Preacher Bios and Sermons

Wednesday, September 5

J.R. Briggs

J.R. is the founder of Kairos Partnerships, an organization which walks alongside and encourages pastors and leaders to better equip them for God-honoring ministry. He also serves as the Director of Leadership and Congregational Formation with The Ecclesia Network and is a Missions Strategist with Fresh Expressions U.S. He is cultural cultivator of The Renew Community, a faith community for the hurting and the hungry in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife and two sons.

J.R. earned his bachelor’s degrees in biblical literature and in Christian education from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. He earned his Master of Missional Theology from Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, where he is currently working on a Doctor of Ministry, writing his doctoral thesis on how question-asking in leadership can advance God’s mission. He has served in ministry for over a decade in mega-churches, house churches, and church plants. His books include Fail, Eldership and the Mission of God, When God Says Jump, and Redefining Life for Men, and he coauthored The Message // Remix: Solo with Eugene Peterson.  

Wednesday, September 26

Jennifer Schneider

Jennifer is the Executive Director of For His Children (FHC), a Christian children’s home in Ecuador that cares for children with normal and special needs. FHC is a model ministry in Ecuador due to the quality care provided to the children and for the work toward family reunification and adoption. Over 800 children have been cared for at FHC over the past 26 years. An alumna of Gordon College, Jennifer graduated in 2007 with her bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and Spanish. She has been living on-site at the home in Quito, Ecuador since 2009. 

Monday, October 1

Jerry Root

Jerry is a professor of Evangelism and Leadership at Wheaton College and teaches in the Christian Formation and Ministry Department. He is a visiting professor at Biola University and Talbot Graduate School of Theology.  

Born and raised in Southern California, Jerry came to Christ while a freshman at Whittier College through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Jerry was a college pastor for 19 years at Granada Heights Friends Church in California, and College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. He served four years as senior pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Santa Barbara, California.   

Jerry is an expert on C. S. Lewis with both his Master of Divinity thesis and Doctoral dissertation focused on Lewis’ life and work. For almost 40 years, Jerry has taught courses and lectured on Lewis at dozens of colleges and universities in the U.S. and worldwide. 

Monday, October 1, Evening Chapel

Joe White

Joe White is the president and chairman of the board of Kanakuk Ministries. He started Kanakuk Kamps, a family of multi-cultural Christian sports summer camps dedicated to helping adolescents achieve their greatest potential. Since 1976, he and his wife, Debbie Jo, have operated these camps in Missouri, which host 20,000 campers and 2,500 college-age and professional staff members each summer. 

Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Southern Methodist University in 1970. He was a two-year starting defensive tackle for the SMU Mustangs and received the Mike Kelsey Heart Award. After graduating, he was a football coach at Texas A&M University before assuming responsibility for Kanakuk Kamps. He has received honorary doctorates from Southwest Baptist University in Missouri and Belhaven College in Mississippi and has authored 22 books for parents and teens. 

Joe expanded his Christian camping vision by founding Kids Across America, which provides opportunities for 7,000 inner-city children to attend camp each summer. He also founded Cross International, a world relief organization that cares for orphans and the impoverished in 30 Third World nations, and Men at the Cross, a national men’s ministry that seeks to “end spiritual fatherlessness” in America. 

Wednesday, October 3

Peter Frey

Peter is the pastor of Union Congregational Church in South Grafton, MA. He is passionate about relevant biblical preaching that engages both the heart and mind. Peter earned his bachelor’s degree in theological studies from Moody Bible Institute, his Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and his Master of Theology from The University of Edinburgh. His postgraduate research was on the role of imagination in sermon development and delivery. Peter's other interests include technology, social media and video editing. 

Peter and his wife, Mary, also have an active and growing ministry on YouTube called “The Frey Life”. With daily videos they share the ups and downs of life with Cystic Fibrosis, a life-threatening lung disease that Mary was born with. 

Wednesday, October 10

Steve Finn

Steve Finn, is the Executive Director of Chestnut Mountain Ranch (CMR). In 2005 he moved to West Virginia from Atlanta with the dream of starting a Christian school and home for boys. Today the 225-acre facility, located outside of Morgantown, has become a safe haven for boys and families in crisis. 

Chestnut Mountain Ranch provides a Christ-centered school and home for boys in need of hope and healing. CMR is a place for family restoration, where boys can enjoy school again, and all can experience positive family values. Their educational program helps children develop spiritually, intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially. 

Monday, October 15

Rebecca Lindsay

Rebecca serves as Gordon’s Ambassador for the College, representing the institution to external audiences and providing a ministry of encouragement and support to faculty, staff, students, and friends of the College. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Baylor University with a master’s degree in education from Columbia University. A seasoned educator and published author, she has taught students in the elementary grades through high school. She is originally from Dallas and is married to Michael Lindsay and is mother to three girls – Elizabeth, Emily, and Caroline.

Monday, November 5

Sam Acevedo

Samuel Acevedo is an Associate Pastor at Congregación León de Judá, where he leads several social justice efforts aimed at influencing Latino society in New England for the Kingdom of God. Pastor Sam serves as the founding Executive Director of the church-based Boston Higher Education Resource Center (HERC), dedicated to the ministry of helping inner-city young people go to college. 

Through its one-on-one City Passage Mentor Program, an SAT program, adult computer-literacy and ESOL programs, and an intensive two-year college prep program known as Passport, the Boston HERC has helped over 1,000 at-risk kids go to college since its inception in 1999. 

Wednesday, November 7

David Rox

David Rox has been a professor of music at Gordon College since 1981. In that role, he has conducted many instrumental ensembles including the Wind Ensemble, Brass Quintet, Brass Choir, Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble. Beyond Gordon, Dr. Rox has conducted ensembles throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, including important venues in London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Cannes, Monaco, Genoa, Quebec, and at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston. 

David has served as a public and private school music consultant, festival conductor, adjudicator and clinician for concert bands, jazz bands and brass ensembles throughout New England. From 1995 until 2002 he served as music director of the Middlesex Concert Band, and has been a guest conductor for the Metropolitan Wind Symphony, Massachusetts Music Educators Association District Festivals, and for similar district honors bands throughout the region.  

Dr. Rox is a past president of the New England College Band Association and currently serves as musical advisor to the Northeast Massachusetts Youth Orchestras Wind Ensemble. He is an excellent jazz trombonist and in addition to all his musical interests, he and his wife, Margo, are actively involved in church work in the North Shore area.  

Wednesday, November 14

Mike Shannon

Chaplain, Lieutenant Colonel, Michael Shannon is an Evangelical Chaplain who has honorably served in the United States Army, Army National Guard, and Air Force for 38 years. Currently the Deputy Command Chaplain for Air Force Special Operations Command, Lt. Col Shannon is a combat veteran who has received several awards including the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with seven oak leaf clusters, the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the Army Commendation Medal.  

Mike received his Bachelor of Theology in Pastoral Ministry at Grace Bible College, and his Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. Ranked as the number one Chaplain or Field-grade Officer 16 times, he currently commands and honorably leads 19,000 military members and their families at various locations around the United States and throughout the world.  

Monday, November 26

Alison Gerber

Alison Gerber is the pastor of Second Congregational Church in Peabody, MA. She grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia. She earned bachelor’s degrees in English literature and art history and theory from Sydney University, and later earned her Post Grad Certificate in Screenwriting from the University of Technology, Sydney. She worked as a bookstore clerk before taking an internship at her local church as an assistant pastor and finding her life’s calling and passion.  

Alison loves to write. In her home country, she is a published poet, and in 2014 was awarded the Frederick Buechner Award for Excellence in Writing. She blogs occasionally for Apartment Therapy (a home and decor site, designed to inspire anyone to live a more beautiful and happy life at home), and has published three devotionals with Hendrickson Publishers in the US: James and Work, 1 Corinthians and Work, and Bible Study and Meditation in the Everyday Matters for Women series.  

Monday, February 4

Nicole Martin

Rev. Dr. Nicole Martin is a Senior Mobilizer with American Bible Society, stewarding the Scripture engagement work in Charlotte, Dallas, Kansas City, and Philadelphia. She is a recognized leader, serving on the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and in lay ministry at The Park Church in Charlotte where she formerly worked as the Executive Minister. Nicole is a gifted writer and author of the book Made to Lead: Empowering Women for Ministry.  Her work has been featured in The Charlotte Observer, Christianity Today, and in the Charlotte Business Journal where she was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 in 2017.  

Nicole has a passion for community and has been appointed by the Mayor to serve as the faith-based representative on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Advisory Board.  She is the founder of The Clergy Women of Charlotte and Executive Director of SoulFire International Ministries, which focuses on empowering others to reach their fullest potential in Christ. 

Wednesday, February 6

Tom Cole

Tom is on the Management Committee for The New Canaan Society nationally and is a leader of the Manhattan NCS chapter. The New Canaan Society is a group of men who gather together to encourage each other in friendship and faith and to support each other to be better men, husbands, and fathers in the marketplace and in their communities. Over 25,000 men are part of the National NCS movement across 60 chapters. Each chapter meets weekly or bi-weekly has its own flavor and is directed locally by volunteers.

Tom is the Co-Head of US Leveraged Finance at Citigroup Global Markets. Prior to this, he was the Co-Head of Global Banking, Americas for HSBC, head of Deutsche Bank’s North American leveraged finance practice and worked for Continental Bank and General Electric. Tom received his Bachelor of Science in Finance from Indiana University and MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.

Monday-Wednesday, February 11-13

Chip Ingram

Chip serves as CEO & Teaching Pastor of Living on the Edge – an international teaching and discipleship ministry. The ultimate vision of Living on the Edge is to be a catalytic movement of Christians living out their faith in ways that transform families, churches, and communities for the common good and the glory of God.

Chip’s passion is helping Christians really live like Christians. As a pastor, author, and teacher for more than three decades, Chip has helped believers around the world move from spiritual spectators to healthy, authentic disciples of Jesus by living out God’s truth in their lives and relationships in transformational ways. 

Chip’s direct, practical teaching style helps everyday believers apply God’s truth to relevant issues, relationships and challenges. Reaching more than a million people a week, his teaching can be heard online and through hundreds of radio and television outlets worldwide. In his winsome, down-to-earth way, he reveals Bible truth about God’s perspective on marriage, understanding love and sex, raising kids, money, and how to live the Christian life in today’s culture.

Monday, March 25

Jen Thompson

Jen is the co-founder of Rockside Ranch, a working organic ranch in the mountains of far Northern California that helps at-risk youth restore their lives through Christian fellowship, farming, and outdoor recreation.

An alumna of Azusa Pacific University and the Nutritional Therapy Association, Jen is passionate about using food and farming to restore broken hearts. When she isn’t adventuring with her two kids, she is busy hosting as many people as she can around her table, teaching nutrition classes, and encouraging those around her to find rest in Jesus.

Wednesday, March 27

Dilip Joseph, MD

Dilip serves as medical director of Morning Star Development. He oversees public health, preventive health, and clinical projects in rural medical clinics in Afghanistan, providing access to those without health care options. Dr. Joseph’s medical work spans both developing and developed countries, and he has experience in public health and clinical medicine.

In December of 2012, Dilip was kidnapped by the Taliban near Kabul Afghanistan and held captive near the Pakistan border. Four days later he was rescued by Navy SEAL Team Six. While in captivity, he connected with his captors through honest dialogue about his life and theirs. This experience rejuvenated his compassion for the people of Afghanistan and brought him to the realization that even the Taliban could be reached. He shares this journey of hope in his book Kidnapped by the Taliban: A Story of Terror, Hope, and Rescue by SEAL Team Six.