CONTRIBUTORS

Born and raised in Spring, Texas, Zahriya Zachary joined the Bethel Music collective in 2021. Although she didn’t come from a musical family, her love for music began at the early age of six while learning to play the piano. She began volunteering on her church’ s worship team when she was a freshman in college, while the Lord was teaching her more about what it means to have a worshiper’s heart. Zahriya has appeared on several Bethel Music albums leading songs such as “Back To Life” and “Surrounded By Holy.” Zahr iya believes that worship is the place where we belong, and her prayer is that she would help lead people to the feet of Jesus.

Amanda Cook is a multi award-winning artist, writer and musician. Her music explores the intersections of faith, doubt, love, loss, hope, despair and FUN. She’ll be joining us at Renaissance to lead worship.

Jo Saxton is a speaker, podcaster, and author. She is the founder of the Ezer Collective, an initiative dedicated to investing in women leaders around the world, equipping them to own their voice, and boldly step into their calling. She currently serves as the Executive Director of The 25 (a leadership development initiative) at Bethel University.

Ben Quash is the first occupant of the Chair in Christianity and the Arts at King’s College London. He is Director of the Centre for Arts & the Sacred at King’s (ASK), as well as general editor of The Visual Commentary on Scripture (TheVCS.org), a pioneering open-access collaboration between theologians, art historians, and biblical scholars from all around the world. He runs an MA in Theology, Bible, and the Arts in association with the National Gallery, London, broadcasts frequently on BBC radio, and has made three series of films introducing key biblical figures through works in major art collections in London and Berlin. His publications include Abiding: The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book 2013 (Bloomsbury, 2012) and Found Theology: History, Imagination and the Holy Spirit (T&T Clark, 2014). His new book Theology, Modernity and the Visual Arts (co-edited with Chloë Reddaway) came out in July 2024.

Joshua Luke Smith is a poet for the people, creating from the mandate to ‘Speak Into The Chaos’. He’s a pastor, poet, producer and published author. He’s the founder of Orphan No More, a record label and creative community as well as The Psalmists, a charity helping the lives of offenders through creative expression and self-reflection.

Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore are co-authors of two books, Liturgies for Hope and Liturgies for Wholeness. Audrey Elledge is an author and editor in New York, where she works by day at SparkNotes. She has won the Academy of American Poets Prize and the Virginia Beall Ball Prize. Elizabeth Moore is an author and poet living in New York. She works full-time for Ad Age on editorial conference content. She is also a member of the "Unfortunately, I Love You" poetry collective and attends Church of the City New York.

Lo Alaman ministers in the greater Houston area. He serves with Urban Hymnal, a community of young adults who wield creativity and art to host the presence of God in third spaces. Compelled by the Gospel of Jesus, Lo is passionate about sharing the message of God's love through poetry, music, and story. Lo is Erika’s husband, Emmy and Maverick’s dad, a son, a brother, and a friend.

Dave Lomas is the founding pastor of Reality SF, where he has served since 2010 as the Teaching & Vision Pastor. His work centers on helping people follow Jesus and fostering spiritual transformation in the unique culture of San Francisco. Under his leadership, Reality SF has become a vibrant spiritual community, offering a space where people can explore faith and their role in God’s renewal. Dave also mentors emerging church leaders through Searock, an organization he co-founded. He is the author of The Truest Thing About You and lives in San Francisco with his wife, whom he met in high school, and their three children.

Zach is spoiled to be married to Kristin and grateful to be dad to 3 girls; Eden, Esther, and Mercy. He is grateful to have served in pastoral ministries, church planting, and missions but most recently, following the Asbury Outpouring, the Meerkreebs have had the gift to travel to campuses, churches, conferences, and countries to encourage and tell stories about Jesus and what He can do with humble and desperate hearts! He is pumped to share that his first book, Lower; Igniting Spiritual Awakening through Radical Humility, is out Jan 2025!

Natasha Duursma is a London based cinematographer who has contributed to a diverse range of projects, from commercials to music videos to narrative based projects. She is dedicated to capturing images collaborating alongside directors that leave a lasting impression on the audience. As best demonstrated on music videos for Jungle, Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines D.C., Little Simz & Confidence Man. As well as advertising campaigns for Nike, Hugo Boss, Dr Martens, Google Pixel, Adidas & Meta.

Jay Richards, is a dynamic entrepreneur, visionary speaker, and CEO at Imagen Insights on a mission to bridge the communication gap between brands and consumers. Armed with the insights and unfiltered feedback from the brutally honest Imagen Insights consumer community, Jay empowers some of the world's most prominent household names with the knowledge and data they need to craft successful marketing strategies.

Joel teaches songwriting & artist development at various Universities across London, ICMP, LCCM, NHAM, and is currently recording his second album in Hackney, whilst producing for viral poets Sophia Thakur and Dan Whitlam.

Donna Matthews is a musician and creative artist. In the 1990’s she played lead guitar in Elastica and lo-fi, DIY band Klang, and in subsequent years devised and facilitated creative workshops for people in recovery from addiction. She is currently in her final year of a practice-based PhD in Music at the university of Glasgow. Interested in issues such as poetic intuition, inspiration, and gift, her work explores how the intuitive state might be conveyed through aesthetic form, whilst also exploring improvisation as a means of 'undoing form' to experience the inspired state.

Jordan Deen is a communicator with a love for connecting people from different backgrounds and locations. Jordan works as a brand and storytelling consultant for churches and organisations across Europe and North America. Jordan also hosts “Voicemails: To My Younger Self”, a podcast that looks at our upbringings, frameworks and the advice our younger selves needed to hear.

Advisor, researcher, and mental health professional with multiple authored publications. Postgraduate from The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, with a background in psychology and global mental health. Experience ranging from academic institutes, NHS hospitals, and charity not-for-profit organisations.

Dan is a multi-award winning entrepreneur who has worked with some of the world’s largest brands in delivering game changing campaigns and content through his agency, Wonderful. Dan has spearheaded Wonderful into being a leading digital creative agency, recently recognised as #11 in the UK for client satisfaction in the 2015 Drum Design agency census. Former Kent Invicta Entrepreneur of the Year, Dan’s relentless passion for helping brands to deliver better results through the fusion of creativity and technology, enables him to input at board level right through to marketing delivery. Dan has developed strategies for global brands in leisure and tourism, retail, luxury brands, finance, construction and government. Dan is a mentor and advisor to many of London's tech incubators and is a regular keynote speaker on digital technology, innovation and business growth platforms. Dan is also the founder of the Wonderful Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that supports sustainability and growth of community projects globally.

David Gardner is a co-founder and General Partner of LVP. He has over 30 years experience in the game sector. Former CEO & board director, Atari Previously EVP & COO, Worldwide Studios, Electronic Arts ("EA"). 25 years at EA including building EA Europe from 0 to $1bn in annual revenue. DG has spent his career working across Silicon Valley and Europe. In 2007, David was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his services to industry, and in 2017 he was appointed BAFTA's first Vice President for Games.

Hugh spent five years working in impact investing and innovation. He founded Niya with the idea of upskilling refugees to address a growing digital skills deficit. After failing spectacularly, he learned that trying to fit excluded groups into a broken labor market is a "camel through the eye of a needle" challenge. He is now focused on fixing a broken labor market to create economic inclusion for all. He lives in sunny London, loves mountains and his motorbike, and runs a small network of young Christians who share a vision of seeing a generation captivated by God and shaping culture.

Jo co-founded London-based non-profit Resurgo in 2003 and stepped down as CEO at the end of 2023. Jo authored and delivered the Spear Programme at Resurgo, a coaching programme for unemployed young people facing multiple barriers to employment, now considered the most effective employability programme in the UK serving 1000+ young people each year. She also built Resurgo’s consulting arm which supports organisations (churches and businesses) to build strong organisational culture and meaningful social impact programmes. The Sunday Times recently listed Resurgo amongst its ‘Best Places to Work’. Jo is currently consulting for a number of organisations across sectors, supporting CEOs seeking to define and embed both their mission and culture with greater focus. She is an International Coaching Federation accredited executive coach and also serves as a Non-Exec Director for London based asset management firm, Findlay Park and Trustee for IJM UK.

Nicole has worked for a range of foundations and charities dedicated to evidence-based solutions in the areas of slavery and poverty alleviation. Up until May 2024 she established and led Justice & Care’s International Systemic Change Unit, which focused on advancing research and best practices in the fight against modern slavery. Prior to that Nicole advised a range of international development organisations and provided strategic input at board level. She was founding board chair of human rights organisation International Justice Mission Australia. Nicole currently runs Aestus foundation which she cofounded in 2015, and is developing a model for responding to forced labour in supply chains at a more systemic level. Nicole began her career in Investment Banking.

Jon loves working with builders and entrepreneurs to connect their heart and purpose. At Praxis, he develops programs, products, and tools to advance redemptive entrepreneurship through local ecosystems, including Redemptive Labs. His prior experience includes helping launch a new brand at a Fortune 100 company, designing and teaching a collegiate entrepreneurship class, serving as a founding advisor of QuarterZero, and executive producing a feature film. Jon is a founding board member of 100cameras, a nonprofit that empowers youth through photography. His favorite roles are as a husband to Maegan and dad to Nora.

Sam Lawson Johnston is focused on investment strategy, management and creative direction at Kinrise. He is also a trustee of Charity:Water and Hackney.Church, and co-founded eyewear brand Finlay London. Samuel has worked in UK commercial real estate for 14 years, with former roles as equity partner at Cording Real Estate Group, and Investment Director of FORE Partnership.

Joanne Woolway Grenfell has been Bishop of Stepney in the Diocese of London since July 2019. Previously, she was Archdeacon of Portsdown in the Diocese of Portsmouth, Director of Ordinands and Residentiary Canon in Sheffield, and a parish priest. Joanne’s interests include mission and strategic development, education, particularly school governance, public life, and poetry. She has written a DPhil thesis on poetry and the culture of place in sixteenth century literature, and she used to teach English at Oriel College, Oxford. Her London diocesan responsibilities involve chairing the Joint Operations Team, being lead bishop for safeguarding, and overseeing the Diocese’s racial justice priority work. She is the national lead bishop for safeguarding for the Church of England.

In 2006 , A few years After completing a degree in Illustration from uni of Westminster, the Society of Women Artist awarded Ali Young Artist of the year. This kick started her career as an professional Artist. Since then she has regularly exhibited with the Mall galleries. Ali is represented by central London gallery ‘Gallery Different.’ As a fine Artist Ali Specialises in Portraiture and Figurative base Art Works - Predominatly oil on canvas taking on private commissions alongside exhibiting. Her fine art practice is self taught. As an Illustrator she specialises in book and Editorial work and also creates Climbing inspired artworks for magazines and private commissions. Ali devides her time between 3 days in the studio and 3 days @ St. Peter’s Bethnal Green where she is associate Priest. Part of her role includes running a community Art club ‘Art and Soul.’ Ali has a background in Art teaching having worked in both the private and state sectors as an art educator before going into the ministry.

Ruth Yimika Afolabi is the Founder & CEO of a women’s media brand called Magnify which sits at the intersection of faith and culture and was started in 2009. Magnify encompasses a magazine, podcast, events and a range of other platforms and across all platforms engages with over 30,000 women a week.  Prior to going full time at Magnify, Ruth previously worked for L’Oreal, Burberry and Alpha International.  Ruth has been featured in The Huffington Post, BBC, Channel 4, Marie Claire and the Mail On Sunday due to a recognition of her work as an influential woman redefining faith for her generation.

Al Gordon leads SAINT, a fast-growing and thriving church on a mission to bring hope to the heart of East London. Al has a vision to build cathedrals of creativity across the globe through Renaissance, a new school of creativity. The creativity of Al’s ministry is both intriguing and inspiring to any entrepreneurial leader. Whether it involves hosting concerts in their church building, opening a brewery like monks of old, or keeping bees as a prophetic reminder of the crucial role the church is to play in the ecosystem of human interactions. He is married to Olivia, an architect, and they have three children. Al is a trustee of Alpha International.

Nai is the Associate Rector of SAINT in East London. After gaining an MA in Politics, Psychology and Sociology from the University of Cambridge, she joined Lambeth Palace as a parliamentary researcher to the Archbishop of Canterbury, before moving onto public affairs in the charity sector. Following a sense of call to ordination she did a Masters in Theology, Ministry and Mission, and loves getting to lead a church right in the heart of East London. Nai is particularly passionate about empowering those on the margins to recognise God’s calling, so that the Church’s worship, discipleship and growth, will better reflect the Kingdom of God here on earth.