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speaker schedule
SPEAKING ARCHIVE

Guest Speaker Bios

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Chuck Aruta
Chuck is a songwriter, preacher, pastor, husband, father, brother, son, leader, mentor, life coach, student, a saved sinner and a child of God. He grew up in a home with incredible loving parents and the world’s best big sister, but Christ was not a part of his family. His parents divorced when Chuck was 11years old. At 15 years old, there was a girl who invited him to a youth group and the night he went he got radically saved. Furthermore, the girl who invited him to church became his girlfriend, and they were married six years later. Chuck started playing drums on the worship team, preaching and serving everywhere he could. Additionally, he received his calling at 15 years old. It was at 15 yrs old that he preached his first sermon and since then has preached over 2,000. From the moment he got saved, he started telling everyone about Jesus. His passion is to see lost people saved and those that are saved built up in the Lord.

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Gary Brandenburg
Gary Brandenburg grew up in California and attended Oklahoma State University on a baseball scholarship. After receiving Most Valuable honors, he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles and played three seasons of professional baseball. Gary received his Master of Divinity degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago and his Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. After a brief assignment as a youth pastor, Gary became a church planter in California for eight years, Senior Pastor at Grace Community Church in Tyler, Texas for 14 years, and Lead Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church Dallas since 2004. As a board member of Mercy Ships, Gary has spoken all over the world in pastor’s conferences pursuing his desire to “influence the influencers.” He has also served on the Board of Directors for Pine Cove Christian Camps. He has been married to Jana since 1977, and they have three children and several grandchildren.

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Harry Brown
Harry joined Cityteam in 1974 and has worked in multiple aspects of the ministry.  His initial assignment was in the camping ministry for inner-city kids. This was followed by a five-year period of living in a ghetto community in order to provide in-depth evangelism and discipleship to at-risk urban youth. From1984-1996, Harry served as the CFO of Cityteam responsible for finances, property, tax, legal, insurance and data processing. In response to a growing conviction that God was calling Cityteam to engage in global disciple-making and church planting, in 1996, the Board asked Harry to launch a new division which was referred to as Cityteam International.  The focus of this division was on training national/local leaders, indigenous organizations and western mission organizations to launch and sustain disciple-making movements. In early 2017, the Board of Cityteam voted unanimously to ‘set apart’ the church planting division as of January 2018 to become a separate organization called New Generations with Harry Brown as President.   
 
From March 2005 to December 2018, Cityteam International catalyzed the planting of 64,327 new churches that encompass 1,559,692 new followers of Jesus in 56 countries.  In addition, there are now 121 Disciple Making Movements defined as at least 100 new churches that have multiplied to at least 4 generations.  The longest of these movements is currently at 28 generations.  During the course of his ministry, Harry has traveled in 80 countries around the world.
 
Harry received an Associate of Christian Arts from San Jose Christian College in 1976 and a Diploma (BA equivalent) from Prairie Bible Institute in 1979.  In 1983 he received a Masters of Arts in Religious Studies from Pepperdine University and in 1987 Harry obtained a Master of Business Administration from San Jose State University.  
 
Harry and his wife Audrey live in San Jose California.  They have two married daughters and five grandchildren.

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Josh Butler
Joshua Ryan Butler is Pastor of Teaching and Direction at Redemption Church (Tempe, AZ) and author of The Skeletons in God’s Closet: The Mercy of Hell, the Surprise of Judgment, the Hope of Holy War and The Pursuing God: A Reckless, Irrational, Obsessed Love That’s Dying to Bring Us Home. Joshua enjoys helping people who wrestle with tough topics of the Christian faith, as well as reading, hiking and playing guitar. Joshua's wife, Holly, daughter, Aiden, and sons, James and Jacob enjoy spending time with friends over great meals and exploring the scenic beauty of the romantic Southwest.

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Dave Chae
Dave’s Life Vision:
 “My greatest joy is to hear from God and do what He says.”
 Dave is currently the Lead Pastor of Fremont Community Church in Northern California. (May 2015 - present) Prior to FCC, Dave served as the Western Regional Director for Q Place (CA, NV, HI), a non-profit committed to helping churches reach out to non-believers. Dave also serves as the Founder and President of Parakletes Inc., a non-profit company that consults non-profits, businesses, churches, entertainment industry, city government and schools in the Bay area. Previously, Dave served as the City Catalyst for Vision360 in the South Bay/Peninsula Area (2011-2013) where he collaborated with ministry, business and domain leaders for the purpose of planting churches in the South Bay and Peninsula Area. Dave received his Masters in Divinity from Talbot Seminary (2001) and did his undergraduate work in American History at Cornell University (1985). He also has a Masters degree in Education from Loyola College (1996) in Maryland. Dave is 55 years old and has been married to Helen for the past 25 years. He has 3 awesome kids, Daniel 23 (graduating from Baylor University in December 2018), Maddie 20 (Senior at Cal Poly SLO), and Elizabeth 15 – 11th grader at King’s Academy. 

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CJ Clark
CJ Clark has an MA in Spiritual Formation from Talbot School of Theology, Emphasis in Soul Care; BA in Film Production with a minor in Biblical Studies from Biola University. Credential: ACSI Bible Specialist Standard Certification. Academic Counselor and Chapel Coordinator. VCS alumnus. Serving VCS since 2016.
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April Diaz
January 19, 26, 2020

​April pastored in the local church for nearly 20 years at two of the most influential churches in the country. For the last several years, she’s coached, trained and taught internationally. She is most passionate about coming alongside leaders who are influencing on the margins of culture. Because April loves teenagers, she loves partnering with Stuff You Can Use and Fuller Youth Institute. Her first book, Redefining the Role of the Youth Worker: A Manifesto for Integration is a compelling vision for the church’s role with teenagers. She speaks and writes frequently on being whole in body, mind and spirit. She loves talking about leadership, soul care, youth ministry and caring for your body. Secretly, she’s a total girly girl and reads more than she can put into practice. She’s still madly in love with her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together they co-parent the most beautiful Ethiopians, Judah and Addise, and bio son, Asher.

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Sheyna Heard
​Rev. Sheyna L. Heard is a senior pastor, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, business coach, preacher, teacher, single mother and avid businesswoman who has been involved in Christian ministry since 1995. She is a founding member and now pastor of Rohi Christian Church and was ordained as a minister in August 2004. She has an extremely diverse educational background. She is a proud alum with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. She also holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters of Divinity. But none of that compares to the joy she feels in knowing Jesus, hearing his voice and being the mother of two amazing teenage boys, Jeffery and Joshua.

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Christian Huang
​Christian and Cori Huang are the City Directors of CityTeam San Francisco. In 2011 Christian resigned from his national sales position in health care after receiving a call from a friend who survived being sex-trafficked out of the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. CityTeam SF is a ministry in the heart of the South of Market neighborhood that offers a residential program for transitional aged youth, a dining room for the homeless and community outreaches for shut-in residents in low-income housing. Christian, Cori and their four children live in San Francisco and have a burden to see Christians activate their faith by serving and giving to people in the city of San Francisco.

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Russ Ikeda
​Russel Ikeda (MDiv, DMin) served as an associate pastor at Saratoga Federated Church for 21 years. For the past 20 years he serves as  director of Emmaus Ministries of Silicon Valley, which is a relational marketplace ministry of coming alongside people on their faith journey and offering spiritual direction and pastoral guidance. He serves on the Leadership Team for SoulCARE (ministry of WellSpring for pastors/ministry leaders in the greater San Francisco Bay Area), is an adjunct instructor at William Jessup University (Bay Area extension program), and the chaplain for the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department. He and Linda have been married for 41 years and enjoy their two adult sons and wives along with two delightful grandchildren.

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Annika John
Annika John, a Servant Partners staff member, lives and ministers to her neighbors in the Washington Guadalupe neighborhood, an inner-city community near Downtown San Jose. She works with youth and young adults at their church plant, Shalom Iglesia. She is passionate about prayer, mentorship, leadership development, college access and guiding her neighbors into transformative relationships with Jesus Christ..

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Neil Mammen
​Neil Mammen is the founder of NoBlindFaith.com, and apologetics ministry focused on training people to use apologetics in evangelization. Neil is a dynamic apologetics speaker and teacher and is the author of two books, Who Is Agent X? Proving That Science And Logic Show It Is More Rational To Think God Exists and Jesus Was/Is Involved In Politics! Why Aren't You? Why Isn't Your Church? Neil was born in Africa to Indian parents and grew up speaking Arabic in Sudan and Yemen. He came to the United States at 18 to attend college and earned his Masters in Electrical Engineering and Solid State Physics from Oregon State University. Neil co-founded four high tech companies and continues to work in the industry with tentmakersystems.com. He holds over 20 issued or pending patents in various technical fields. Neil is an engineer during the day and teaches the historic and scientific defense of the truth of Christianity by night.

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Richard Reaves
​Richard, born in Alabama, is recently retired from being the Senior Pastor of Santa Clara First Baptist Church, where he served for over 20 years. He continues to teach and preach on a free-lance basis. Richard and his wife, Susi, were a driving force in the formation of the SFC Welcome Team. In addition to ministering in the local church they have served as the chaplain couple in numerous Marriage Encounter weekends. They have three adult sons, two daughters-in-law, and are proud grandparents, as well!

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Ruth Rosen
Ruth Rosen, daughter of Jews for Jesus founder Moishe Rosen, is a staff writer and editor with Jews for Jesus. Her parents raised her with a sense of Jewishness as well as "Jesusness." Ruth has a degree in biblical studies from Biola College in Southern California and has been part of the Jews for Jesus full-time staff since 1979. She's toured with Jewish gospel drama teams and participated in many outreaches.
Ruth wrote and/or edited quite a few of the Jews for Jesus evangelistic resources. She has also helped other Jewish believers in Jesus tell their stories. That includes her father, whose biography she authored in what she says was "one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life." Ruth also edits the Jews for Jesus Newsletter for Christians to help those who want to pray for the ministry and the missionaries stay connected. In her spare time, Ruth enjoys her personal writing projects (fiction and nonfiction) and hanging out with her dog, Carli Grace, whom she rescued. Ruth says, "Some people say that rescue dogs have issues, and that is probably true. If dogs could talk, they'd probably say that people have issues, and that is probably even more true. I'm glad that God is in the business of rescuing people, (and dogs) despite—or maybe because of—all our issues."

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Ron Sanders
Ron Sanders has been on staff with Cru for 27 years; the last 19 at Stanford University. He is also an Affiliate Faculty in Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary. His research is focused on the intersection of Christianity and American public policy. He teaches courses on Christian ethics, faith and politics, biblical and practical peacemaking, and diversity in unity. He is the author of After the Election: Prophetic Politics in a Post-Secular Age. He has a Ph.D. in Christian Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary, an M.A. in Philosophy of Religion and Ethics from Talbot School of Theology and a B.S. in Mathematics from Montana State University. He has been married to his wife, Bonnie, for 28 years and has two children, Zac and Sarah.

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Savoy Stevens
Savoy Stevens has been on staff at SFC for five years and has attended the church for 18 years. She is a Spiritual Director and an Emerging Scholar with the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality. Her research is focused on the intersection of emerging cultural logic, such as postmodernism and metamodernism, and its impact on the shifting religious horizon. She has an MDiv with a concentration in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship from Portland Seminary (2018) and a B.S. in Art Education from the State University of New York at New Paltz (2001). She has been married to her husband Zack for 23 years and has three children: Zander (22), Sage (17), and Shaelea (14).

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Nicole Unice
Nicole Unice is a Bible teacher, author, and passionate communicator who delights in bringing God’s Word to life in a personal and relevant way. Her training as a counselor informs her work, as she emphasizes the importance of facing our own reality and embracing the transforming power of God’s grace. Nicole is ordained as a teaching elder in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Her heart belongs to Hope Church in Richmond, Virginia, where she serves as ministry director, leading discipleship and Praxis, a full-time ministry residency program for young leaders. Nicole received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the College of William and Mary and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Christian Counseling from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She loves creating a space for ministry and spiritual formation in the everyday rhythms of life with three children, two pups, one husband, and a whole community of twenty-somethings who regularly raid her fridge.

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Paul Watermulder
​Paul Watermulder is a retired Presbyterian pastor of 40 years, having served in Burlingame since 1984. His schooling was a Vanderbilt (BA), Princeton (MDiv) and Drew (DMin), but he feels his real preparation for ministry was as a Berkeley police officer and a seaman on merchant oil tankers on the Atlantic and Caribbean. He and his wife, Genie, have been married 47 years.

SERVICE TIMES

Temporary Sunday Service Times
Pre-Recorded Gathering posted by 9:30 am HERE
Saratoga Federated Church
20390 Park Place
Saratoga, CA 95070
​
Hours: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Office: (408) 867-1000
Fax: (408) 867-6012
info@saratogafederated.org

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Copyright 2020 Saratoga Federated Church
  • Home
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        • Program
        • Program Options & Fees
      • Kid's Choir
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    • Care >
      • Care Staff
      • Care in the Virus Crisis >
        • Care and Support Request
        • New Ministries for Virus Crisis
        • Medical | Professional Resources
        • Self-Care
        • Mutual Care
        • Spiritual Growth Resources
        • Local Grocery Stores
        • Restaurants Open for Takeout Delivery
      • Care Resources >
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        • Local Agencies and Services
      • Care Events
      • Healing Resources
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      • About Care
      • How Is Care Arranged
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      • Contemporary Worship Team
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      • Worship Technicians
      • Sunday Teams
    • Calendar
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