Special Guests
Rev. Dr. Thomas K. Tewell
Tom Tewell has loved being a pastor of four wonderful congregations during his forty – five years in pastoral ministry, including Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, that he served on September 11, 2001, and the 5,000-member Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. In this current chapter of life, he thoroughly enjoys being a pastor to pastors, a preacher in residence at the San Marino Community Church in suburban Los Angeles, and, most of all, a husband, dad, and grandad to seven grandchildren between the ages of four and twenty-three!
A graduate of Princeton Seminary, where he served as a Trustee for 15 years, Tom received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Drew Theological School and has been awarded two honorary doctorates. He has received numerous awards for his social justice ministry, particularly with the homeless in NYC where he led Fifth Avenue Church to know the homeless who slept on their steps by name. Tom continues to be invited to preach in congregations, on college campuses, and at conference centers across America and to teach homiletics and lead preaching seminars on seminary campuses. Tom founded the Zick Preaching Scholars Program along with the donors, Cathy, and George Manning in 2014, in memory of Cathy’s parents, Mary and John Zick. The Zick program helps preachers, who want to make preaching a priority, to take their preaching to another level.
An entrepreneur at heart, Tom is also Founder of Macedonian Ministry, a leadership development program for pastors that he started in 2008, along with Atlanta developer Tom Cousins. Macedonian Ministry (now known as the Ministry Collaborative) has touched the lives of 1,200 pastors from 24 different denominations across America and Scotland, as they invite pastors to participate in a three-year, peer-learning cohort that unlocks their creative imagination for ministry. Tom and his wife Suzanne have been married for 52 years and live in Claremont, California, close to their three youngest grandchildren.
Wintley Phipps
Wintley Augustus Phipps was born in Trinidad, West Indies and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended Kingsway College, a Christian Academy; Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama where he received a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Theology; and earned a Masters of Divinity Degree from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He also holds an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Waynesburg University and MidAmerica Nazarene University; an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Andrews University; an honorary degree of Doctor of Education from Wheelock College; and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Oakwood University. Mr. Phipps is married to the lovely Linda Diane Galloway Phipps (an RN) and they have been blessed with three fine sons: Wintley Augustus, II, Winston Adriel, and Wade Alexander.
Wintley Phipps is a pastor, world-renowned vocal artist, motivational speaker, and education activist. He is the founder and president of the U.S. Dream Academy, Inc., a national after-school program that aims to break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration by giving children the skills and vision necessary to explore and expand their potential to lead productive and fulfilling lives. Since 1998, the U.S. Dream Academy has served nearly 12,000 children living in neighborhoods harmed by high rates of incarceration.
