Speaker Bios

  • Darwin Glassford,  Associate Professor of Church Education and Director of the MA Program at Calvin Theological Seminary.  Darwin is passionate about congregational education and the role of small groups in learning together.  Darwin is currently attempting to climb all the 14,000 ft peaks in Colorado with his daughter Rachael and spends time each summer hiking the Appalachian Trail with his daughter Kristin.


  • Kevin Adams, pastor of Granite Springs Church, Lincoln, California, a suburban church plant near Sacramento, and director of the “Sierra Leadership Network,” a training program for new church leaders and author of 150:Finding Your Story in the Psalms.

 

  • Debra Rienstra, Professor of English at Calvin College was the 2008 Calvin faculty lecturer at the The January Series at Calvin College, with a talk titled, "Words Wear Out: How Writers Help Us Renew Religious Language." She and her husband, Ron Rienstra, collaborated on a book,Worship Words: Discipling Language for Faithful Worship. Other recent books include So Much More: An Invititation to Christian Spirituality(2005), which won an Award of Merit from Christianity Today in the apologetics category, and Great With Child (2002), which was named a Best Book of 2002 by Publisher's Weekly. Professor Rienstra frequently speaks on topics related to worship.

 

  • Ron Rienstra, Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship Arts at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI.  His primary interest ishelping preachers, congregations, worship teams, and individuals learn to deepen and enliven their gatherings with God.

 

 

  • Emily R. Brink is Senior Research Fellow of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and editor emeritus of Reformed Worship, a quarterly journal published by Christian Reformed Church Publications. Her areas of responsibility include conference planning and global resources. She also teaches courses in music for worship at Calvin College and Calvin Theological Seminary. In 2004 she was named a Fellow of the Hymn Society in recognition of distinguished service to hymnody and hymnology.  Her areas of interest include congregational song from all times and places; psalmody; hymnal editing (she was editor of three different hymnals); and consulting with a wide range of churches on worship renewal issues.

 

  • Trygve Johnson is Dean of the Chapel at Hope College.  Johnson often reflects on the college and asks himself, “How do we come alongside of each other and where do we grow together?” He realizes that everyone has different needs and growth cannot be forced. “Growth is something that you can’t manipulate; the best thing that you can do is provide the right conditions. God does not coerce. God does not manipulate, but He does create a context in which we can live, breathe, and have our being.”

“As a pastor of Hope,” says Johnson, “I want to help create the best kind of context for that positive engagement. Part of my job is to say God’s name clearly and precisely--to preach the gospel without apology.”

 

  • Julia Start Fletcher, dance instructor at Turning Pointe School of Dance in Holland, Michigan; adjunct professor of dance & worship at Kuyper College; and coordinator of worship arts at Millbrook Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

 

  • Joyce Borger, editor of Reformed Worship; music and liturgy editor for Faith Alive Christian Resources; and editor of the forthcoming hymnal Lift Up Your Hearts, projected for release in 2013. 
     
  • Betsy Steele Halstead, an artist in oils and woodcuts, coordinator of visual arts work of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and continuing education events manager for Calvin Theological Seminary. 
     
  • Gary Schmidt, Professor of English at Calvin College is a prolific author of children's literature and young adult fiction including Wednesday Wars, Trouble, and OK for Now. He has received two John Newberry Honor Awards from the American Library Association, the first in 2005 for his novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and the second in 2008 for his novel Wednesday Wars. Professor Schmidt, originally from New England, regularly leads the New England Saints interim course in January.