Victor and Kristen Maynard are pastors at Vintage Church Los Angeles. They recently moved with their kids to Santa Monica after having served as pastors at Village Church, Surrey, for over a decade. They are both passionate about helping others experience the depth and beauty of Jesus in the everyday and in the many changing seasons of life.

John Swinton is Professor of Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen, where his work explores the intersections of theology, mental health, disability, and human flourishing. A former mental health nurse and chaplain, he brings theological insight into conversation with lived experience and interdisciplinary research. Alongside his academic writing, he is a guitarist, singer-songwriter, and host of Thinking from the Heart, a podcast and musical project exploring theology, mental health, and the healing imagination.

Daniel Whitehead is the CEO of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries. Previously, he spent ten years in full-time vocational ministry, serving as senior pastor of a church for eight years. Daniel hails from the UK, but now resides in Vancouver, BC. He is married to Annie, and has two children. In his spare time Daniel loves laughing, making other people laugh and watching his beloved soccer team, Tottenham Hotspur (who rarely make him laugh...but does cause others to laugh at him).

Gerald Griffin served as a pastor at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon for 15 years before recently relocating to Topanga Canyon with his wife Jenni to plant a church alongside his former ministry partner, John Mark Comer. In addition to this new venture, Gerald serves as a pastoral coach with Practicing the Way, helping ministry leaders cultivate sustainable rhythms and spiritual practices.

A lifelong surfer, Gerald has recently embraced backpacking as another way to connect with others and enjoy creation. He and Jenni share a rhythm of daily walks together for conversation and prayer, and they treasure time with their three adult children: Simon, Jillian, and Miriam.

Ian Simkins grew up just outside of Detroit as the oldest of seven homeschooled children. He first encountered the beauty of global and local mission at his family’s Alliance church, and nervously preached his first “terrible” sermon (he says) at sixteen. That moment, though, planted a seed of love for ministry that God would continue to grow.

Ian has served as a Student Ministries Pastor, a Lead Pastor and a Teaching Pastor in Illinois and co-hosted a radio show called The Common Good. In 2021, he followed God’s call to Tennessee, where he now serves as Lead Pastor of The Bridge Church. He and his wife Katie love sharing every adventure, including that of raising their three amazing boys: Owen, Redmond and Ezra.

Mark & Cheryl Buchanan live between Enderby, BC and Calgary, Alberta. After pastoring for many years, for the past decade or so Mark has been enjoying serving as associate professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose Seminary. Cheryl is the Director of New Story Community, a recovery program for Indigenous women.

For 20 years Mark and Cheryl have walked with Indigenous peoples, learning from their wisdom and supporting their journeys. Mark is a teacher, speaker and author of 13 books. They have 3 adult children.

Joshua Luke Smith is a British poet, songwriter, community builder, podcaster and 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. Raised partially in Pakistan, Smith draws on his personal journey to engage audiences on the themes of spiritual formation, identity and hope.

He lives with his family in London, UK.

Alex Rayment is Lead Pastor of Penny Lane Church, Liverpool, UK. He is married to Laura who will be leading worship this week alongside their dear friend Emily Nelson. They have 3 daughters, love board games and lifting heavy things!

Alex and his family first visited Barnabas in 2024, thanks to an introduction from Emily (also his Operations Director!), who is the niece of Barnabas’ founding couple Rob & Kathy, and spent a lot of her growing up summers here.

Brett Donald is a pastor, coach, and occasional professor who served in the Vancouver area for many years. More recently, he and his wife Natalie and their two kids have moved to Victoria to pioneer a new church. Brett is also a trainer with Saturate, helping church leaders make disciples in their contexts. Ever since accidentally becoming a pastor when he was 18, Brett has been passionate about helping people meet Jesus, and equipping Christians to join Jesus' mission in their everyday lives. 

The Donald family enjoys a good game of Catan, being by the water, and a delicious coffee (or tea, depending on who you talk to).

Mike Bidell pastors on Vancouver Island, where he and his wife Laura have served together as Lead Pastors at Comox Pentecostal Church since 2020. Mike's leadership focus is in vision, teaching and missions, as their church works together to bring the message and ministry of Jesus into everyday life. Mike & Laura have four children, one Doberman, and happily have no cats. In his free time, you can either find Mike in the kitchen (he loves cooking!) or somewhere in the woods, in an undisclosed location, probably fly fishing.

Chris Price is one of the lead pastors at The Way Church Vancouver — a growing church that he planted with two close friends in 2020. He is also the head of theology at The Way College. Chris is a brilliant student of culture (our words, not his) and of Nate Bargatze’s comedic timing, and has a secret ambition to do stand-up.

He holds an MA in Christian studies and he has been in pastoral ministry for two decades. Married to Diandra for 17 years with two children, Kaeden (15) and Mila (13), they live together in East Vancouver.