Robert Smith, Jr. is distinguished professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, where he teaches Christian preaching and homiletics. He previously held the Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity at Beeson and served as the Carl E. Bates Associate Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
An ordained Baptist minister, Smith served for twenty years as pastor of New Mission Missionary Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, earning his Ph.D. from Southern Seminary while in that role.
His book Doctrine That Dances (2008) won both Preaching Magazine‘s and Preaching.com’s Book of the Year Award and was later named one of the 25 most influential preaching books of the past 25 years. He is the 2017 E. K. Bailey Expository Preaching Conference Living Legend and received Southern’s Findley B. Edge Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2024, he released a recording of the ESV Bible with Crossway as both a chronological podcast and audiobook.
Smith has spoken at more than 160 universities, colleges, and seminaries across the United States and internationally, including engagements in Great Britain, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.
He holds a Ph.D. from Southern Seminary and two honorary doctorates. Smith and his wife, Wanda Taylor-Smith, are the parents of four children and grandparents of eight.
Jarrett Stephens has served as senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in northwest Houston since January 2021. Under his leadership, the church launched a residency program to train future ministry leaders and founded CF Connect, a network that resources and encourages pastors and church planters nationwide.
Jarrett also serves on the boards of Dallas Baptist University, the Houston Church Planting Network, and the directional leadership team for The 6:4 Fellowship.
He holds degrees from Ouachita Baptist University, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Liberty Theological Seminary.
Jarrett is the author of The Always God: He Hasn’t Changed and You Are Not Forgotten and The Mountains Are Calling: Making the Climb for a Clearer View of God and Ourselves. He also hosts the “Forward with Jarrett Stephens” podcast, featuring conversations on leadership, culture, and church life.
Jarrett and his wife, Debbie, have four daughters.
Wes Fowler is executive director-treasurer of the Missouri Baptist Convention. His primary calling is to help Missouri Baptist churches transform lives and communities with the gospel – through prayer and evangelism, missions mobilization, church planting, church renewal, and other ministries. He also stewards Cooperative Program funds given by Missouri Baptist churches; serves as publisher of The Pathway, the official news journal of the MBC; and he partners closely with affiliated Missouri Baptist entities.
Prior to his current role, Fowler served 12 years as pastor of First Baptist Church, Mayfield, Ky. Mayfield is his hometown and FBC Mayfield is his home church. After serving more than 10 years in southern Georgia, Fowler was honored to be called home to pastor the very people who raised him in the Lord.
Additionally, Fowler served as chairman of the board for Sunrise Children’s Services, Kentucky’s largest foster/residential childcare provider. He also served as president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention (2020–21), as a member of the Mission Board of the Kentucky Baptist Convention (2017–19), and as chairman for the search committee that brought Todd Gray to the KBC as executive director-treasurer in 2019. On behalf of the SBC, Fowler served on the Committee on Committees in 2022.
Fowler earned a BA in political science at Valdosta State University (2003), an MDiv at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (2007), and a DMin at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (2015). In 2022, SBTS honored Fowler as Alumnus of the Year.
Fowler and his wife, Tara, married in 2004. They have three children: Brax, Bryley, and JP.
Wesley Vance serves as president of the Missouri Baptist Convention and chairman of the Executive Board.
Vance and his wife, Amy, have been married since 2001 and have two children, Addison and Owen. Prior to serving in his current role as executive pastor of Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield, he was the founding pastor of Fellowship Kansas City and on the pastoral staff at Lenexa Baptist Church.
He has served in several leadership roles with his local association, the Missouri Baptist Convention, and various Southern Baptist entities. Before his call to ministry, he owned a multi-state insurance agency focused on employee compensation packages.
Vance combines the passion of a preacher, the heart of a pastor, and the practical experience of a leader. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, and a master’s degree and a doctorate from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His desire is to see the gospel flourish around the world in this generation.
From the stages of Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center to numerous events and conferences around the country, Charles Billingsley has been one of Christian music’s most distinctive artists for nearly 30 years. Beginning his career as a lead vocalist for GRAMMY-nominated genre giant NewSong, Billingsley has since headlined more than 3,200 concerts, released 24 recordings as a solo artist, and garnered seven No. 1 Inspirational radio hits.
Billingsley and his wife, Shae, have been married 28 years and have two sons, Caleb and Cooper.