Dr. Ron Smith has served as an ordained pastor since 1993 and has pastored WaterStone Church since 2011. As the lead pastor over campuses at Lake Mary and Longwood, he has developed WaterStone into a community centered church with a heart for families.

With his Bachelor’s in Religious Education, a Masters in Christian Education & Administration, and his Doctorate in Ministry Leadership, Ron has a passion for counseling pastors and developing leaders.  He is active on the boards of several pastoral support teams and Greater Orlando Baptist Association. In addition to serving as a local pastor, Ron trains and consults churches in growth and revitalization.

Ron and his wife Rana have three children and live in Sorrento, Florida. He speaks at conferences nationwide and is the author of Churches Gone Wild!

Dr. Priest serves as the Director of Convention Strategies with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He is also the Founder and Interim Director for the Center for Church Revitalization with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and an adjunct professor in church revitalization at both the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served churches in Texas and North Carolina in fields of evangelism, educational ministry and second chair leadership.

Dr. Priest holds a Master of Arts in Christian Education from SWBTS and a Doctor of Educational Ministry from MBTS.

Dr. N. LaMonte Newsome serves as a chaplain for the S.C. Department of Corrections. He has trained pastors from South Carolina and across the United States as the former Associate Professor and Lead Professor of Religion at Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina.

Dr. Newsome is an experienced pastor, church consultant, workshop, and seminar facilitator with over twenty years of pastoral experience.  He is skilled in the area of pastoral care, community outreach, conflict resolution and management, leadership development, counseling, church administration, and in the development of ministries that address all aspects of the church.  Dr. Newsome has served as Senior Pastor to congregations in Paterson, New Jersey; Portsmouth, Virginia; Sumter, South Carolina and Gainesville, Florida.

Dr. Newsome graduated from of Hampton University in Hampton, VA, with a bachelor’s degree in political science.  He received a Master of Divinity from the Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, VA.  He completed a Doctorate in Ministry in Church Renewal and Revitalization from Drew University Theological School in Madison, NJ.

Dr. Newsome is married to Minister Laura H. Newsome, and they co-labor in ministry to build the Kingdom together in Christ Jesus.

Dr. Terry Rials is the new Director of Missions for Concord-Kiowa Baptist Association in Oklahoma. In addition to undergraduate, graduate and studies abroad, Dr. Rials earned his doctorate (D. Min.) at Midwestern Baptist Theological in Church Revitalization. His dissertation project involved training local pastors in the principles of revival and revitalization by equipping them to begin a revitalization project in their churches.

Dr. Rials has taught New Testament courses, Biblical Hermeneutics, and Pastoral Leadership for nine years for Oklahoma Baptist University at its Oklahoma City campus and teaches Church Revitalization classes for the Master of Arts in Theological Studies program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as well as contributed in Doctoral Seminars on campus. Dr. Rials is active in leading church revitalization efforts in Oklahoma and nationally. He is a frequent conference speaker, writer, and teacher. He co-authored The Nuts and Bolts of Church Revitalization with Dr. Tom Cheyney. Expect Dr. Rials’ second book, The Spiritual Mechanics of Church Revitalization, to be released soon.

Peter Yanes was recently named the executive director of Asian American relations and mobilization at the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. The new role is has a primary focus of bringing more Asian American churches into the Southern Baptist family.

Yanes has served as interim senior pastor of South Jersey Bible Church International in Pitman, N.J., since September 2018. Prior to that, he served as a North American Mission Board catalytic language missionary and church planting catalyst with the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania-South Jersey and held pastoral roles in churches in the Philippines and the United States beginning in 1992.

Yanes received his Master of Divinity degree from Cairn University in Langhorne, Pa., and a Master of Pastoral Ministries degree from the Philippines extension of the Golden State School of Theology. He holds an undergraduate degree from Baptist Bible College and Seminary in Rizal, Philippines.

Peter is married to Irene, and they have two children.

Dr. David Lema is the lead Pastor at Peters Road Baptist Church in Plantation, FL. He is also the Associate Professor of Theology and Missions at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  He has served this role since 2004.

Dr. Lema, holds the Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor of Ministry, and Master of Divinity degrees from the New Orleans Seminary. He also served as Associate Director of theological education for the Florida Baptist Convention from 2004 to 2015. Dr. Lema is married and has 3 adult children.

Dr. David Jackson is a North American Mission Board employee who has worked in many areas of church planting in the Northeast for nearly 30 years. Currently, Dr. Jackson serves as a NAMB Replant Specialist in the Northeast and is author of the book ReNEW: Traveling the Forgotten Path, which can be found at amazon.com.