Meet our 2024 Speakers

KEC 2024

Main Speakers

John North

John North was born in India to Australian missionaries and loves to teach God’s word in a penetrating way that changes people’s lives. He is the Director of EvangelismSHIFT International and the National Director of Ambassadors for Christ International (AFCI) in Australia. For 30 years he has helped AFCI to build a team focused on accelerating the spread of the gospel through local churches.  

John wrote GrowthWorks, a book to help you get back on the path of spiritual growth. He is on Hope 103.2 radio each morning in Sydney with the Time With God devotional spot.  

John is married to Lois and they have four children. In his free time, John rides his mountain bike, plays games with his family, and reads. 

John will be giving the four main morning talks across the KEC weekend. 

WATCH JOHN’S WELCOME VIDEO

Tim Blencowe

Tim and his family are part of the international community of Macquarie Baptist Church, where he serves as senior pastor and as a chaplain to Macquarie University. Tim was raised in a missionary family, has a background in high school teaching, and enjoys helping people embrace a living faith that integrates the whole of life.

Tim will be giving four short talks each morning over the KEC weekend.

WATCH TIM’S WELCOME VIDEO

Matt Sparks

Matt is married to Tash, and they have three kids, living in Sydney’s eclectic Inner-west. In 2014, they took a leap of faith and planted Anchor Church in their small two-bedroom apartment with a team of 17 people praying for a powerful move of God. Today, Anchor is a growing movement of churches committed to planting vibrant, missional churches that form people into the image of Christ. He is passionate about the local church, the glory of God, and the Parramatta Eels! 

Matt will be giving three talks in the evening at KEC.

WATCH MATT’S WELCOME VIDEO

Special Guests

Rachel Ciano

Rachel is a historian, teacher, writer, and thinker. She loves uncovering stories from history and making them known, and believes the past teaches us to live better here and now. Rachel co-authored 10 Dead Guys You Should Know and 10 Dead Gals You Should Know which both
aim to bring forward narratives from the past and consider how they impact us today. 

She is Dean of Academic Development at Mary Andrews College, and lectures in Christianity in History at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. 

Rachel speaks locally and internationally on the intersection between history, theology, and everyday life. Her research and publications are wide-ranging and particularly focus on the sixteenth-century Reformation period.

She lives in Sydney with her husband and two sons, is involved in ministry in Sydney’s Inner West where her husband is a minister, and loves to surf and soak up Sydney’s gorgeous beaches.

Rachel will be giving two short biographical talks over the weekend. These biographical talks are for our encouragement and to spur us on in living faithfully to Jesus Christ.

John Lennox

John Lennox MA MMath PhD (Cambridge) MA DPhil (Oxford) DSc (Wales) MA Bioethics (Surrey) is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science and Pastoral Advisor at Green Templeton College and former Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School.

John has written extensively on the interface between science, philosophy and theology, and recent titles include: Can Science Explain Everything? Where is God in a Coronavirus World? 2084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity, and Cosmic Chemistry: Do God and Science Mix? also been involved in high-profile public debates with Richard Dawkins, Peter Singer and the late Christopher Hitchens. He has done many lectures, interviews and debates for the Veritas Forum, particularly in the USA. He is a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum.

John and actor Kevin Sorbo featured in a full-length documentary film entitled Against the Tide made by Pensmore Films and Kharis Productions. He recently did an invited interview with Dr Jordan Peterson.

He is married to Sally. They have three children and ten grandchildren and live near Oxford.

John will be joining us virtually, live from the UK on Friday night. In this interview, John will discuss the topic of ‘Christians & Worldliness’, looking at the most profound challenges Christians face in our culture and understanding where the opportunities for powerful Christian witness lies.

Glen Scrivener

Glen is an award winning author and filmmaker who speaks around the world about the intersection of faith and culture. Originally from Australia, he was educated at Oxford and is now ordained in the Church of England. He has written 9 books including 321: The Story of God, the World and You and The Air We Breathe: How We All Came to Believe In Freedom, Kindness, Progress and Equality. Glen is passionate about people meeting Christ and equipping Christians to share their faith. He’s often found speaking at Churches and Universities, in the studio producing online media or in his office, writing books and other evangelistic material. Glen is married to Emma, and they have a daughter, Ruby and son, JJ.

Glen will be joining us virtually, in a live-cross interview, on Sunday night. In this interview, John will discuss the topic of ‘Christians & Worldliness’, looking at the most profound challenges Christians face in our culture and understanding where the opportunities for powerful Christian witness lies.

KEC KIDS

Children’s Program Speakers

Quiz Worx

Matt Jacobs

Matt is married to Keren, and is dad to Abby, Noah, and Hayley. He has worked in youth ministry for over 20 years, the last 7 at St Jude’s Anglican Church in Bowral. He loves Bible teaching, seeing young Christians grow to maturity in their faith, and serving alongside the fun team of youth leaders at St Jude’s. In his free time, Matt loves running, cooking, and playing with Lando, his big dopey Hungarian Vizsla.

Matt will be teaching the KEC Senior High Program.

WATCH MATT’S WELCOME VIDEO
Quiz Worx

Quiz Worx

Quiz Worx exists to share the Good News of Jesus with primary aged kids in creative, fun and engaging ways. They perform live shows with puppetry, music, art & stories at schools, churches, outreach events, afternoon kids’ clubs and Holiday Kids’ Clubs all over Australia. Quiz Worx live shows are fast paced, action-packed and clearly present who Jesus is from the Bible! To find out more about Quiz Worx you can go to Quiz Worx.com. 

QuizWorx will be teaching the KEC Kids Primary Program.

Tim Edwards

Tim is currently studying at Moore Theological College while also serving as a student minister, working with youth and young adults, at Norwest Anglican Church.

Tim is married to his amazing wife Maddy, has a two-year-old son named Isaac, and a giant dog named Moseley. In addition to his family, Tim loves Jesus, talking to people about the Bible, and passionately supporting his favourite English football (soccer) team Crystal Palace.

Tim will be teaching the KEC Kids Junior High Program.

KEC MCs

Christine Mao

Christine works as a hospital chaplain and is a part-time chaplaincy lecturer at Morling College. She has discovered her ‘ikigai’ through these roles! She is curious about people and enjoys discerning the threads of God’s grace through shared stories. Christine is married to Allan and they love their two teenage sons.

Christine will be one of our morning MCs over the KEC weekend.

Pre Shunmugam

Pre is married to Holly, and they have two beautiful girls living in Western Sydney.  Pre serves as the youth pastor at MBM (Multicultural Bible Ministry) and loves introducing youth to Jesus and seeing their lives transformed by Him. He also loves smashing down some KFC and watching the Penrith Panthers carve up! 

Pre will be one of our evening MCs at KEC.

Ellie Carrasco

Ellie Carrasco attends St Thomas’ Anglican Church in North Sydney with her husband, Marcos. She works as a journalist during the week, and in her spare time loves reading and going to the beach.

Ellie will be one of our evening MCs at KEC.

Caz Morton

Caz is adopted from Sri Lanka, is a pilates instructor & terrible speller. She resides in Canberra and has served in a number of different denominations as a youth and kids pastor. Currently she attends Woden Valley Alliance Church & is working for Christian Education in Schools as the South Canberra coordinator teaching the greater depth of scripture in public sectors.

Caz will be hosting special content for the KEC livestream.