Speakers – 2026/2027

Revd Jon Bell

Minister of the Church of Scotland and Member of the Iona Community

John has worked for over 30 years in the areas of music, worship, spirituality and social justice. He conducts workshops and seminars across the globe and, with his colleagues, develops new and accessible liturgical materials. He is an occasional broadcaster and for over 20 years was a regular contributor to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day.

To date, John has published 17 collections of original and global songs, and numerous collections of liturgical material. His most recent books are:

Ten Things They Never Told Me About Jesus (Wild Goose Publications)
Living with the Psalms (SPCK)
And Then She Said (Wild Good Publications)

Paul Kunert

Born and bred in the UK, Paul Kunert has been working in Africa’s electricity sector for the last 25 years in various senior leadership roles, developing, financing, building, and managing major power plants in countries all over the continent. He is a chartered accountant and has a degree in economics and politics. He is married to Tara and they have three grown-up children.

Revd Dr Alex Harris

After growing up in West Africa, Alex met Jesus while studying at University in the UK. After time in America, he was an evangelist for Christians in Sport for 7 years. This was initially amongst university students in the UK, but ultimately across Asia. After 5 years in China, Alex planted a new church on the edge of London, before leading Beacon Church in Stafford for 10 years, which both grew and evolved into a scattered approach to church planting, growing to numerous expressions.

Alongside being Director of the St Hild Centre for Church Planting, Alex is Yorkshire Baptist Association Regional Minister for Pioneering and Church Planting, specifically responsible for empowering and releasing pioneering, experimentation and innovation in gospel-planting and church creation. He is also co-leader of the Firestarters Network of growing churches helping churches to grow. Alex acts as a co-convener for the National Church Planting Network uniting denominations, networks, and streams in a collaborative desire to reach England together through planting new churches, revitalising existing churches and reimagining what church for the future will look like. As a family, they are planting Lydia House in the centre of Leeds.

Alex has a BSc (Hons) in Geography, a BTh and MA from Spurgeons College, and a DMin from Asbury Seminary, USA.

His doctorate studies are in ‘Church Planting in post-Christendom Europe’.Alex has authored or co-authored a number of books including On this Rock: Simple Lessons and Achievable Habits for Church Growth (2023), Scattered not Small: Empowering Ordinary Churches to Become Disciple-Making Communities (2024) and due out in 2025 ‘How to Start New, Simple Churches Right Where They are Needed: A Guide for Everyone and Everywhere’.

Canon Chine McDonald

Chine McDonald is Director of Theos, the religion and society think tank. She was previously Head of Public Engagement at Christian Aid. She has two decades of experience in journalism, media and communications across faith, media and international development organisations. She also speaks and writes regularly on issues of race, faith and gender, and is the author of God is Not a White Man and Other Revelations (Hodder & Stoughton, 2021) which was runner-up for the Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing.

Chine is a regular writer, broadcaster, panel host and media commentator, and has written for the Financial Times, the Guardian, The Independent, The Big Issue, Prospect, and the Mirror. She contributes to TV and radio programmes, regularly presents the BBC’s Thought for the Day on Radio 4’s Today programme, and appeares on BBC Sunday Morning Live.

She regularly speaks in and hosts panels including previously at Cheltenham Festivals and How the Light Gets In. She is vice–chair of Greenbelt Festival and a trustee of Christian Aid. Chine studied theology and religious studies at Cambridge University, and is a canon theologian at Chester Cathedral. Her upcoming book, Unmaking Mary: Shattering the Myth of Perfect Motherhood, will be published in early 2025.

God is Not a White Man and Other Revelations, Hodder & Stoughton, 2021
Am I Beautiful? Breaking Free from Society’s Toxic Obsession with Body Image, Authentic Media, 2022