital Studios series, Global Weirding, and serves on advisory committees for a broad range of organizations including the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the Earth Science Women’s Network, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is currently a professor and directs the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois.

Wendy Stringer

Main Session, Workshop

Wendy Stringer lives in Toronto with her husband, Kiernan, their seven kids and a big black dog named Seamus. She loves growing food, bird watching, drinking strong coffee and waking up while the house is still quiet. She and her family worship at Grace West. She works for Grace Toronto Church as director of discipleship; shaping, leading, and teaching in discipleship ministry.

Jen Pollock Michel

Main Session, Workshop

Jen Pollock Michel is the award-winning author of Teach Us to Want and Keeping Place. Her third book, Surprised by Paradox, released in May 2019. It traces four themes in the Bible—incarnation, kingdom, grace, and lament—as a way of discovering some of the surprise of God’s story. Jen writes widely for print and digital publications and travels to speak at churches, conferences, and retreats. She holds a B.A. in French from Wheaton College and an M.A. in Literature from Northwestern University.

She is an American living in Toronto. Her husband Ryan and five children moved to Canada in 2011, planning on a two- or three-year adventure. They are still here and quite naturally finishing their sentences with “eh?” Their family attends Grace Toronto Church. As part of her volunteer work with her local church, she is the lead editor for Imprint magazine.

You can subscribe to her monthly newsletter at jenpollockmichel.com.

(Pronunciation Guide: Pollock = Paul-luck (like Jackson Pollock, painter) Michel = Michelle (like the woman’s first name).

John Sundara

Main Session, Workshop

John D. Sundara is a minister in the Episcopal (Anglican) Diocese of Dallas. He currently ministers at Church of the Incarnation through regular preaching and teaching, and is in charge of discipleship and formation. He is also part of the Racial Reconciliation Commission in his diocese. Originally from India, John immigrated to Vancouver when he was 13, and got involved with P2C at UBC as a student. He later served on staff with P2C for 9 years in Vancouver and Toronto, was involved with our global partnerships to North Africa and South Asia, and trained new staff.

John loves to read the Bible and contemplate theology, desires for skeptics and the curious to engage with Christ, and often wonders about the intersection of faith, politics, and justice. John’s passion is for Christians to echo Peter’s words, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

He has a degree in Biology from UBC, and an M.Div from Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. He is married to Naomi, and they have a son, Daniel and a daughter, Emma (on the way).

John Van Sloten

Main Session, Workshop

John Van Sloten is a pastor, teacher, and writer who lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His passion is to know God more (and to read everything he’s written). For the past 20 years, John has been exploring a worldview that seeks to discern God’s voice in all things: the Bible, the arts, sport, science, film, music, literature, history, mathematics, nature, and human nature. His first book, The Day Metallica Came to Church: Searching for the Everywhere God in Everything, listened for God’s whispers in pop culture. John’s second book, Every Job a Parable; What Walmart Greeters, Nurses, and Astronauts Tell Us about God, listens for God’s words at work. John has taken part in three John Templeton Foundation sub-grants to explore the intersection of faith and science in the context of preaching, and just finished draft one of his third book, God Speaks Science.

Jon Tyson

Main Session, Workshop

Jon Tyson is a widely respected church planter and pastor in New York City. He is the author of Sacred Roots, A Creative Minority, and The Burden is Light.

Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Jon moved to the United States two decades ago with a passion to seek and cultivate renewal in the Western Church. His preaching is known for the rare fusion of passion and depth. He regularly speaks at large events around the world including Q Conference and Catalyst.

Jon lives in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood of Manhattan with his wife and two children. Visit him at churchofthecitynyc.com.

Katharine Hayhoe

Main Session, Workshop

Katharine Hayhoe is an accomplished atmospheric scientist who studies climate change and why it matters to us here and now. She is also a remarkable communicator who has received the American Geophysical Union’s Climate Communication Prize and the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication She has been named to a number of lists including Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Thinkers, and FORTUNE Magazine’s World’s Greatest Leaders.

Katharine writes and produces the PBS Digital Studios series, Global Weirding, and serves on advisory committees for a broad range of organizations including the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the Earth Science Women’s Network, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is currently a professor and directs the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She has a B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Toronto, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of Illinois.

Wendy Stringer

Main Session, Workshop

Wendy Stringer lives in Toronto with her husband, Kiernan, their seven kids and a big black dog named Seamus. She loves growing food, bird watching, drinking strong coffee and waking up while the house is still quiet. She and her family worship at Grace West. She works for Grace Toronto Church as director of discipleship; shaping, leading, and teaching in discipleship ministry.