Topic: Church & the Ministry

Mike McKinley was raised in suburban Philadelphia. He received a B.A. in Religion and Classics from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and an M.Div from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. In 2004, Mike was brought onto the pastoral staff at Capitol Hill Baptist Church as a church planter. In 2005, he brought a small group of people from CHBC to Guilford Baptist Church in order to help revitalize the church’s ministry. He served as Guilford’s pastor until 2013, when Guilford merged with Sterling Park Baptist Church, where he now serves as Senior Pastor. Mike has been married to Karen since 1997, and they have five beautiful children: Kendall, Knox, Phineas, Ebenezer, and Harper. In his free time, Mike loves to spend time with his family, reading all kinds of books, and daydreaming about the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Ligon Duncan is Chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, and John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, and reared in a Christian home, he did his studies at Furman University, Greenville, SC (BA); Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis (MDiv & MA); and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (PhD). Ligon and his wife, Anne, have two children. Ligon has edited, written, and contributed to numerous books, most recently including: The Gospel As Center, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Preaching the Cross, Fear Not: Death and the Afterlife from a Christian Perspective, In My Place Condemned He Stood, and Does Grace Grow Best in Winter?.

Thabiti Anyabwile is the pastor of Anacostia River Church in Washington, D.C. Prior to that, Thabiti served as the pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman for seven years. He is a native of Lexington, North Carolina. Thabiti holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in psychology from North Carolina State University. He is the author of Captivated: Beholding the Mystery of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection, The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence, The Decline of African-American Theology, The Life of God in the soul of the Church, Finding Faithful Elders & Deacons, and What is a Healthy Church Member?. He is the happy husband of Kristie and the adoring father of three children. A former high school basketball coach and bookstore owner, he enjoys preaching, reading, sports, and watching sci-fi films.

Albert Mohler

R. Albert Mohler Jr. serves as the ninth president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Mohler is a theologian and an ordained minister, having served as pastor and staff minister of several Southern Baptist churches. He came to the presidency of Southern Seminary from service as editor of The Christian Index, the oldest of the state papers serving the Southern Baptist Convention. Dr. Mohler is a member of Third Avenue Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of The Gathering Storm: Secularism, Culture, and the Church, The Apostles’ Creed: Discovering Authentic Christianity in an Age of Counterfeits, The Prayer that Turns the World Upside Down, We Cannot Be Silent, The Conviction to Lead, He is Not Silent, Culture Shift: Engaging Current Issues with Timeless Truth, and Atheism Remix. He is also the general editor of the new Grace and Truth Study Bible. He is married to Mary, and they have two children, and are the proud grandparents of Benjamin, Henry, and Margaret.

C.J. Mahaney

C.J. Mahaney serves as the Senior Pastor for Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville and is the author of several books, including Living the Cross Centered Life, Humility: True Greatness, Don’t Waste Your Sports, and Sex, Romance and the Glory of God. C.J. and his wife, Carolyn, have three married daughters, one son, and twelve grandchildren. They reside in Louisville, Kentucky but C.J. cheers for his hometown teams the Washington Redskins, Nationals, Wizards, and University of Maryland basketball.

John Piper

John Piper serves as founder and lead teacher at Desiring God and is chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, Piper served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church. He has authored more than 50 books, and more than 30 years of his preaching and writing are available free of charge at desiringGod.org. Piper resides in the Minneapolis area with Noël, his wife of 53 years, and they have five children and 14 grandchildren.

Ligon Duncan

Ligon Duncan is Chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, and John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, and reared in a Christian home, he did his studies at Furman University, Greenville, SC (BA); Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis (MDiv & MA); and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (PhD). Ligon and his wife, Anne, have two children. Ligon has edited, written, and contributed to numerous books, most recently including: The Gospel As Center, Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Preaching the Cross, Fear Not: Death and the Afterlife from a Christian Perspective, In My Place Condemned He Stood, and Does Grace Grow Best in Winter?.

Mark Dever

Mark Dever serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. A Duke graduate, Mark holds a M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, a Th.M. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Ecclesiastical History from Cambridge University. He is the president of 9Marks and has taught at a number of seminaries. Mark has authored several books and articles, most recently, Compelling Community, Baptist Foundations, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, What is a Healthy Church?, and Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. He and his wife Connie live and minister on Capitol Hill. They have two adult children.

John MacArthur is the president of The Master’s College and Seminary and featured teacher with Grace to You. In 1969, after graduating from Talbot Theological Seminary, John took the pastorate at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. The emphasis of his pulpit ministry is the careful study and verse-by-verse exposition of the Bible, with special attention devoted to the historical and grammatical background behind each passage. Since completing his first best-selling book, The Gospel According to Jesus, in 1988, John has written hundreds of other books and study guides, including Our Sufficiency in Christ and The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series. John and his wife, Patricia, live in Southern California and have four married children. They also enjoy the enthusiastic company of their fifteen grandchildren.