Black Friday Deals for Churches: Elevate Your Worship and Creative Spaces Featured Deal: The Church Bundle Exclusive Black Friday Sale The Church Bundle is your all-in-one solution for simplifying creative workflows in ministry. Designed…
Christmas in July. It’s a fun phrase that many have taken full advantage of to create that Christmas feeling during the hot summer month. But as Christmas is the busiest season for churches around America,…
1. Candid Not Posed People can easily tell when a photo is staged or posed, and it can come across as disingenuous. Not only that but posed photos often hurt engagement. Candid photos, on the…
Are you a church creative looking for inspiration, practical steps to improve your skills, and to stay updated on creative news? The SALT Community has launched a new podcast that will cater to your needs. …
Creative work can be extremely rewarding and wildly frustrating at the same time. The creative juices tend to ebb and flow. I am so fascinated by people who churn out content like a Chic-fil-A churns…
This workshop with Darrel Girardier was jam-packed with tips and advice on how to be more productive to "get it all done in 7 days." He openly admits that with the way our never-ending workloads…
In the dynamic world of social media, mastering the art of Instagram engagement is key to growing your presence and connecting with your audience. Understanding the ins and outs of your engagement rate is crucial,…
Now that the festivities are over, it's time for the hardworking staff and volunteers of local Protestant churches in the USA to focus on personal rejuvenation. In this post-Christmas recovery guide, we'll explore five practical…
DOWNLOAD PODCAST Welcome to the very first episode of the SALT Podcast! In this first episode Luke McElroy (SALT Founder), Katelyn Johnson (SALT Director), and JoeAngel Sanchez (SALT Founder) reminisce about SALT's beginnings in 2013.…
Elevation Worship began as the musical arm of the Elevation Church, a multi-site church based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that was founded in 2006 by pastor Steven Furtick. The group was originally formed around the musical core of Chris Brown, Mack Brock, and Wade Joye, all of whom sang and played guitar, while Furtick contributed to their songwriting. While a shifting cast of instrumentalists worked with Elevation Worship, singers, Brown and Brock would become two of their on-stage focal points and a number of other vocalists were featured, including Jenna Barrientes, Jonsal Barrientes, London Gatch, Anna Sailors, and Jane Williams.
The multi-generational family band—consisting of brothers Ed Cash and Scott Cash, Ed’s daughter Franni, his son Martin and dear friend Andrew Bergthold—grew roots when the Cash brothers were just kids. Their dad played guitar, and their mom played piano, resulting in a home filled with music. Despite there being an eleven year age gap between them, as both Ed and Scott entered their teens and early 20s, they embarked on similar individual journeys as touring artists and had the opportunity to be deeply involved in the ministry of Young Life. However, when they each became fathers, the dream of being an artist was relegated to put on the back burner. Instead, behind the scenes, Ed went on to become an award-winning songwriter and producer, steering records for artists like Chris Tomlin, Crowder and Bethel Music and co-writing timeless songs like “How Great Is Our God,”“Amen (Because He Lives)” and “All My Hope,” among other hits. After stepping off of the road to spend more time with his growing family, Scott began working with Ed writing and producing, and the brothers have written many songs together including “Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)”. Though no longer pursuing careers as artists, both brothers continued to lead worship and remained involved in playing music at Young Life camps.
They never could have imagined how, years later, God would bring their artist dreams full circle in the form of a family band. “I think many producers are, in some way, closet artists,” Ed attests. Andrew, Franni and Martin were also aspiring musicians, passionate about sharing their gifts through songs and stories.
Worship Leader, singer and songwriter Tim Timmons is a man of faith whose principles were tested by hard luck and mortal challenges before he produced his first album of praise & worship music. Coming back from a dramatic cancer diagnosis, Timmons forged a career as an inspirational recording artist with albums like 2013’s Cast My Cares and 2015’s Awake Our Souls, later venturing into children’s music with 2017’s Who I Am.
Timmons was born in Irvine, California on February 9, 1976, and he developed an interest in music as a child, taking up the drums when he was seven years old, learning to play guitar and write songs when he was 11, and teaching himself to play piano. Timmons developed a knack for songwriting, and in his early twenties, he began turning professional, eventually co-writing with the likes of Mike Doheney of the group Tenth Avenue North, Michael Farren of Pocket Full of Rocks, Dove Award-nominated singer/songwriter Jason Walker, and LaRue frontman Phillip LaRue, while also serving as a worship leader at Mariners Church in Irvine. However, in 2001, Timmons began re-examining his life when he was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Originally told he had only five years to live, Timmons devoted himself to his wife, his growing family, and his work as a worship leader. After he’d more than doubled his initial survival expectancy, Timmons felt a new calling to use his music as a tool to bring people to a greater understanding of what it truly means to follow Jesus. Declaring that “Following Jesus versus being a believer in Him is revolutionary,” Timmons put a new emphasis on music and songwriting, and in 2013, he landed a record deal with the Christian music label Reunion Records. Cast My Cares, Timmons’ first album of worship music, was produced by Paul Mabury, and was released in the summer of 2013 and reached number 13 on Billboard’s Christian chart. He followed up in 2015 with Awake Our Souls and toured in support of the release with MercyMe and Phil Wickham. Timmons’ next project was the 2017 children’s album, Who I Am, which he co-produced with Christian Hale and released independently. That same year, he offered his first holiday release with the five-song Mighty Christmas EP. Written during a church retreat, Timmons next offered up the anthemic single, “I Belong,” which featured an appearance from CCM legend, Amy Grant. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Homeschooled preacher’s kids with finance degrees don’t usually quit their Budget Analyst jobs that provide health insurance to pursue stand-up comedy, but Andrew Stanley did, and he hasn’t looked back. He is now touring all over the country (as well as internationally) performing at clubs, festivals, fundraisers, churches, corporate events, bars with 4 people in them that “didn’t know there would be comedy tonight”…. Andrew possesses a unique perspective that pairs well with his dry delivery and observational nature. He was the winner of the 2017 Search for the South’s Funniest Accountant and in 2019, he was selected as a New Face of Comedy at Montreal’s prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Andrew’s parents are still alive so he works clean.
Jeff started his career in the studio as an independent music producer and engineer, and from 2007 to 2016, was the Front of House engineer for Chris Tomlin. Jeff circled the globe several times, both with Chris and with Passion Conferences.
He was a part of North Point Community Church in Atlanta since its beginning and has partnered with North Point, as well as other churches over the years, helping them train production excellence and engagement, both on the platform and off.
Jeff’s heart for helping churches excel led to the development of Sonnet House, a ministry designed to provide church production teams resources for technical training, creative communication, and spiritual connection to God and each other. Jeff has brought that calling to the founding of MxU, as they partner together to provide world-class resources to church teams so they can get better at what they do while getting better at who they are.
He is also bringing those skills to bear as he leads the commissioning and training of new systems for WAVE, an AVL integrator based in Charlotte, NC.
Jeff lives in Greenville, South Carolina with his beautiful wife Elizabeth (who is far superior to him in all respects), their even more superior daughter, Stella, and Lula the dog.
Jim Yakabuski is a live concert audio engineer who mixes FOH for Gwen Stefani, Peter Frampton, Matchbox 20, Van Halen and many more. Jim is also a co-founder and instructor at The MIX Institute, a live audio school focused on helping House of Worship audio engineers become better mixers of music. He is also a contributing writer for Church Sound Magazine and Live Sound International. He has been mixing live audio for 40 years.
Samantha Potter is an audio engineer and an editor for ProSoundWeb with a passion for writing and educating. Additionally, she serves as the “Install Empress” for Allen & Heath USA, helping to merge the live sound solutions we all love into the commercial and install space. Growing up as a musician, Samantha found her way to live sound by way of the studio, proving that bassists make the best sound engineers. The host of Church Sound Podcast and a co-director and lead instructor for Church Sound University, Samantha can often be found teaching, writing, and hosting discussions on various live-sound topics.
For the last 20 years, James has been working in multiple aspects of the audio industry. On arriving in the USA from Australia, James took up a house engineer position at Henson studios in LA while also embarking on world tours with multiple bands, most notably Hillsong United in the FOH position. He now resides in Nashville TN and while not on the road, mixes records from his home studio and consults for LAcoustics.
Kem is a brand therapist who has spent three decades working at the intersection of techs and creatives. Known for her ability to eliminate complexity and information overload, she helps people clear the organizational hurdles that sabotage effective work. Kem’s book, “Less Chaos. Less Noise” is a go-to communications resource for top churches and not-for-profits.
In 2007, Brad Sitton left his dream job as Director of Creative Media at Passion Conferences to start Blister Studios, an innovative motion graphic design studio creating video content for DC Shoes, Chick-Fil-A, Passion Conferences, Golden Corral, North American Mission Board, Youth Specialties, BigStuf, Orange Conference, North Point Community Church, just to name a few.
In recent years, Brad and his twin brother Brian started CrowdControlGames.com to craft games for any size crowd. Over the past several year’s they’ve had an opportunity to impact countless churches as well as create custom games for Chick-Fil-A, Walmart, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and more!
Brad currently lives in Atlanta with his smoke’n hot wife, 3 kids and is learning to sail. He is a two time winner of the RedBull Flugtag competition and surprisingly good at building sandcastles.
Patrick McEwen has worked in church production and event production for over 15 years. He managed environments for Youth Ministries and Sunday Services across Metro Atlanta before becoming a full-time Production Manager. He founded McEwen.Co in 2018 and has helped design, implement, and manage systems for events across the nation. He’s the lead Stage Manager for Catalyst Conference, Leadercast, and Q Conference. He has also been the Crew Lead and Stage Manager for SALT Conference for the past 2 years. He and his wife Jenn live in Atlanta, Georgia with their two daughters.
Timmy is the Lead Audio Engineer and Audio Specialist at Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, TN. As Long Hollow continues to launch satellite campuses, the need for skilled supervision in audio and visual areas continues to increase. Starting in 2011, Tim has provided this much-needed leadership and expertise to make our satellite campus worship experiences the best they can be. He also is a sought-after freelance audio engineer working with the CMT Awards, CMA Festival and countless CCM artists and tours as a consultant.
Jeremy Bagwell is the Business Development Manager at Ross Video for the House of Worship industry. His passion for live production was fueled by a long history of work in and out of the local church. He loves creating well engineered systems that fuel people and churches to do what they do best. Formerly, Jeremy was the Live Video Director and Production Director for North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. Before North Point, he serves for 4 years at 12stone Church as Production Director for two different campuses. Jeremy is a prolific video director and systems engineer and wants to help push the church into innovative technology with purpose.
Tyler Hirth is the Production Manager at Long Hollow Baptist Church and oversees the entire production environment, equipment and teams at Long Hollow for all of their campuses and buildings. He has been at Long Hollow since 2007 and oversees the recruitment and training of production volunteers, designs and oversees A/V technical installations, and technical directs a majority of weekends services and events. Aside from his leadership at Long Hollow, he is also the technical director for The Huckabee Show on TBN, shot in Gallatin, TN. He and his Wife Andrea love being part of the Hendersonville, TN area and are proud to call Long Hollow home.
Rocket, as he is known among friends, is the Central Production Manager for Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. Through his role, he serves on the creative team as part of programming and production. Through the use of audio, video and lighting, he strives to create engaging and distraction free moments where people can fully experience God’s presence. When he’s not at the church, he can be found spending time building something in his home woodworking shop, recreating Pinterest finds, or hanging out with his beautiful wife Molly in the great outdoors of Nashville, TN.
Christina is the Creative Arts Volunteer Coordinator for Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. She leads the music team auditions as well as orchestrates the Sunday scheduling for their worship volunteer teams. Christina is passionate about music, the local church, and how worship can engage a community! She desires to bring this passion to others through the music of Cross Point. She is also a recently new mother and finding it to be her greatest joy!
Chad Hall is the Founder and President of United Production Services, Inc; the parent company to Take One Film, BOLD Distribution, BOLD Bags and Nashville Production Rentals. As a seasoned video production specialist and an expert camera shader, Chad Hall has had the opportunity to work on countless television broadcasts including the CMT Awards, Dove Awards, and countless sporting events. He also has credits as a chief engineer on the television series “four”. He and his wife are active members of the local church in Hendersonville, TN.
Mark MacDonald is Church Brand Strategist for BeKnownForSomething.com, a national church communication and branding agency, coaching pastors and churches to become relevant in their community. He’s the bestselling author of “Be Known For Something” (beknownbook.com), has written 800+ magazine articles, and is the Exec Director of Center for Church Communication (Church Marketing Sucks, Courageous Storytellers). Over 30+ years, Mark has served as Pastor, Marketing VP, Creative Director, and Strategist; in one of Eastern Canada’s largest agencies, his own agency, for the 3000+ Florida Baptists, and most recently at one of the largest church consulting groups (Generis). He and Tammy, his wife of 30 years, have 2 grown sons in Calgary and Chicago. Follow him: @markmac1023
Gloria Umana is the founder and executive director of the Ex-Nihilo Collective and an internationally known and sought after communicator and spoken word artist based out of Atlanta, Georgia! In 2016 Gloria turned down a dream opportunity of working with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and instead surrendered to the calling of God upon her life, which led to a life of purpose. Gloria has worked alongside and has spoken on various platforms such as, Liberty University Convocation, Life Way, Ravi Zacharias Ministries, Passion City Church, Fresh Life Church, and more.
While Gloria started as a spoken word artist only a little less than three years ago, her ministry has quickly evolved as she has been given opportunities to teach on a multitude of platforms all over the globe. Gloria Umanah is not JUST a spoken word artist or a communicator. She is a daughter, co-creating with The Creator, passionate about seeing a people walk into the calling of holiness — a generation who doesn’t see holiness as legalism, but as a standard and calling.
Jacob Boyles is a prolific graphic designer who has worked with reputable brands including Bloomingdales, Chick-Fil-A, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and countless others. Currently, he is Elevation Worship Graphic Designer at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. He brings a fresh perspective to the graphic design space and is pushing the envelope for the global church through his creative eye and innovative approach.
Adrian Varner is the audio lead for SALT Conferences, having lead our main sessions audio team for the past 6 years! Through his leadership, he has pushed the envelope for the church through sonic atmosphere’s, while also leading and shepherding from the shadows. In his day job, Adrian is a system design engineer for Diversified Audio. He and his wife are based in Atlanta, GA and love serving the local church and helping equip them to reach their local communities with quality environments and engaging atmospheres.
Jason Morris serves Westside as our Global Innovation Pastor, overseeing the church online, global church planting, and bringing new ideas and creativity to expand God’s Kingdom for Westside. Jason is experienced as a missionary to Paraguay, South America for almost 9 years where he helped churches grow healthy with new ideas. He received his B.A. in Missions and M.A. in Biblical Exposition from Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Florida.
He and his wife Maria have been married since 1993 and have 2 amazing kids: Isaac and Brianna. Jason loves new tech gadgets, sci-fi, yerba mate, and speaking spanish.
Josh serves as L-Acoustics’ primary frontline contact for House of Worship clients. From 2005 to 2016, he worked as a freelance audio engineer and production manager for Christ In Youth. In his career, Josh has been a FOH and monitor engineer, production manager, and tour manager for a wide variety of clients, including some of the nation’s largest churches and congregations. He mixed FOH for the first L-ISA Immersive system deployment at SALT 2019. Last year Josh also designed, commissioned and trained on the world’s first L-ISA install in a HOW environment. Josh’s background and expertise allow him to provide the best care and dedicated solutions for churches everywhere.
Suzette Allen has been a portrait photographer for 35 years, and teaching Photography/Photoshop for 20 years. Her passion for creativity and people has served her well, as she encourages and inspires photographers to go after their visions and creativity! Suzette is also a Global Ambassador for Panasonic Lumix Cameras and Adobe Influencer. She is a Photographic Craftsman and Certified Professional Photographer, as well as an Approved Photographic Instructor with Professional Photographers of America. She has served her industry in education, as a school director (West Coast School of Photography) and also served on the Board of Directors of both West Coast School and California Photographic Workshops. Now as an instructor, she has had the immense honor of teaching at over a dozen of the Affiliated Photographic Schools across the country!
Dr. Jerome is a functional neurologist and founder of Thrive Neuro Health in Atlanta, GA. He is also a diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Neurology, a Fellow of the American Board of Brain Injury and Rehabilitation, a Fellow of the American Board of Childhood Development Disorders, and the former Executive Director & Atlanta Clinic Director for Cerebrum Health Centers. Above and beyond he is a disciple of Jesus Christ and believes that neuroplasticity with biblical teaching can teach us a lot about mental health, our purpose and connect the dots between many unanswered questions!
Dex Alexander is the founder and Creative Director of Legible Strategy and Creative, a branding and communications firm in Southern California. Legible ensures churches, non-profits and civic groups communicate with clarity so they can best serve the community they are so vital to. To date, they have helped dozens of organizations, large and small, engage and influence the world around them.
Kierre is a renowned worship leader, Kennedy Center performer, off-broadway cast member and passionate about seeing walls and barriers torn down that separate the body of Christ. He has toured with artists like Tasha Cobbs, Vashawn Mitchell and more. He joined United Pursuit and is part of the collective, Common Hymnal. He has served on staff at Daystar Church as the Next Generation Worship Director since 2013. Kierre is married to Marika Lindsay and together they are missionaries who travel domestically and internationally to serve and spread the message of Jesus Christ to all who will listen.
Bio coming soon.
Jacob Padgett is the Set and Lighting Designer at Long Hollow Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He joined the creative team in their main Hendersonville campus to oversee the work of design and build future sets for Sunday services, maintain lighting equipment, consoles and volunteer training at the various campuses of Long Hollow and provide support of the visual lighting atmospheres for weekly services.
Brad Weston is founder and president of Renewed Vision, makers of ProPresenter, ProVideoPlayer, and ProVideoServer. He has been a volunteer video director for North Point Community Church for 15 years and has worked with productions worldwide both in consulting, as well as in live production.
Nathan Williams serves as the Technical Director at Victory World Church in Atlanta, GA. Having been on staff for over 10 years, he has had a front-row seat as the church has grown to over 10,000 weekly attendees across multiple campuses, representing more than 110 nationalities, making it one of the largest multicultural congregations in the United States. He overseas sound, lighting, stage design and live video production as he leads a team of engineers and volunteers of over 300 every week. Nathan and his wife Ashley recently celebrated 10 years of marriage and are proud parents of four children.
Ezra Cohen is a filmmaker and creative director specializing in creating unique visual environments in films, commercials, and live concert environments. He has created unique visual textures and experiences for commercial brands like Musicbed, Express, Adidas and Sony as well as music artists including Hillsong Young & Free, Justin Bieber, Tha Chainsmokers, Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Hillsong United and more. Recently, he’s been featured as a teacher and online course instructor by some of the most renown publications in the world, including Forbes and more.
Joey currently serves at Christ’s Church, Mason OH. He is the Online Pastor and also oversees Worship & Arts, Communications and Production teams. Growing up in Brazil as a preacher’s kid, he has a keen eye for multi-generational ministry, as well as the ability to see innovation and change as a society and culture shift. He’s an ordained minister and has been serving in various capacities in America since 2002. He regularly blogs and contributes to the conversation of online church at joeysantos.blog.
Alex Fuller is a seasoned lighting professional who is passionate about using the technical arts as an extension of worship. He started sweeping floors as a kid in a local production house, and completed his first coast to coast tour of the US by age 20. He has over 15 years experience as the lighting and scenic designer for several churches, touring events, and conferences including Bethel, Saddleback Church, Jesus Culture, Hillsong United and more. His experience in the Christian market affords him a unique understanding of the challenges that many production teams face. His goal is to partner with you as you define your vision, overcome obstacles, and create the environment that you desire.
Phil Bowdle got his start in creative ministry back in 2004. Today, Bowdle is the author of “Rethink Communication: A Playbook to Clarify and Communicate Everything in Your Church” and works as the Creative Arts pastor at West Ridge Church in Northwest Atlanta. On a day-to-day basis, Bowdle leads teams who work in communication, media, worship, and production. He also speaks, blogs, and offers coaching about communication, leadership, and the creative church.
Will Doggett is an Ableton Live Certified Trainer and the Founder of From Studio to Stage, an online resource dedicated to teaching people how to learn to perform with Ableton Live on stage. He’s passionate about making complex things simple and has been teaching others to use Ableton Live as a tool for Leading Worship since 2008. He has served the church in many roles as Worship Leader, Music Director, Creative Director, and Production Director.
Justin Firesheets has been the Production Director at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Ala., since Feb. 2009 after having spent the previous six years working in the sports broadcasting industry. He is responsible for the management of the production systems, volunteer teams, and equipment at all 23 campuses of Highlands, which has grown to become one of the largest churches in the United States.
Stephen Brewster has more than 15 years in professional creative environments including music marketing and management, artist development, creative team leading and art directing. Currently a leadership and creative coach in Nashville, Tennessee, Stephen previously led the creative team in dreaming, creating and executing experiences, communications, music and more for all areas of ministry at Freedom House Church in Charlotte,N.C.; Life Church in Orlando, Florida and Cross Point Church in Nashville. He loves to spend time with his wife, Jackie, and their four children.
Katie Allred runs ChurchCommunications.com, where she has helped over 23,000 people who work in churches with their marketing and communication strategies. Katie is also an assistant professor of marketing and software development at the University of Mobile. Katie is also a Certified StoryBrand Guide and would love to help your church or business communicate more clearly
Kenny Jahng is the founder and CEO of Big Click Syndicate, a strategic communications agency that works with nonprofit and Christian ministries. The Company’s clients includes American Bible Society, Princeton Theological Seminary, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, and The United Methodist Church. He also co-leads the Church Communications Facebook Group community with 22,000+ communicators. Kenny runs ChurchButler.com, a daily social media content service. He is also StoryBrand Certified. Connect with him at KennyJahng.com or follow his #DailyKJTV vlog on LinkedIn
Grant Norsworthy is not another singer who talks too much. He’s a speaker who sings songs.
An Aussie who was based in Nashville from 2002 to 2018, Grant Norsworthy achieved considerable success as a professional musician including a Grammy® nomination, a Dove Award, extensive touring, recording and radio hits with bands like Paul Colman Trio and Sonicflood. Now conducting global ministry work from his Nelson, New Zealand home base, Grant uses his musicianship, freewheeling wit and uncommon candor to encourage audiences to deeper faith in Christ and good works. As the founder, content developer and principal instructor for More Than Music Mentor, he provides high quality online and onsite training for the heart and the art of worshiping musicians everywhere.
At 13 years old, David began his journey in church production when he found out that he could skip the main church service to serve in the youth group AV booth. Fast forward a *few* years, and David has worked as a professional lighting designer and teacher in the church, corporate, and live music worlds. Today, David runs LearnStageLighting.com, teaching lighting to beginner and intermediate-level lighting enthusiasts, and is a volunteer tech director at a medium-sized church in Nashville, TN.
Shannon is a writer, speaker, and Associate Executive Pastor at Church of the City in Franklin, Tennessee. She has also been a pastor to women and children and sits on the Executive Leadership Team of the church. She’s been in ministry for over 25 years and has experience in many facets of church leadership, from leading high performing teams, to volunteer recruitment and engagement, service programming, communication, and production. A trusted voice on a wide range of topics, Shannon is grateful to spend time writing for ministry and leadership blogs, training leaders, and speaking at conferences and churches. Over her tenure of ministry, she’s had the honor to work with North Point Community Church, Passion Conferences, Rethink group and more. Shannon and her husband Jeffrey have been married since 1999 and have three teenage children, Maggie (18), Jack (15), and Ali (14) and two dogs, Nash and Loretta.
Nathan is a gifted speaker with 20 years experience in pastoral leadership including lead pastoring, urban church planting, international missions and worship/creative ministries. Demonstrating great aptitude in counseling, discipleship and spiritual formation with a concentration in the development of christian leaders. Prior to being a pastor, Nathan spent many years as a song-writer and signed artist to the Integrity Music label where he has credits for Don Moen, Glenn Packiam and more. Most recently, Nathan and his wife Tricia have started fundraising for their newest call in ministry, Refreshing the Refreshers, a ministry seeking to serve those on the edge of burnout in ministry under as a partner of LifeImpact Ministries.
Gary Molander is an Author, Pastor, Filmmaker and Artist who has served the church and the greater creative community for over a decade! Gary served as a pastor for seventeen years, and has a Masters Degree in Creative Arts. He is also the author of, Pursuing Christ. Creating Art., a powerful book on creativity and the church. He is also the co-owner of Floodgate Creative, and has worked with Pro Athletes Outreach, Credera Inc., and Chick Fil-A to help promote their stories and events, using video and film.
Gary has been a part of SALT Conferences since the first gathering in 2013, and regularly shepherds the creative leaders and technical teams that are a part of the SALT Community. He and his wife Angela live in Nashville, Tennessee.
Known by most as “Dr J”, he holds degrees in Interpersonal Communication and Literature from Wheaton College; Counseling Psychology from Auburn University; Higher Education Leadership & Policy from the University of Tennessee; and has additional education in leadership & organizational change from Harvard University.
Most recently, Dr. J has been a consultant working with current and future leaders through his leadership coaching, being a faculty member of Vanderbilt University and as an author of his recent book, Fired Up: Kindling and Keeping The Spark in Creative Teams.
Nikki spent over 20 years leading and building a successful multicultural creative department of over 150 people in an organization of 4000+ through her ministry in Baltimore, MD. With a degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy, she is a brilliant vocalist and worship leader with over 20 years of songwriting, worship and music experience. Currently, she serves as a coach and consultant to churches across the world helping them go from mono-cultural to multi-cultural with their organizations.
Brady Shearer is the CEO and Founder of Pro Church Tools. Brady’s work centers upon helping churches seize the 167 hours beyond their Sunday services and navigating their ministries through the single biggest communication shift we’ve seen in the last 500 years. Through his leadership at Pro Church Tools, they’ve launched countless incredible resources for the local church including Nucelus, RebelGive, StoryTape and more.
He regularly posts on the Pro Church Tool’s with Brady Shearer YouTube channel which has over 83,000 subscribers and currently resides in Ontario, Canada.
Samer Massad is one of the dynamic communicators at Woodstock City Church in Woodstock, GA. Woodstock City Church is one of the campuses of North Point Community Church under the leadership and direction of Andy Stanley. Samer received his Masters in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary prior to moving to Georgia. He has had the opportunity to speak to leaders, students and audiences around the nation by being a top-hailed speaker at Orange Conference, Youth Specialties, North Point Church and more.
Luke McElroy is the founder and visionary of SALT Conferences. Author of four books including most recently released Creative Potential: Principles for Unleashing Your God-Given Calling, Luke was hailed as one of the “top innovators for worship” by Worship Leader Magazine. Luke’s leadership has helped create powerful live environments for thousands around the world.
He and his wife Tricia are proud to call Nashville, Tennessee home.
Joseph grew up in Akron, OH, and eventually made his way to Atlanta, GA as a hip-hop artist. There he connected with the team from North Point Community Church and Big Stuf Camps where he served as creative director, communicator and emcee of Catalyst Conference for many years. As the founder of Two Cents Creative, he and his team use art, media, film and interactive experiences to share story in a way that captivates audiences attention, while communicating in a compelling manner.
He has had the opportunity to shape moments and create content for Passion Conferences, Chick-Fil-A Leadership Seminars, NBC’s Your Move with Andy Stanley, Elevation Church, SALT Conferences, Big Stuf Camps and many more! Currently, Joseph is serving as a Shephard of creative filmmakers in Fayetteville, GA with Pinewood Studios.
Glenn Packiam is the associate senior pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also the author of 5 books including his most recent: Blessed Broken Given: How Your Story Becomes Sacred in the Hands of Jesus. Glenn earned a Doctorate in Theology and Ministry from Durham University in the UK and is an ordained priest with the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA).
Prior to becoming a pastor, Glenn was one of the founding leaders and songwriters of the Desperation Band. As a signed songwriter, he has had the honor of writing and co-writing over 65 worship songs, including several well-loved songs, like “Your Name” and “My Savior Lives.” Glenn has been a SALT keynote speaker many times and currently lives with his wife, Holly, and their four children in the shadow of the mighty Rocky Mountains.
Andy Mineo is a New York City-based hip hop recording artist signed to Reach Records. His album, Uncomfortable, became the No. 1 independent record in the country and delivered a No. 3 and No.10 position on Billboard’s Hip Hop and Top 200 album charts, respectively. He has appeared on Sirius XM’s Sway In The Morning, MTV, and his colossal hit “You Can’t Stop Me” won an ESPN Whammy Award for MLB’s Top Walk Up Song.
Andy Mineo carries his music beyond through scripting, producing and directing many of his own music videos. He also is the founder of the podcast “work in progress” and most recently collaborated with rapper Wordsplayed for the release of their mixtape, Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed present Magic & Bird.