The Rev. Dr. Emily Bisset has been the minister of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Toronto for 13 years, where Calvin shares in ecumenical shared ministry with Deer Park United Church. Emily has her Th.D. in Homiletics from Knox College/The University of Toronto. She was raised and ordained in the PC(USA). Emily was received into The Presbyterian Church in Canada in 2007 and became a Canadian citizen in December 2020. Emily has been involved in the life of The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC) in a variety of ways including preaching and coordinating worship for the General Assembly, National Women’s Gatherings, and national Stewardship conferences. Emily has written curriculum and worship liturgy for the PCC on issues such as what it means to be the church in today’s society, human sexuality, and preaching/sacraments. She has led congregational renewal retreats and women’s gatherings for local and regional groups. She is an adjunct faculty member at Knox College, where she teaches a course in advanced preaching. She is married to another Presbyterian minister, the Rev. Alex Bisset, and is mom to a wonderful teenager.

The Rev. Dr. Jason Byassee is the senior minister of Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto, Ontario. He previously served as the professor of Homiletics and Biblical Hermeneutics at the Vancouver School of Theology. His primary vocation is to reinvigorate today’s church with the best of ancient and contemporary wisdom for creatively faithful living.

Jason is the author or editor of a number of books, including, most recently, Northern Lights: Resurrecting Church in the North of England, with Ross Lockhart, Better than Brunch: Missional Churches in Cascadia (both with Cascade) and Surprised by Jesus Again (Eerdmans).

He was previously senior pastor of Boone United Methodist Church in Boone, North Carolina. He has also served as pastor of a small, rural congregation in NC, as interim preacher at First Baptist Vancouver, and as preacher to the English-speaking congregation at Chinese Presbyterian in Vancouver. He is married to Jaylynn and together they have three boys.

Fr John Boutros is a priest at the young downtown church in Toronto, Canada, St. Moses & St. Katherine Coptic Orthodox Church (SMSK). Fr John met the girl of his dreams, married in 2011, and is now a daddy to Anastasia, Zoë and Élise. Ordained to the priesthood in the Coptic Orthodox Church in July 2012, he was previously a pediatric surgeon. Now, Fr John serves a wide variety of urban dwellers, students, and young professionals. Fr John is equally passionate for the marginalized, the poor, and those who have no one. Being in a community of disciples of Jesus, steeped in ancient faith and Orthodoxy, rooted in Coptic heritage, SMSK lives to incarnate God’s love in a modern, metropolitan setting.

The Rev. Dr. Sarah Han is Assistant Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Director of the Tyndale Centre for Pastoral Imagination at Tyndale University Seminary and brings practical ministry experience as an ordained minister and theological expertise as an academic. Dr. Han considers herself to be “third culture” Canadian-Korean-Chinese and her formative theology was shaped on the mission field abroad. She has provided leadership in the Canadian immigrant church context for over a decade and has diverse experience in the Canadian public and private sectors. Dr. Han’s vocational commitment and theological passion are to critically observe and reflect on how ecclesiology shapes and informs missiology, and her research focuses on an intercultural, intergenerational, missional ecclesiology for Canada.

The Rev. Scott E. Hoezee is an ordained Pastor in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. From 1993-2005 he was the Minister of Preaching and Administration at Calvin CRC in Grand Rapids, MI. In the spring of 2005 Scott accepted the Seminary’s offer to become the first Director of the Center for Excellence in Preaching. He has also been a member of the Pastor-Theologian Program sponsored by the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was pastor-in-residence in the fall of 2000. From 2001-2011 Scott served on the editorial board of Perspectives: A Journal of Reformed Thought and was co-editor of that journal from 2005-2011.

Rev. Hoezee is the author of several books including The Riddle of Grace (1996), Flourishing in the Land (1996), Remember Creation (1998), Speaking as One: A Look at the Ecumenical Creeds (1997), Speaking of Comfort: A Look at the Heidelberg Catechism (1998), Proclaim the Wonder: Preaching Science on Sunday (2003), Grace Through Every Generation (2007), Actuality: Real Life Stories for Sermons That Matter (2014), and Why We Listen to Sermons (2018).

The Rev. Dr. Mark Andrew Jefferson serves as the John Gladstone Chair of Preaching and the Dean of Sarah Daley Nickerson Chapel at Acadia Divinity College at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Mark has served churches in both Virginia and Georgia and more recently served on the faculty of Virginia Theological Seminary where he developed innovative courses in prophetic proclamation, homiletics, and leadership formation. His work explores the confluence of race, class, technology, contemporary cultural expressions and preaching. His forthcoming book, I, Too, Preach America: Race, Class and the Future of Christian Proclamation (Wipf & Stock, 2025) reexamines Black preaching through the perspectives of the Hip-Hop emcee and the folk preacher. His next project, The Algorithm and the Anointing: Proclamation at the edge of Surveillance and Spirit investigates the theological ramifications of preaching in an era dominated by digital algorithms.

Dr. Jefferson has preached around the globe – in South Africa, Israel, the Caribbean, and throughout the United States. He is also a member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College. Whether in pulpits, classrooms, or digital platforms, Dr. Jefferson brings a theologically rigorous and culturally resonant vision for Gospel witness.

Rev. Laura de Jong is a pastor in the Christian Reformed Church of North America and has served congregations in Ontario and Michigan. Laura is a graduate of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary. She is currently working for Friendship Ministries Canada, helping churches become more accessible for and inclusive of individuals with disabilities. Laura is a regular preacher in Christian Reformed and Presbyterian churches, and also serves as a worship coach and consultant. She and her husband live in Hamilton with their dog and two cats.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Knowles is a graduate of Wycliffe College and the Toronto School of Theology. Dr. Knowles retired in 2024 from the George Franklin Hurlburt Chair of Preaching at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario, where he now serves as Professor Emeritus. His most recent book-length study, Third Voice: Preaching Resurrection (2021) addresses the spirituality of preaching in light of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Dr. Knowles is ordained within the Anglican Church of Canada.

The Rev. Dr. Eliana Ah-Rum Ku is a preacher, theologian, and mother of two teenagers whose life and work move between Korea and Canada. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church of Korea and now holding ministerial standing in The Presbyterian Church in Canada, Ku serves as Assistant Professor of Homiletics at the Graduate School of Practical Theology in South Korea and Adjunct Professor of Worship and Preaching at Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary. Ku teaches in interdenominational settings with lay leaders, ordained ministers, missionaries, and pastors serving in diverse ministry contexts. Ku is an educational advisory board member for Solidarity for the Next Generation, a lecturer for the North American Institute for Preaching Studies and the Center for Art and Preaching. Ku received a PhD in homiletics from Emmanuel College in the University of Toronto and is the author of Lament-Driven Preaching: Proclaiming Hope amid Suffering. Her research and teaching focus on homiletics, the theology of preaching, biblical interpretation, and the ethics of preaching, with particular attention to lament, hospitality, and multiplaced lives.

The Rev. Gail Ricciuti (Presbyterian Church USA) is Professor Emerita at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, where she taught preaching and practical theology for 23 years. During the 25 years preceding her teaching career, she and her husband (the Rev. Anthony Ricciuti) pioneered the field of co-pastoring in Byron, New York and at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, she earned degrees from the University of Puget Sound and Princeton Theological Seminary, with an honorary Doctor of Divinity conferred by Keuka College. She co-authored the two-volume Birthings and Blessings: Liberating Worship Services for the Inclusive Church.

The Rev. Susan Sparks is a trial lawyer turned standup comedian and Senior Pastor of the historic Madison Avenue Baptist Church in NYC. Installed in 2007, she is the 15th Senior Minister of MABC and the first woman in its 175-year history. A North Carolina native, Susan received her B.A. at the University of North Carolina, a law degree from Wake Forest University, and her Master of Divinity at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

An award-winning nationally syndicated columnist and best-selling author of five books, Susan is also a nationally known speaker (including TEDx), preacher, and professional comedian touring nationally with a Rabbi and a Muslim in the Laugh in Peace Comedy Tour. Her work with humour, healing, and spirituality has been featured in O (The Oprah) Magazine, the New Y ork Times, and on such networks as ABC, CNN, and CBS. For more information, check out SusanSparks.com.

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling is the Ambassador for the Canadian Bible Society. Prior to that appointment in 2022, he served as the Senior Minister of the historic Timothy Eaton Memorial United Church in Toronto from 1998 to 2021. Andrew was born in the United Kingdom and is a Canadian Citizen. He received his education in England, Bermuda, Canada, and South Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Comparative African Government and Law from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), a Master of Divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and a Doctor of Ministry in preaching from Acadia Divinity College (Wolfville, Nova Scotia).

In 2008 Wycliffe College (Toronto), recognized his contribution to preaching with an honorary Doctor of Divinity. In 2016 Dr. Stirling was appointed a Lifetime Fellow of Acadia Divinity College. For the past 15 years he has been an IndyCar Chaplain.

The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton is the Senior Pastor of the Chautauqua Institution, the Assistant Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and the retired Bishop of the Diocese of Maryland. He previously served as Canon Pastor of Washington National Cathedral and Director of the Cathedral Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage before being ordained bishop in 2008. He has served as a college chaplain, parish priest and assistant professor of homiletics and liturgy at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Bishop Sutton ministry has been noted for his focus on contemplative spirituality, racial reconciliation, nonviolence, and environmental stewardship. He co- founded Contemplative Outreach of Maryland and Washington, an ecumenical network of those committed to the contemplative dimensions of the Gospel in daily life, and is a contributor to the books, The Diversity of Centering Prayer, and Reclaiming the Gospel of Peace: Challenging the Epidemic of Gun Violence.

Canadian stage and screen actor RH Thomson was awarded the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and is a Member of the Order of Canada. He has appeared in theatres across Canada and has filmed in Canada, the US, Greece and the Czech Republic. He has earned multiple awards for his work as an actor. He directed the award-winning production of The Crucible at Theatre Calgary and performed in The Message by Jason Sherman and This Was The World by Ellie Moon, both directed by Richard Rose at the Tarragon Theatre Toronto. He played Matthew Cuthbert in the CBC/NETFLIX series Anne With An E for which he received two Canadian Screen Awards. As well as being an advocate for the arts, Mr. Thomson has worked on many history/education/arts projects. He has built The World Remembers-Le Monde Se Souvient, an international WWI names Commemoration exhibit with twenty-one participating nations, that is now installed at the Canadian War Museum – www.theworldremembers.org.

Sarah Travis is Associate Professor, Ewart Chair in the Practice of Ministry and Faith Formation at Knox College, University of Toronto. She has written several books including Decolonizing Preaching: The Pulpit as Postcolonial Space; Metamorphosis: Preaching after Christendom; Unspeakable: Preaching and Trauma-Informed Theology; Unsettling Worship: Reforming Liturgy for Right Relations withIndigenous Peoples and Remembering the Body: Preaching that Affirms Sexuality. Sarah is passionate about training lay and ordained people to preach in a rapidly changing world.

The Rev. Dr. Paul Scott Wilson is Professor Emeritus of Homiletics, Emmanuel College, University of Toronto. He has lectured widely around the world and is the author of numerous books on preaching, including The Four Pages of the Sermon (1999, 2018).