THE ACTS 29 COUNCIL

Hunter is the Lead Pastor of Fellowship Denver Church and currently serves on the Acts 29 Board. He’s a diehard Arkansas Razorback fan and is avidly mediocre at road cycling, skiing, and fly fishing.

Francisco began his ministry as a teenager and has preached in several countries around the world during the last 20 years. He is the lead pastor of Casa de Libertad in Guatemala City and has a passion to reach others with the gospel through church planting. He lives in Guatemala with his wife Carol and his four children.

Dwight and his wife, Jessica, live in Montréal with their four children. In 2011, they began Church 21, a multi-location church in the province of Québec. Dwight has a great desire to see churches planted all throughout Canada. He enjoys baseball, running, reading, U2, and playing in the city with his family.

Rob Berreth is the founding and lead pastor of Redeemer Church in Bellingham, WA; the creator of a church based training tool and residency program called Acts 29 EQUIP (a29equip.com); and the series editor of a 12-book project exploring the foundations of the Christian faith (equipthesaints.org).

Rob has been married to Kati for 26 years and they have four wonderful children ages 17 to 22.

Scott has been married to his beautiful wife, Marci, for almost 20 years, and together they have three kids. Scott's family is his first ministry and greatest joy. Scott serves as the lead pastor of The Door Church, which was planted by The Village Church (TX) 15 years ago. Since that time, God has moved powerfully growing the church to two campuses in Lewisville and Argyle, Texas.

Ashley has been married to Sarah since 2001, and they have 5 children (4 biological and 1 daughter-in-law). Two of their children are still at home, and the older ones have been released into the wild. After serving in the US Army for a handful of years, Ashley earned an MDiv from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been on staff at Wasilla Bible Church, in Wasilla, Alaska, for roughly two decades. In 2016 he began to transition into the role of Senior Pastor – the position in which he serves today. His belief in and commitment to church planting can be traced back to his roots, growing up in a family of Alaskan church planters.

Matt is a husband, father, pastor, elder, and author whose greatest desire is to make much of Jesus. He has served over 20 years as the Lead Pastor at The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX. Matt is known around the world for proclaiming the gospel in a powerful and down-to-earth way and enjoys traveling to share the message of Jesus whenever he can. He lives in Texas with his beautiful wife Lauren and their three children, Audrey, Reid, and Norah.

Matt Dirks is the founding pastor of Harbor Church Hawaii, a family of congregations on Oahu. He’s also been involved in launching church-planting movements across the Pacific Rim. Matt and Cyndi live in urban Honolulu and have four teenage and young adult kids.

Kyle is married to Liz and they have 5 children. He planted Rock Hill Community Church in 2007 in Duluth, MN. He loves serving his community as a pastor and is praying for God to move mightily in Northern Minnesota.

Jim Essian planted The Paradox Church in Downtown Fort Worth, Texas, in 2011, where he continues to serve as Lead Pastor. He is the author of four books, including his most recent, Send: Loving Your Church by Praying, Giving, and Going. Before entering ministry, Jim spent eight years playing professional baseball with the Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Detroit Tigers organizations. He and his wife, Heather, live in Fort Worth with their three daughters—Harper Grace, Hollis Jane, and Hadden Faith.

David is the Lead Pastor of The Fields which he planted in 2003 in Carlsbad, California (www.thefieldschurch.org). He and his wife Wilma are a natives of Southern California and they have six children who love and serve Jesus in their church. He earned his B.S. in engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and worked for five years as an engineer in aerospace before going into vocational ministry. He earned his MDiv and ThM from Talbot School of Theology, Biola University where he has been teaching as Adjunct Faculty for fourteen years. David and Wilma started and led the Acts 29 Network for Australia and New Zealand in 2009. He loves spending time with his family, time with friends, travel, surfing, coaching church planters and pastors, real estate and problem solving.

Cristiano serves as the Director of Acts 29 Brazil. Previously, Cristiano was the first assessment coordinator for Acts 29 in the Portuguese language. Additionally, he is the pastor of the Redentor Church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Cristiano was also the planter of the Comunidade Batista de Macaé Church and currently acts as a mentor at the FOCO Theological Seminary. He holds degrees in Theology and Business Administration. Cristiano worked for fourteen years in the Oil and Gas industry before working full-time in ministry. He is married to Edna and is the father of Mariana and Alice.

Dr. Matthew Harding is the planter and Senior Pastor of the Well Community Church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area; Matthew planted the WELL 10 years ago. Matthew is married to Jennifer for 31 years and they have two grown children in full-time ministry and two precious granddaughters. Matthew holds a PhD and DMin. in Theology.

Adam Hawkins serves as one of the lead pastors at Citizens Church. God pursued Adam from a young age and drew him to himself by meeting Adam in the midst of suffering and joy. After time as an attorney, Adam made the switch to pastor ministry, and says that being a pastor has only further revealed his deep need for Jesus. Adam lives in Plano Texas with his wife and 3 beautiful children.

Noel Jesse Heikkinen serves as the Lead Pastor of Riverview Church, a multi-venue congregation in the Lansing, Michigan area, and as the Midwest Regional Director for Acts 29. He is passionate about helping churches and leaders multiply disciples, cultivate a culture of personal evangelism, and plant gospel-centered communities. Noel is also the author of Wretched Saints and Unchained, and has preached and trained church planters and pastors on six continents. He and his wife, Grace, have four adult children.

Rodney planted Stonegate Church in 2009, a thriving church on the south side of Dallas. He's been deeply vested in church planting, sending multiple church planters across the DFW area and beyond. He has over 20 years of ministry experience and loves to leverage that experience to serve pastors and planters. He's married to Laura, his bride of over 20 years, and they have three children.

Phil Hopper has been the lead pastor of Abundant Life Church in Lee's Summit, Missouri, since 2000.  He has witnessed God do extraordinary things in the life of the church, which started with one hundred people and has grown to multiple campuses across Kansas City and church houses across North America. Before becoming a pastor, he was a police officer and sergeant with the Kansas City Police Department, where he served as a SWAT team member. It was through this experience that God uniquely prepared him for the ministry. Phil lives in the Kansas City area with his wife, Christa.

After graduating from UNC Chapel Hill in 1997, Tyler and his wife Kimberly moved to Raleigh, where they now continue loving their city with their three kids. Tyler planted Vintage Church in the fall of 2002, which has now grown to five locations in the Triangle. Serving in a myriad of leadership roles with Acts 29 since 2003, he is driven by his passion for planting and growing churches to advance the gospel across the US and the world.

Trevor and Rachel met at Texas A&M University and have been married for 17 years. Together they have four children, Addie, Benjamin, Everett, and Annie Jo. Trevor has a Masters in Missiology from Dallas Baptist University and a Doctorate in Executive Leadership from Southern Seminary.

Trevor has over twenty years of pastoral experience, he currently serves as the Executive Pastor of Sending at The Village Church, the Director of Advancement for Launch Global and the US Director for the 100 UPG Cooperative.

Paul is married to Cindie, and they have two unbelievable children, Ryan and April, a beautiful daughter-in-law, Jess, and four delightful grandchildren, Ella, Olivia, Violet, and Wyatt. Paul loves to spend his spare time mountain biking and reading theology. His passion is communicating the timeless truths of Scripture in a compelling way. He is a graduate of Baylor University and Western Seminary

Dr. Phil Kooistra serves as the Lead Pastor and primary Teaching Elder of Grace Bible Church in Bend, Oregon, which he planted in June of 2011. He has been married to his wife Heidi since 1997, and together they have three grown children and one grandchild.

Phil began his ministry in 1996, serving in various student ministries before earning his Master of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary in 2003. He completed his Doctor of Ministry at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, in 2024. Prior to planting Grace Bible Church, he served as the Student Ministry Pastor at Independent Bible Church in Port Angeles, Washington, from 2003 to 2011.

Phil’s passion is to glorify God by helping people follow the Lord Jesus Christ through the faithful exposition of Scripture. He is devoted to preaching the unchanging truths of God’s Word and equipping believers to live out their faith in genuine community as the body of Christ.

Chris Lewis has been the Lead Pastor of Foothill Church in Glendora, California, since 2006. The best decision he ever made was marrying Michelle in 1989. They are the proud parents of 4 grown children and 3 grandchildren who get whatever they want from their Grandpa. In his free time Chris enjoys eating Michelle’s cooking, making pizza, hosting family dinners, playing with his grandkids and fly fishing. If you can’t reach him by phone he’s either wrestling with Isaac and Emma or waist deep in a river hoping to catch a native trout.

Jeff Martin serves as the Lead Pastor of Redeemer Community Church in Johnson City, TN, where he has faithfully led for the past 10 years after spending 7 years in student ministry. He is passionate about helping people encounter Jesus and live out the gospel in everyday life. Jeff has been married to his wife, Lucy, for 15 years, and together they’re raising three incredible kids—Ruthie (14), Whit (12), and Bentley (10).

Joby Martin is the founder and lead pastor of The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida. Since launching the church in 2012, he has led a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. In addition to providing The Church of Eleven22 with vision and leadership, Pastor Joby is an author, national and international preacher and teacher. He has been married to his wife, Gretchen, for over 20 years and they have a son, JP and a daughter, Reagan.

Anson McMahon is the Lead Pastor of Emmaus Church in the Atlanta area. Planted in 2010 by Anson and Heather McMahon, Emmaus Church began with a small core group and has grown to a weekly current attendance of over 900. Anson is also the proud dad to Annabelle and Madeline.

Gary McQuinn serves as the Lead Pastor of Park Church in Denver, Colorado, where he focuses on preaching, vision, and cultural leadership. He earned his master’s degree in Biblical Exegesis from Wheaton College. In 2010, he and his wife, Jamie, helped plant a church in Fort Collins before moving to Denver in 2014 to help lead Park Church. They have four children and love sharing life and adventure with family and friends in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

One, his wife Confidence, and their two daughters live in Pretoria, South Africa. He leads Rooted Fellowship, a gospel-centered, disciple making, and transcultural church, planted from a partnership with LIG.punt and Bryanston Bible Church. One’s desire is to see more churches planted in Pretoria and beyond.

Philip Moore is married to Rachel and they have five children. In 2006, Phillip moved to France to pastor a church in the eastern suburbs of Paris. The church has since planted three daughter churches and trained and sent a couple to plant a church in the centre of Paris. He is now starting a new church in the 5th Arrondissement of Paris. Philip is the Director for Acts 29 Europe.

Jeremiah Morris is the Pastor of Preaching and Vision at Seven Mile Road Houston and serves on the board of the Houston Church Planting Network. He loves preaching the gospel, the city of Houston, and anything wrapped in a tortilla. He is delighted to be married to Ashley and proud to be a father to 5 boys.

Adam Ramsey leads Liberti Church on the Gold Coast, Australia and also serves as the director for Acts 29 Asia Pacific. The author of several books, including 'Truth on Fire' and ‘Faithfully Present', his favourite parts of life include being married to Kristina, making memories with their five kids, and preaching good news. Adam holds two masters degrees in theology and leadership, and is presently a PhD candidate at Queensland Theological College. He is quite serious about joy and an avid practitioner of laughter.

Kyle serves as the Pastor of Preaching & Vision at Gospel Life Church in Puyallup, Washington. He has been part of Acts 29 churches since 2007 and has been discipled by the relationships and resources of the network throughout that time. Kyle holds a Masters degree from The Master’s University, serves as a Certified Biblical Counselor through ACBC, and he is passionate about planting churches throughout his community for many years to come. Most importantly, he is a husband to his best friend and ministry partner, Emily, and a dad to Magnolia, Graham, and Olson.

Jamin Roller is Lead Pastor of Citizens Church in Plano, Texas. He and his wife, Carrie, have three children. Jamin loves the local church, being with his family, and cheering for Dallas sports.

Eric Roseberry is the Lead Pastor of City of God Church in Lafayette, IN. He is married to Jessie, and they have four kids. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in New Testament from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Ryan planted City Church in Melissa, Texas, in 2014. His passion for church planting began when the Lord called him from a career in executive search into vocational ministry. Since then, Ryan has served and supported church planters across DFW, Texas, and around the world—equipping and encouraging them to see church planting as the primary strategy for advancing God’s Kingdom. Ryan has been married to Laurel for more than 25 years. Together, their greatest ministry has been raising three amazing sons who, by God’s grace, love Jesus and His church.

Jason Shepperd founded Church Project in 2010, as a pursuit to return to an applied New Testament ecclesiology, a “Church of House Churches”. In addition to Church Project, Jason oversees and contributes to Good.God.Gospel., Start with 7, Church Project Network, Good City, and more. Jason lives in The Woodlands, Texas with his wife Brooke, and their family.

Adam serves as the lead and founding pastor of Downtown Cornerstone Church (DCC) in Seattle. He is a third-generation Seattleite, a father of four, a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary, and a gospel co-laborer with Acts 29, 9Marks, and Simeon Trust. Once lost but now found in Jesus, Adam loves exploring and heralding the unsearchable riches of Christ.

After serving 19 years in campus ministry, Todd helped plant Providence Church in Austin, TX in 2010 and has been one of the pastors ever since. He is captivated by the idea of growing a gospel-centered church in Austin that will plant churches, multiply disciples of Jesus, and extend God’s kingdom in that city and around the world. Todd graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (M.A.), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (D.Min). He and his wife Amy have three daughters and one son-in-law.

Ian serves as the Lead Pastor at The King's Church in Lakeland, Florida, which he and a team planted in the fall of 2018. Prior to planting The King's Church, Ian served in campus ministry at Florida State University, taught High School Bible, and served as a Pastor at Aletheia Tampa. He has earned a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as a Bachelor's Degree in Religion from FSU. He and his wife Molly have been married since 2013 and they have three children.

T. J. Tims is the Lead Pastor of Immanuel Nashville. He and his wife, Jessica, reside in downtown Nashville with their four children, enjoying the city's vibrant life and rhythm. T. J. earned a PhD in Systematic Theology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and a master’s degree in Theology from King’s College London. Ordained in 2008, he also serves on the Council of The Gospel Coalition.

Steve is the founding and Senior Pastor of Hope Community Church started in 1996. Born in Hibbing, Minnesota he came to the Twin Cities to go to the University of Minnesota. While a student at the U of M, Jesus Christ changed his life! He is married to Carole, and has three children, David (and wife Brittany and three grandchildren), Jonathan, and Calvin (married to Kennedy and one grandchild). In his free time he enjoys playing cribbage with Carole, flyfishing, duck hunting, remodeling/woodworking, brewing fantastic beer, and hanging out with friends with a quality cigar. He has been part of the Acts 29 Network since 2007.

Renaut van der Riet is the founding and lead pastor of Mosaic Church in Winter Garden, Florida, a gospel-centered church he planted in 2002 with a vision to make the hope of Jesus known both locally and globally.
Renaut is the co-author of What Great Ministry Leaders Get Right (with Jimmy Dodd) and the creator of The ReStory, an initiative that calls believers to rediscover the freedom found in Christ through gospel clarity and Spirit-led living. His ministry reflects a deep commitment to theological faithfulness, kingdom multiplication, and equipping leaders for church planting and renewal around the world.

Bruce Wesley is the founding and Lead Pastor of Clear Creek Community Church in League City, TX, and the co-founder and President of the Houston Church Planting Network. Bruce and his wife, Susan, invest in three key areas for community transformation: planting churches, strengthening marriages, and raising up leaders for the church of tomorrow. They have three married daughters and a growing number of incredible grandchildren.