Faculty

Dr. Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper is a futurist, a postmodern pilgrim, and a church planter. He has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Golden Gate Baptist Seminary which focuses on envisioning creative ways to connect people with God in the 21st century. In the past, he has worked as a pastor in a variety of settings, but has spent the last 7 years working as a personal trainer and an urban missionary in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has also recently completed work as lead researcher on the Global Television documentary Hip 2B Holy, which looked at the re-imagining of Evangelicalism in Canada. Stephen enjoys fitness and outdoor activities. He currently lives in Calgary, Alberta with his wife Tara and Rufus the wonder dog. He is the author of They're Just Not That Into You: The Church's Struggle for Relevancy in the 21st Century.

 

 

Dr. Sean Benesh

(@mtbikerguy) Sean Benesh (DMin, Bakke Graduate University) lives in the Pacific Northwest and is the author of The Multi-Nucleated Church: Towards a Theoretical Framework for Church Planting in High-Density Cities (2012), View From the Urban Loft: Developing a Theological Framework for Understanding the City (2011) and Metrospiritual: The Geography of Church Planting (2011). He is involved in urban ministry in the capacity of professor, researcher, consultant, Director of the Epoch Center for Urban Renewal, and church planter. He blogs regularly on various urban themes and topics at theurbanloft.org.

 

 

 
Dr. Wes Hughes
 
Dr. Wes Hughes is happily married to his beautiful wife, Charlean who is a Chaplain/Volunteer coordinator for a community hospice based in Clark County. Together, they have three well adjusted kids and two dogs. He is a missionary, spiritual director, coach, and Myers-Briggs facilitator who lives in the Portland Metro area, catalyzing urban church plants in 20-minute communities. He blogs about the urban scene at www.portlandchurchplanting.org and you can follow him on twitter at @weshughes and @sendPortlandOR. You can LIKE them at his Facebook page: Portland Church Planting.
 
 
 
Caleb Crider
 
(@calebcrider) He is a missionary, church planter, writer, and teacher. After serving as a church-planting strategist in Barcelona, Spain, Caleb returned to the U.S. to help prepare the American church for the challenges of ministry in a post-Christian context. He is co-founder of the Upstream Collective, a collection of churches that think and act like missionaries. He leads vision trips to help church leaders see how they fit into what God is doing around the world. Today, he lives in Portland, OR and is planting a local, sustainable, organic church in his neighborhood. theUpstreamCollective.org