Study Conference Speakers

Dr. Michelle Lee-Barnewall

Dr. Lee-Barnewall is the Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. One of her main areas of interest is gender, and she currently co-teaches a Theology of Gender class at Talbot.

Trained in New Testament studies, Dr. Lee-Barnewall's desire is to help students develop their relationship with Christ through an informed and application-oriented understanding of Scripture. She is the author of Paul, the Stoics, and the Body of Christ and Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian: Reframing the Gender Debate.

Dr. Lee-Barnewall has published articles in New Testament Studies and Novum Testamentum and has presented papers at the national meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature.

Dr. James R. Beck

James R. Beck is a Senior Professor of Counseling at Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado. Prior to beginning his teaching career in 1984 at Denver, he served as founder and clinical psychologist at the Valley Psychological Center in Carmichael, California (1976-1984). He served as the Associate Pastor for Christian Education at the First Baptist Church of Corvallis Oregon, 1967-1972. He received his Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary (1967) and his Ph.D. for Rosemead (Biola University, 1975). He is the author of several books and many articles related to his teaching field of counseling.

Jim served as editor for Zondervan’s Two Views on Women in Ministry, a study book that has been widely used by churches around the nation exploring this important topic.

Dr. Dan Doriani

As vice president of strategic academic projects and professor of theology at Covenant Seminary, Dr. Doriani teaches two core courses for the Master of Divinity (MDiv) program—Christian Ethics and Reformation and Modern Church History—as well as some elective courses on exegesis and church life.

He has been involved in several planning and study committees at the presbytery level in both the Presbyterian Church in America and the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Among his many books are Getting the Message: A Plan for Interpreting and Applying the Bible; Putting the Truth to Work: The Theory and Practice of Biblical Application; The Life of a God-Made Man; and commentaries on Matthew, James, and 1 Peter in P&R’s Reformed Expository Commentaries series.

Dr. Doug Heidebrecht

Doug Heidebrecht (Ph.D., University of Wales) serves with Multiply in Asia and with MB Seminary as Director of Global Training and Associate Professor of Mission and Theology. Doug and his wife Sherry are involved in training leaders within emerging ICOMB conferences and he is also a member of the Canadian MB Conference National Faith and Life Team. His forthcoming book, Women in Ministry Leadership: The Journey of the Mennonite Brethren, 1954-2010, will be published in the spring of 2019.

Dr. Craig S. Keener

Craig S. Keener (PhD, Duke University) is F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is author of twenty-five books, five of which have won awards in Christianity Today. He has also authored about a hundred academic articles. He is editor of the Bulletin for Biblical Research and vice president of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Craig is the New Testament editor for the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, which won the International Book Award for Christianity and Bible of the year in the Christian Book Awards. His books include The IVP Bible Background Commentary, commentaries on Matthew, Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Revelation, a two-volume commentary on John and a four-volume commentary on Acts, plus a two-volume work on miracles, works about the Spirit, ethnic reconciliation, women in ministry, and various other topics.

Dr. Larry Martens

Larry Martens has served the church in various ways as a minister of music, youth director and pastor (North Fresno Church and Koerner Heights Church), and as a faculty member and president of Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. He has also served the denomination on boards of Faith and Life and the Seminary and Fresno Pacific University boards of trustees. Following his retirement in 2004, he has served various churches as an interim pastor and church consultant.

Larry writes, “While I have been given various titles and fulfilled a variety of roles in my life and ministry, I view my primary vocation and calling to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Though I am retired, I continue to find various ways to serve Christ and His Kingdom in my local church, community and denomination.

Dr. Valerie Rempel

Dr. Rempel is the Interim Vice President of Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary along with serving as the J.B. Toews Chair of History and Theology. She graduated from Tabor College and holds a Ph.D. in Church History from Vanderbilt University. Her area of focus is North American Religious History but she maintains a strong interest in the intersection of religion and culture. Valerie has served on a variety of denominational boards and was a member of the Task Force charged with the last revision of the North American MB Confession of Faith.

Her primary mission in teaching is to encourage students to think about what they believe and why they believe it and to see how those beliefs have been shaped by their theological tradition, their culture and their own experience. As an Anabaptist, she is also committed to the belief that theological reflection is a community task.