Speakers
David Hampton
Director of Worship and Arts at Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN.
In his current position as Director of Music, Worship and Arts Ministries at Christ Community Church, David supervises and coordinates all aspects ofmusic and arts within the church. He was instrumental in the developmentof the Worship of God Conference: a gathering of musicians, worship leaders and pastors from churches across the country to network and collaborate on how to function effectively in our roles as lead worshippers and stewards of the many artistic gifts with which God has entrusted us.
Over the years and under David's direction, the CCC Worship and Music Ministries have produced a series of CDs and songbooks of original worship songs, borne out of CCC. He has also contributed CCC hymn arrangements to the Worship Team Hymnbook that is available for download at communityworship.com. David also gathered various recording artists within CCC to write and perform original songs for a CD to benefit the CCC building project entitled Re:newal. The Art of Community.
When David was a young boy, what started out as "banging" on his grandmother's piano has turned into a full-time career in music. In his teens, David spent six summers traveling in a contemporary Christian group and began song-writing for the group. After studying piano performance at the University of Evansville in Evansville, IN and Ball State University in Muncie, IN, David realized his passion for performance was taking a less traditional path.
After submitting music to one of the Gaither Music publishing companies in the early eighties, David was eventually signed to Ariose Music in Nashville where he was a staff writer for three years. After moving to Nashville in 1987, he went on to write for a variety of publishers independently and eventually signed with Provident Music as a staff writer for three years. He has had his songs recorded by such artists as John Tesh, Kim Hill, Steve Green, Scott Wesley Brown, Sheila Walsh, FFH, Marshall Hall (Gather Vocal Band), Travis Cotrell, and others. His music has been featured in children's musicals, various worship projects and choral arrangement collections. His musical version of the hymn text "Jesus I Am Resting, Resting" has been used by numerous artists as well as part of the Beth Moore study series and live recordings. His song for Promise Keepers, "Godly Men", hit #1 on the inspirational charts, and he also wrote a second song for Promise Keepers entitled "Brothers Keeper" which appeared on their "Breaking Down The Walls" release. His song, "We Are the Body of Christ", is included in the latest United Methodist Hymnal.
As a keyboard player, David has worked with a number of artists including Steve Green, Michael Card, Twila Paris, Scott Wesley Brown and John Michael Talbott. David has an instrumental release entitled, "Seasons of a Heart", an acoustic piano project of contemporary piano arrangements including hymns as well as original instrumental pieces.
David makes his home in Franklin, TN with his wife, Tricia and his daughter, Lauren.
Pastor of Worship, Preaching and Teaching, Christ Community Church (PCA), Franklin, TN
Scotty, a native of Graham, N.C., graduated in 1972 from UNC, Chapel Hill, and from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1977. He served as youth pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem from 1977-1979, and from 1979-1980 served as youth pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN. In 1981 Scotty helped Cortez Cooper plant Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville.
In 1986 Scotty was sent out as the planting pastor for Christ Community Church (CCC) in Franklin, Tennessee. Scotty served CCC as Senior Pastor for his first twenty years and has seen its membership grow to over three thousand. During these two decades CCC has also planted 4 churches. Recently Scotty has assumed the new title of Founding Pastor; and CCC’s long time associate and Scotty’s best friend, Scott Roley, has become the new senior pastor.
Scotty invests most of his time as CCC’s Pastor for Preaching, Teaching and Worship. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Covenant Theological Seminary and teaches at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando.
He has written five books: Unveiled Hope, with Michael Card; Speechless, with Steven Curtis Chapman; Objects of His Affection; and his latest two, The Reign of Grace and Restoring Broken Things, with Steven Curtis Chapman.
Scotty and Darlene, his wife of thirty-five years, have two adult married children. Scotty enjoys fly-fishing, cross training, classic rock and roll and cooking.
Nate Larkin knows church. The son of a Pentecostal preacher, he spent his childhood in storefront missions and rural tabernacles, formed by Sunday School lessons, camp meetings, evangelistic crusades, miracle services and youth rallies. As the oldest of eight kids, Nate was expected to set the example for his siblings and for all the other kids in the church. And that’s what he did. “Outwardly I was a model of rectitude—not perfect, of course, but good. Certainly good,” he recalls. And through it all, his idol was Samson. Samson the strongman. Samson, God’s superhero.
Nate received a full academic scholarship to St. Lawrence University, an exclusive liberal arts college in Canton, New York where he served as president of the Campus Christian Fellowship and graduated with a B.A. degree in Religious Studies. With each new accolade, his religious exterior was gaining an enviable glow. But inside Nate, a battle was raging. He married Allie on his graduation day and soon enrolled in Princeton Theological Seminary. He graduated from Princeton with a major in Preaching and was awarded the Preaching Prize. Within two years, Nate was senior pastor for a new non-denominational church in South Florida. Observers saw a wise and godly man of God, dedicated to church and home.
But Nate’s religious persona was crumbling from the inside out. Like Samson, his secret weakness was threatening his public success. After just five years in the pastorate, Nate quit. An obsession had developed into a virulent addiction to pornography and commercial sex. His decision to abandon vocational ministry was driven largely by private despair about his moral failures and the fear of public exposure. He took a job with a construction consultant and redirected his sermon-writing skills to producing technical reports. But even with the change in careers, his addiction continued. His wife Allie was his only friend and confidante. Nate had achieved his childhood ambition—to live like Samson. And like Samson, he found himself living in isolation and futility.
Eventually Nate and Allie moved to Franklin, Tenn., to be close to their first grandchild. Within months of moving to Tennessee, a miracle took place. After years of praying, fasting, pleading and repenting in private, Nate finally found help for his sex addiction—in the form of authentic friendship and the safety of a 12-step recovery group. No longer would the deadly cocktail of isolation and temptation rule him.As he worked through the 12 steps, Nate began to see life differently. He even saw his biblical hero, Samson, with new eyes. Nate came to understand that God-given gifts such as great strength and impressive oratory skills are not enough to sustain the Christian.
Eventually, he found a new biblical hero, another moral failure who had actually recovered: King David. In sharp contrast to Samson, David was a man with friends. The gift of male companionship, which he first experienced through the remarkable courage of Jonathan, became the defining characteristic of his public career and his safeguard when things went wrong. Nate finally understood why a 12-step group had accomplished what solitary prayer and fasting could not. The Christian life was designed by God as a team sport!
As he began to live in this new model of Christianity, Nate’s circle of friends expanded to include a large group of men with diverse weaknesses, addicts and potential addicts of every description, united by a common faith and a need for true companionship. Most of these men had not found deep and honest relationships in their churches. Why, they asked each other, did a guy have to end up in a 12-step group to talk honestly with other men? So in 2004, several of these friends formed a mutual aid society for Christian men called the Samson Society. Within the safety of the Samson Society, honest friendships have taken root and men are finding new power in their faith. “I guess you could say that we are trying to recover Recovery for the church,” Nate explains with a smile. “The Samson Society is not church, but we pray together. It’s not AA, but we talk about our failures in the present tense. It’s not a cult, but we are deeply committed to community. We’re trying to live truthfully and together as Christians.”As of 2006, Samson Society meetings have started up in locations across the United States. A website (www.SamsonSociety.org) has been established to communicate the tenets of the society and locations of its meetings. Nate, who drafted the Society’s charter and designed its first meeting format, has written a book about his experiences entitled Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood. The book was released by W Publishing Group, a division of Thomas Nelson, in February 2007.
Greg Thompson
Senior Pastor and Pastor for Worship at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Before coming on staff at Trinity, he served as Reformed University Fellowship campus minister at the University of Virginia from 2000-2005. Greg graduated from the University of South Carolina and then attended Covenant Theological Seminary where he graduated in 2000.
Greg and his wife Courtney have three daughters, Caroline (5), Margaret (3), and Ann (9 months).
Kevin Twit
RUF campus minister at Belmont University, Nashville, TN.
Kevin received a degree in Music Production and Engineering from Berklee College of Music in 1986. In 1988 he moved to Nashville where he worked as both a recording engineer and guitarist for Warner Bros. recording artist David Mullen, with whom he recorded two records. Kevin attended Covenant Theological Seminary in 1992 and upon graduating in 1995 with his Mdiv he moved back to Nashville to work at Christ Community Church as college pastor and also RUF campus minister at Belmont University. In 2003 he left the staff of Christ Community to focus on RUF at Belmont. Along the way Kevin has become interested in hymnology and has recorded 4 cds of old hymns set to new music with Indelible Grace Music which he founded in 2000.
Kevin married Wendy in 1998 and they have 3 children: Cooper (6), Isaac (4), and Amelia (3) whom they adopted from China in 2005. Kevin enjoys music, old books, and disc golf.
Laura Story
Singer, Songwriter, Worship Leader and women’s pastor for the arts and music community at Perimeter Church, Atlanta ,GA.
Once an aspiring symphony conductor, Story didn’t even know she could sing - much less write songs - until she was in her early twenties. Today, Story is not only a gifted vocalist and worship leader but also the composer of one of the most beloved worship songs of our generation - “Indescribable.” The song has topped charts and has been recorded by multiple artists, but most importantly, it has helped people all over the world experience our magnificent God. Story had no idea her life would be used for such a purpose. Set to release her label debut on INO Records (Sara Groves, MercyMe, Derek Webb) in January 2008, Story is still learning that God’s plan is far deeper and wider than she ever thought possible.
In 2005, Story released her second independent album, There Is Nothing, produced by Ed Cash and Mitch Dane (Jars of Clay). That same year she married her high school sweetheart, Martin Elvington, and moved to Atlanta to become the worship leader and women’s pastor for the arts and music community at Perimeter Church.
Shortly after releasing her second independent album in 2005, a trial entered Story’s life that would not only provide her with a deeper understanding of God’s sovereignty, but also serve as fodder for the songs on her new record. After one year of marriage, Story’s husband was hospitalized with a brain tumor.
“There was a time he was on a breathing machine and we weren’t sure he was going to make it. I spent my whole life singing, ‘’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,’ but until Jesus took me through something where my only option was to trust Him, I didn’t really know that sweetness,” reflects Story. While supporting her husband through surgery, radiation, complications, and intense physical therapy, Story has composed new songs with meaty, real substance that have ministered to her as much as they will minister to her listeners.
On a regular basis, Story gets to share this hope with the 100+ women she ministers to through her job at Perimeter Church; and it’s not a job she’s giving up anytime soon. After all, the opportunity to pour into others’ lives and treasure each moment reminds Story that she is just a passenger on this remarkable journey.
“Mine is not the perfect voice or the perfect life. My life is as messy as the next person’s, and God is using me to speak to the church. For this season of my life, God has really blessed me with some insight into who He is and what that has to do with me. For some reason He just gives it to me in song form.”
Paxson Jeancake
Director of Worship and Arts at East Cobb Presbyterian in Atlanta and author of The Art of Worship: Opening Our Eyes to the Beauty of the Gospel.
He is the founder of Rhythm of Worship and a guest lecturer at Reformed Theological Seminary. He also serves on the executive committee of the Worship Reformation Network and is a worship leader and consultant for Global Church Advancement, an organization with a vision for advancing church planting movements among all nations.
Paxson and Allison have recorded two worship projects and have served as worship leaders for several national PCA conferences, including the 2006 General Assembly and the 2007 Mercy Ministries Conference. Paxson and Allison have been married for nine years and live in Atlanta with their two daughters, Laura Camille and Mallory.
For further information visit: www.rhythmofworship.com
Vice President for Student Services, Dean of Students, and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO
Mark brings more than 30 years of experience as a teacher and pastor to his responsibilities as a leader of Covenant Seminary's students. He came to the Seminary in 1999 following seven years as senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Indiana. Prior to that he served for eight years as pastor of The Church of the Covenant in Cincinnati, Ohio, and seven years as Chaplain and Bible instructor at Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Dr. Dalbey's doctoral work focused on corporate worship and his heart for worship is evident as he leads Seminary chapel services, teaches worship classes, and advises worship pastors/leaders throughout the denomination. He currently serves as chairman of the Worship Reformation Network. Mark has been married to his wife Beth for 32 years and they have three adult children and one grandchild.
For further information visit: www.covenantseminary.edu
Susan Fontaine Godwin
Founder of Righteous Oaks Music, helping churches discover and implement music
Susan Fontaine Godwin is an educator and long-time member of the worship community with 23 years of experience in the Christian music industry, church copyright administration and copyright management. Her mission is to help churches & Christian organizations be fully copyright compliant through administration, consultation & education. Her passion is to build bridges between copyright owners and users of their content. She presents seminars worldwide and has written three books on copyrights, publishing and creative planning.
She was Music Administration Manager for Integrity Inc. for 11 years before starting Righteous Oaks Music, Inc. in 1995. Susan serves on Worship Leader magazine’s editorial board and has served as Information Chairperson and Executive Committee member of CMPA (Church Music Publishers Association).
Righteous Oaks Music, Inc. is devoted to helping churches discover and implement the best of church music while being fully copyright compliant. ROM launched the division of Church Copyright Administration in fall, 2001 to provide an online solution for copyright compliance and offer churches copyright administration, consultation and information. In the 1980's, Susan worked closely with churches to simplify worship song permissions by creating an Integrity Music church annual blanket license. Representing Integrity Music songs, she was a major supporter and advocate of the initial launch of the CCLI license. Susan also conducts Church Copyright workshops, Creative/Business Planning workshops and Music Publishing seminars worldwide. She is the author of three books: PROMOTING RIGHTEOUSNESS IN WORSHIP, Solving the Puzzle of Church Copyright Compliance; NOW THAT YOU'RE A MUSIC PUBLISHER: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide to the Role and Responsibilities of the Christian Song Publisher, and CREATIVE RIVER BANKSTM: Discovering Your Destination; How to Build, Strengthen, and Energize Your Talents”
For further information visit: www.churchca.com