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A.R. Bernard is the pastor, founder, and CEO of the Christian Cultural Center, a congregation of 45,000 members. Bernard has served as the President of the Council of Churches of the City of New York, representing 1.5 million Protestants, Anglicans and Orthodox Christians. Bernard founded the Christian Community Relations Council, a NY based not-for-profit that serves as a central resource and coordinating body for congregations and community organizations. He is also currently on the Board of Directors for the Commission of Religious Leaders (CORL).
Bernard served on the NYC Economic Development Corporation Board for Mayor Bill de Blasio and former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; on the NYC School Chancellor’s Advisory Cabinet; and on Mayor Bloomberg’s 2001 Transition Team as well as Mayor de Blasio’s 2014 Transition Team.
Bernard has a masters in urban studies and a masters in divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. He has been awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Wagner College and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary.
Dimas Salaberrios is the founding pastor of Infinity NY Church, located in the Bronx River Housing Projects. Bronx River holds the distinction of being the birthplace of hip hop, and it is located in a section of the South Bronx that has both the youngest residents in NY State, and has the poorest residents in the United States. In 2013, Infinity NY Church merged with Bronx Bible Church to become Infinity Bible Church. Today Dimas Salaberrios and Joe Fletcher co-pastor Infinity Bible Church in the Bronx River Community.
In 2004, Dimas was appointed by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association to Co-Chair the Youth Committee of its 2005 Greater New York Crusade. One of his responsibilities as Co-Chairman was to coordinate the statewide Prayer Breakfast. A huge success, the breakfast was the largest Christian youth worker’s gathering ever held in New York City, and also the largest in Billy Graham Crusade’s 60-year history. Dimas was also chosen to serve as the Saturday-night opener for this historic event: Billy Graham’s final Crusade. Over 240,000 people participated.
In 2013, Concerts of Prayer Greater NY (COPGNY) unanimously chose Dimas as its new president. He has served on COPGNY’s Board of Directors for several years, and today that organization is the largest mobilizing force of pastors in the Tri-state area.
Dimas holds a Master of Divinity degree from Alliance Theological Seminary.
Curt Thompson, M.D., is a psychiatrist in private practice in Falls Church, Virginia and founder of Being Known, which develops teaching programs, seminars and resource materials to help people explore the connection between interpersonal neurobiology and Christian spirituality which lead to genuine change and transformation.
Dr. Thompson is the author of Anatomy of the Soul (2010), which demonstrates how insights from interpersonal neurobiology resonate with biblical truths about God and creation—validating the deep human need for meaningful relationships as a key to a life of hope and fulfillment. He has also produced a video series entitled Knowing and Being Known: The Transforming Power of Relationships which provides a detailed journey through Dr. Thompson’s discoveries on these themes.
Thompson graduated from Wright State University School of Medicine and completed his psychiatric residency at Temple University Hospital. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. His clinical focus has been the treatment of adults, adolescents, and families, and in addition to clinical supervision he facilitates ongoing education for patients and colleagues. Throughout his career, his main focus of clinical and research interest has been the integration of psychiatry, its associated disciplines, and Christian spirituality.
For the past several years, that interest has taken a more specific turn as he gained expertise in the emerging field of interpersonal neurobiology. Dr. Thompson believes the findings of interpersonal neurobiology point to important tenets of Christian faith that enable us to reflect on, understand, and experience that same faith in fresh, trustworthy ways. He is now creating a platform for educating clinicians, individuals, and groups through training materials, seminars and other resources.
Ana Marie Cox is a political columnist and culture critic whose writing has appeared in The New Republic, Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, and GQ. She hosts “With Friends Like These,” a podcast from Crooked Media. She conducted the “Talk” interviews featured in the New York Times Magazine from 2015-17. She was the senior political correspondent for MTV News from 2016 until they pivoted to video. She is also a frequent guest on MSNBC and Real Time with Bill Maher.
Gary Haugen is CEO and founder of International Justice Mission. Before founding IJM in 1997, Gary was a human rights attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, where he focused on crimes of police misconduct. In 1994, he served as the Director of the United Nations’ investigation in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. In this role, he led an international team of lawyers, criminal prosecutors, law enforcement officers, and forensics experts to gather evidence that would eventually be used to bring the perpetrators of the genocide to justice. Gary received a B.A. in Social Studies from Harvard University, and a J.D. from the University of Chicago.
Gary has been recognized by the U.S. State Department as a Trafficking in Persons “Hero” – the highest honor given by the U.S. government for anti-slavery leadership. His work to protect the poor from violence has been featured by Foreign Affairs, New York Times, The New Yorker, The Times of India, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, The Guardian, and National Public Radio, among many other outlets. He is the author of several books, including Good News About Injustice (Intervarsity Press) and, most recently, The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence (Oxford University Press). Gary was invited to share themes from his lifelong work at the 2019 National Prayer Breakfast, and in a recent TED Conference talk entitled: The hidden reason for poverty the world needs to address now.
