SCORR 2009 Speakers

Keynote Speaker

Soong-Chan Rah is the Milton B. Engebretson Assistant Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism. He joined the faculty of North Park Theological Seminary in the fall of 2006. Prior to coming to North Park, Soong-Chan was the founding Senior Pastor of the Cambridge Community Fellowship Church (CCFC), a multi-ethnic, urban, post-modern generation church in the Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, MA. Soong-Chan has previously served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Boston, and has been a part of four different church planting efforts. Soong-Chan has been active in urban ministry, particularly in the cities of Cambridge and Boston.

Currently, Soong-Chan serves on the boards of Sojourners and the Catalyst Leadership Center. He has extensive experience in cross-cultural preaching, speaking at numerous college campuses and as a conference speaker, including plenary speaker at the 2003 Urbana Student Missions Conference, the 2005 Summer Institute for Asian American Ministry and Theology, the 2006 Congress on Urban Ministry, and the 2007 Evangelical Covenant Church Midwinter Conference.

Soong-Chan received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, his M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, his Th.M. from Harvard University and his doctorate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Center for Urban Ministerial Education. He has been published in Reconcilers Magazine and Leadership Journal and has been featured in Christianity Today. He is a contributor author to Growing Healthy Asian American Churches on IVP and an upcoming work with IVP on the changing face of American evangelicalism.

Workshop Presenters

Rudy Carrasco is the executive director of the Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, California. After graduating from Stanford University with a BA in English, Rudy focused on indigenous leadership development at Harambee and beyond. A writer by training, his articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Christianity Today, Religion News Service, the Pasadena Star News and other publications. In May 2001 he joined a group of nine Hispanic religious leaders from around the country that advised President George W. Bush on the faith-based initiative. His wife, Kafi, is the principal of Harambee Preparatory School. They have a six-year-old son, Samuel, and a two-year-old daughter, Micah.

Brad Christerson is Associate Professor of Sociology at Biola. He does research on multi-ethnic churches and religious organizations and teaches several classes at Biola related to cultural and racial issues. He grew up in Colorado and received his bachelor's degree from Colorado State University. He received his Ph.D. in Sociology from UC Santa Barbara. Outside of his duties at Biola, he mostly enjoys hanging out with his wife Carin and two daughters, aged 5 and 2. Before having kids, he used to enjoy many other aspects of Southern California life, including art museums, snowboarding and beach volleyball.

Henry Gee is Vice President of Student Services at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, CA, and this marks his 30th year in higher education. He has also served as the Dean of Student Affairs at Santa Ana College and spent 15 years at Azusa Pacific University in various capacities.  He has been active with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the Leadership Development Program for Higher Education (LDPHE), sponsored by the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE) and Leadership for Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP). Henry was awarded by NASPA with the “Shattering the Glass Ceiling Award”  in 2003 and as a “Pillar of the Profession” in 2004, and in 2008 received the inaugural “Outstanding Mentoring Award."

Linda Kazibwe was born in Uganda, raised in Kenya, East Africa. She completed a degree in Biochemistry at Biola and is currently a High School Biology, Chemistry and Algebra Teacher. Linda has been involved in music and dance since her childhood. She studied Ballet and Gymnastics while being an active swimmer and athlete. Music and dance are her passions and have always been part of her life, whether recreationally or as part of serious performance.

Omedi Ochieng was born and raised in Kenya. He received his BA in Communication from Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya and his PhD in Communication from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Since 2005 he has been teaching in Communication Studies at Westmont. His research interests are Communication and Philosophy, Wisdom, Philosophy, and Rhetoric of African Sages, History of Rhetoric, and Critical Theory. He is also the faculty advisor for Westmont’s annual Speech and Debate Tournament.

Joel Perez graduated from Biola University in 1995 and went on to receive a Masters in Education at Azusa Pacific University and is currently completing a doctorate at Claremont Graduate University with an emphasis in diversity and evangelical Christian colleges. Joel currently serves as the Dean of Transitions and Inclusion at George Fox University where he is responsible for campus wide diversity initiative. He is a first generation college student has been married for twelve years and has three boys. He has a passion for baseball and loves watching his beloved Dodgers when he has a chance.

Chris Rattay has worked for five years as a campus minister at USC with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Three of those five years were spent working with the African American Student Community pioneering a fellowship and ministry. Chris has been an associate pastor for three years in a Chinese-American church. He currently lives in East Los Angeles and is currently planting a church there.  He has been married to his wife Maggie for six years and they have two boys. In his spare time, Chris enjoys wrestling with his boys, going on dates with his wife, golfing, and watching the TV shows.

Caryn Reeder joined the Westmont College Religious Studies department in 2007. She holds a BA in Religion and Psychology from Augustana College, an MA in Biblical Exegesis from Wheaton, and an MPhil in Old Testament and PhD in New Testament from Cambridge. Her research interests include Aemilia Lanyer's reinterpretation of Genesis 1-3 in Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, the creative potential of texts identifying the early church as a family, and the oddities of Californian culture. Dr. Reeder teaches Life and Literature of the New Testament and New Testament Greek.

Joe Snell is the Director of Multi-Ethnic Programs at APU.  A native of Austin, Texas, Joe came to APU in 2007 after serving as the Assistant Director of Student Programs at Seattle Pacific University for 6 years.  He was the host site director for the 2004 National Christian Multicultural Student Leaders Conference at SPU.  Prior to working in higher education, he was pastor of a multi-ethnic congregation in Philadelphia where he engaged in racial reconciliation and justice issues.  Joe received his Bachelor of Business Administration at Lamar University, and later received an M.Div. and an M.A. in Non-Profit Management at Regent University.

Elena Yee is the Director of Intercultural Programs at Westmont College. Elena was born in Boston where she attended the University of Massachusetts, earning a degree in Industrial Technology. She worked as an engineer for several years, then taught English in both China and Vietnam. Elena lived in Alaska for a year before earning an M.A. in Intercultural Studies and Leadership Development at Wheaton College. In 2000, she joined Westmont, where she enjoys working closely with students, academic departments, and the Student Life departments to develop programs that educate and promote diversity and social justice.