Founder/Primary Teacher
Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large, multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. He is also a key speaker for Emotionally Healthy Discipleship—a movement that has touched hundreds of thousands of people. Rich graduated with a BA in pastoral ministry and theology from Nyack College. He went on to complete his master of divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. His award-winning book, The Deeply Formed Life, was released in September 2020. He and his wife, Rosie, have two beautiful children and reside in Queens.
Director
Andres Valenzuela was born in Quito, Ecuador and grew up in Kenya and Mexico. He holds a Master of Organizational Leadership from Nyack College. Andres has held various leadership positions at Nyack College over a span of 20 years and owns a wedding and family photography business in the NY metro area. He’s an avid traveler and a fanatic of all things futbol and tennis. He’s been married to Kim since 2009 and they have 2 fantastic girls, Ana Sofia and Neomi.
Steve is the author of Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs and the founder of capablelife.me, an online community helping you to function as a calm, aware, present human in the work place and home place. Since 2005, Steve has served as Lead Pastor of Discovery Christian Church in Broomfield, Colorado, an innovative and entrepreneurial church. He is also proud to be a strategic partner with Compassion International, Leadership Network, and Missio Alliance. Learn more about Steve’s ministry at stevecusswords.com
Rev. Duke Kwon began his formal training for pastoral ministry at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where he received a Master of Divinity and Master of Theology (New Testament) degrees. Duke is currently in Washington, DC serving as the church planter/pastor of Grace Meridian Hill, whose mission it is “to build a gospel community that is ‘spiritually diverse,’ cross-cultural, and neighborhood-centered.” Duke co-authored the book Reparations: A Christian call for repentance and repair. Duke and his wife, Paula, have three children.
Deb Hirsch is a missional leader, speaker and author who has led churches in Australia and Los Angeles. She is one of the founders of Forge Mission Training Network and a founding board member of Missio Alliance. She is the author of Redeeming Sex; Naked Conversations about Sexuality and Spirituality and co-author (with Alan Hirsch) of Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship.
Wesley Hill is an Episcopal priest and Associate Professor of New Testament at Western Theological Seminary. He has spoken and lectured at numerous Christian colleges and seminaries in the U.S. and internationally. He is the author of Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality, Paul and the Trinity: Persons, Relations, and the Pauline Letters, Spiritual Friendship: Finding Love in the Church as a Celibate Gay Christian, and The Lord’s Prayer: A Guide to Praying to Our Father.A contributing editor for Comment magazine, he writes regularly for Christianity Today, The Living Church, and other publications.