Trillia Newbell, Walter Kim, and Kay Warren will be the keynote speakers for the 2021 convention returning to Lancaster, PA, in April.
Trillia Newbell is the author of several books including A Great Cloud of Witnesses, Sacred Endurance, If God Is For Us, Fear and Faith, and the children’s books, Creative God, Colorful Us and God’s Very Good Idea. Her writings on issues of faith, family, and diversity have been published in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Desiring God, True Woman, Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and more. She is also a commentator for World Radio (a sister platform for World Magazine). She has served as the Director of Community Outreach for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention. When she isn’t writing, she’s encouraging and supporting other writers as an Acquisitions Editor at Moody Publishers.
Kay Warren cofounded Saddleback Church with her husband, Rick Warren, in Lake Forest, California in 1980. After the death of her son, Matthew, who lived with serious mental illness for most of his life, she founded Saddleback’s Hope for Mental Health Initiative as a way to support individuals and family members of loved ones with mental illness and suicidal ideation. The Initiative also trains others in the faith community how to launch or expand existing mental health ministries. Kay is a board member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and is active in mental health/suicide prevention efforts in Orange County, Ca. Kay is the author of Sacred Privilege: Your Life and Ministry as a Pastor’s Wife, Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn’t Enough, Say Yes to God: A Call to Courageous Surrender, and coauthor of Foundations, a popular systematic theology course used by churches worldwide.
Focusing on the 2021 EPA Cause of the Year, Kay will share from her own life and family experience the challenge of mental illness and how the church can follow Jesus’ example to care for and support people living with mental illness. By looking at God’s heart for people who are suffering, Kay will explain the Biblical basis for mental health ministries and practical steps for how every faith community can be part of the solution.
Walter Kim became the president of the National Association of Evangelicals in January 2020. He also serves as pastor for leadership at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia, after ministering for 15 years at Boston’s historic Park Street Church. He is a pastor, scholar, and thought leader with a passion to see the Gospel impact lives, transform communities, and change culture. His speaking and writing bring Biblical wisdom to significant intellectual, cultural, and social issues of the day. He is an inspirational and collaborative team leader who has been making and empowering disciples of Christ in diverse settings. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University.
The 2021 convention will be held April 28-30 in Lancaster, PA. Registration will open on Dec. 15. Learn more at epaconvention.com.