Professor Ackerman and his wife just celebrated their 43rd anniversary and have served together in ministry for most of those years. He is a full-time minister at New Creation Assemblies of God in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a professor who loves to share the Word of God with others. He is excited to work with students and open up the truth that is the Word of God and its importance to the life of the believer.

Although he is currently a citizen of the United States, Dr. Jacob Al Hassan’s birthplace is Ghana, West Africa. He is the Vice President of Business Development at Fidelity Direct Mortgage and has been doing his “tent ministry” while volunteering as a pastor at River of Life Church in Spotsylvania, Virginia, for the past twenty years. Dr. Jacob has been married to his childhood sweetheart for thirty-two years and is blessed with three sons: Philemon, Theophilus, and Titus.

He has the unique opportunity to serve the body of Christ at ROLC and engage the culture daily with a godly witness in the marketplace, thanks to the privilege of being bi-vocational. Even though it has its difficulties, he is given the chance daily to help alter the current relativism-based culture.

Professor Arnold has been a special education teacher at the high school level since 2008. She has taken PSOM and Ascent College classes to grow her theological roots, faith, and calling to serve ministers. She has served as a leader in children’s and youth ministries, as a pastor’s wife for twenty years, and on women’s ministry teams in recent years. Teaching a course about ministry and special education is the marrying of two of her greatest passions, and she is thrilled for this opportunity to teach, learn, and grow with Ascent College students!

Jamé Bolds, PhD (C) (Stellenbosch) is an economic theologian and CEO of the Pathmakers Foundation, a venture philanthropic​ foundation that discovers, funds, and walks with leaders in strategic and marginalized communities. As lead pastor of Victory Church (Yorktown, VA), he led a five-year $4.5 million revitalization, and at completion, it will be a $30 million turnaround. At Victory, he developed a self-funded economic model for “A Church, in A Park, in A City” not reliant on Sunday morning offerings. He is a member of the Society of Pentecostal Studies and the American Economic Association. 

Professor Burtram is the lead pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, and he loves talking about faith in ways that connect with people right where they are. He’s married to his wonderful and beautiful wife, Rebecca, and they have five amazing grown kids. When he’s not preaching or teaching, you can usually find him working on his latest house renovation project – he loves using his hands to turn something old into something new.

Gary Butler is an ordained Assemblies of God minister with a wealth of practical ministry experience. He led small and large multi-staff churches for over twenty years as a lead pastor and served an additional twenty years as a “pastor to pastors” as a member of the Potomac Ministry Network leadership team. Gary is the author of the Church Leadership Coaching church revitalization process and has coached and consulted with numerous churches. Gary and his wife, Carolyn, have three married children and ten grandchildren. 

Professor Castro and her husband serve as missionary pastors in the Philippines at Freedom Church Assembly of God in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They provide training among pastors in the Philippines on how to use multi-biblical courses on discipleship provided by International Cooperating Ministries in Newport News, Virginia. She has worked for almost twelve years as a mental health clinician. She is a certified medical interpreter of the Tagalog Language and has completed training in behavioral health interpreting in Richmond, Virginia.

Dr. Chapman’s calling is to “prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ is built up” (Ephesians 4:12). When he is able to help our students prepare for their ministry goals; then he has fulfilled his calling.

Dr. DeBerry has been married to his beautiful wife, Verlene, for fifty-three years. He has two sons, Quentin and Eric, and three grandchildren.

Brian has been in ministry for over 35 years. He has a passion for training the next generation of leaders, equipping kids and families, and using creativity to illustrate the gospel message. He loves hiking, 80s Rock, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Dallas Mavericks!

LaDawn Emery, a dedicated wife and mother of one, has served as an ordained minister and missionary with the Assemblies of God, focusing on children, youth, and human trafficking issues. With experience as a substitute teacher and Spanish instructor for K-8, she has worked with both neurotypical and special needs students across various grade levels. Currently, LaDawn is the Student Ministry Director at a church plant in Springfield, MO, where she continues her commitment to faith and youth development.

Mark Freeman, together with his wife Melissa, is the proud father of five daughters. He holds a master’s degree in education from Towson University and has over twenty years of youth ministry experience as an ordained pastor with the Assemblies of God. Currently serving as the Communications and Resourcing Director for the New York Ministry Network, Mark applies his educational expertise and ministry background to support local churches by creating curriculum and leadership training resources that foster individual growth and enhance overall team health. Mark is passionate about helping people better understand their identity in Christ Jesus, guiding them toward spiritual growth and fulfilling their calling.

Rev. Debbie’s heart to serve the Lord in the equipping of His saints to fulfill their mission in Christ drives her to preach, teach, and help others in the love of Christ. As the founder and president of Heart to Hands International, Inc., a 501(c)3 organization, she partners with others working in marginalized sectors to empower those called to minister the gospel. 

Married to her high school sweetheart, she enjoys reading, spending time with her daughters and grandchildren, and walking on the beach or mountain trails with her husband, John.

Patrick Grach is the founding and Lead Pastor of Lifehouse Church, which he started in 2003 with five people in his home and publicly launched in 2005 with 24 people. Lifehouse Church has grown into multiple locations, campuses, and services, has planted 12 churches, and has mentored and supported another 65 church planters. Patrick also directs the Lifehouse Network, which includes over a dozen partner churches nationally and another in Albania. Patrick and his wife Laura live in Hagerstown, Maryland, and have six children: Rebecca (22), Carissa (20), Bethany (18), and Daniel (9), Matthew (7), Caleb (4). He enjoys endurance sports (like marathons and triathlons), hiking, and hunting.

As lead pastor, Dr. Hackett is more of a teacher than a preacher. He enjoys equipping leaders in all walks of life (profit and non-profit). His hobbies include CrossFit and golf.

During the past five decades, Rev. Joyner has served as a youth minister, college & career director, worship leader, missions pastor, college professor, small-group pastor, discipleship pastor, church planter, and lead pastor. At the same time, he and his wife managed to surpass 47 years of marriage together, raise three children, and welcome nine grandchildren into their tribe. Every step of the way, his purpose has been to make the Bible come alive so that people come alive to God. Wherever you are in your academic journey, or whatever role in which you now serve, Rev. Joyner prays that Ascent College will equip you to better serve and pursue the passion that God is giving to you. 

Dr. Kammer is a retired U.S. Army chaplain, and in elementary school, I was a paperboy for the San Francisco Examiner. He’s taught English as a Second language in California and China. For over ten years, he served as a pastor in Missouri, California, and various other locations, such as Bagram, Afghanistan, and Heidelberg, Germany.

Dr. Lane resides in East Tennessee with his wife, Lauren, his daughte,r Brooklyn, and his identical triplet sons, Owen, Andrew, and Elijah. Next-generation discipleship and building a strong, doctrinally sound church are close to his heart. As a young communications major, the Holy Spirit spoke to Dr. Lane to “Learn His Word and teach His Word.” Since that day, he hasn’t looked back on that calling. Dr. Lane loves the outdoors and cheering on the Volunteers!

Dr. Lemley is a revivalist at heart, passionate about seeking the presence of God and making Him known. She believes we are created to have a personal, fresh, and daily encounter with Him. She lives with her husband Kraig of 27 years, their dog Kooper, and their cat Kallie. 

Since early childhood, Dr. McGehee has in some way been involved with training and equipping others to participate in the call of God to missionally engage those around them. For the past twenty years, God has led her on a journey of learning how to train and equip even those who are from cultures that are different than her own. Her heart is not only to train people how to be effective witnesses cross-culturally but to pause, listen, and learn from each other. As they do so, they can begin to see that God purposely created diversity so that in Him, everyone finds value in each other and a unity in diversity that best represents the Kingdom of God while on earth.

Dr. Nance serves as the Lead Pastor at Chapel Springs Church in Northern Virginia, where she also spent nine years as the Spiritual Formation Pastor. As a pastor in the Washington D.C. metro area, much of her focus is on helping people in this highly educated, affluent area create space in their chaotic, ordinary lives to hear and respond to the movement of God in and around them.  

Originally from Puerto Rico, Dr. Negron moved to Baltimore at 21 after marrying her husband. Guided by faith, she pursued her academic journey, culminating in a PhD from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2019.

With over 10 years of research and teaching experience, she now works as a systems engineer for the Department of Defense. She’s a mother of two boys, a pastor’s wife, and a Bible teacher, passionate about using creativity—through painting and singing—to worship God and serve others. Life is wonderfully unpredictable!

Dr. Odong’s educational philosophy is a derivative of a lifelong passion/hobby of knowledge pursuit and sharing what he has learned with others. His unique personal and professional experiences and desires have provided him with the opportunity to help students meet their current academic challenges. Dr. Odong believes that the purpose of education is to support students in skills development, knowledge acquisition, and even dispositions that will brand them into responsible and contributory citizens/members of our community and nation at large. He grew up knowing that education is the best avenue for opportunities in life.

Rev Dr. Regina Okine is originally from the beautiful country called Ghana, in West Africa. By His immeasurable grace, she is the Founder of the Center for Ministerial Counseling, the Journey of the Heart Ministry, the LifeSeriesYouth Bible Study Group, and the Marriage and Family Counseling serving people from all walks of life. She is an inspirational speaker based on Biblical principles and values for both children and adults. Her educational background is in Biblical Theology, Biblical Psychology, and Christian Counseling. With great humility, she received all her education from Christian Institutions throughout her life.

Rev Dr. Regina Okine is a mother, a grandmother, a sweet Auntie, a dear friend, and a people-oriented person who has a special heart for the wellbeing of people (including children, the youth population, and the whole family). She is a Certified Therapeutic Foster Parent with Youth for Tomorrow and a caregiver to several foster children in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Also, she is a Godmother to several Godchildren. She resides in Haymarket, VA, with her Sweet Hubby and three children.

Gratitude: She is very grateful to God for granting her the opportunity to serve Him and humanity. May His immeasurable grace and peace forever be with us all. In the Mighty Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen & Amen!

Dr. Pardekooper loves playing sports, cheering on the KC Chiefs with his family, reading, and writing. 

From his first week in Bible college, he has felt called to pastor pastors and serve them in their ministries.

John Ponder is Pastor of Christian Education and Assimilation for Family Christian Center, Munster, IN. He oversees all adult education, discipleship and mentoring, online church hosting, follow-up and assimilation, prayer ministry, all counseling, and Marriage Ministry. 

John Ponder has a background in both the corporate and church environments and thus brings leadership skills from both the secular and Christian perspectives. John previously managed a team of scientists, programmers, and engineers who developed disk storage systems at IBM.  

While still working for IBM, in 1998, John planted the Christian Faith Center in Tucson, AZ, which grew to over 200 in regular attendance. In 2005, John accepted the call to join the pastoral team of Family Christian Center.

Eva Ponder, John’s wife of 50 years, is a licensed clinical psychologist, having completed her doctorate at Wheaton Univerisity. She was previously the executive director of Bethany House, the largest Christian residential drug rehab program/homeless shelter for women in the state of Arizona. She also previously served as Clinical Director at Cornerstone Counseling in downtown Chicago. John and Eva have three children: Jennifer Arimborgo, a missionary in the Amazon jungle region of Peru; Anna Bourke Morgan, co-pastor of Word of Life AOG in suburban Washington, DC; and Joel Ponder, a programmer for Mastercard.

Lisa Potter is the author of The Collective Journey: An Invitation to Go Deeper in Your Life and Leadership. She is also a passionate leader, a grace downloader, and a generational bridge builder. Her commitment to these roles is evident in her dedication to mentoring and coaching the next generation of female leaders and her work in speaking, writing, and teaching.

Lisa and her husband, Frank, live at the Tableview Farm in Virginia, a 70-acre farm between Washington, D.C., and the beautiful Shenandoah Mountains with their golden retriever, Brady.

Valerie Rance has served as an Assemblies of God World missionary with her husband DeLonn since 1984. For twenty of those years, she worked in the country of El Salvador where she taught in the English Department of the Christian University of the AG in San Salvador. Valerie and DeLonn have three awesome children, three wonderful children-in-law, and seven of the most beautiful grandchildren in the world.

Dr. Rees has preached and taught the gospel for over fifteen years and is also the founder of Lydia House International, a ministry empowering women and underserved people in West Africa and around the world.  She lives in Richmond, VA with her husband, three children, and their pug.

Jenell Sanford is a child of God and enjoys studying His Word. She holds journalism and communications degrees from Ohio University and is a graduate of Biblical Studies. 

She has a heart for “babes” in the faith and has published the book entitled, Bible Basics for Babes in Christ, with an emphasis on teaching/sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with fun, simplicity, and truth.

Dr. Schoonmaker and his wife, Joyce, have been married for more than twenty years, raising their six children from college age down to elementary school. He serves as Lead Pastor of C3 Tri-Cities, east of Seattle, and has been ministering to college students for 25 years. Some of his favorite years of ministry have been with university students at West Point, Harvard, Harvard Law, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, UPenn, and Tulane. Dr. Schoonmaker loves teaching at Ascent and considers it his privilege to help equip the next generation of ministers for God’s glory! 

Brandon Shank is the Founding and Lead Pastor of Palms Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He holds a Doctor of Ministry in Expository Preaching and Teaching from Liberty University, graduating with distinction, and a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from Evangel University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He is also an Ordained Minister with the Assemblies of God. 

In addition to pastoring a thriving church for the past ten years, Brandon is currently building a baseball training facility, the Virginia Beach Academy, in tandem with Fresh Start Academy, a virtual rehabilitation program for teens with life-altering addictions and their families, with VBA being the revenue stream for the continuing ministry of Fresh Start Academy. He has previously held the position of President at Mid-Atlantic Teen Challenge and Virginia Beach Little League. Brandon also hosts a weekly podcast, The Brandon Shank Podcast, which integrates Jesus, culture, and sports.

Dr. Story has over 45 years of experience teaching at the graduate level, including 39 years teaching at Regent University’s School of Divinity. He enjoys Biblical languages (proficient in Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, and also German and French), spending time with friends, fishing, working out, running, and enjoying nature as he works outdoors. He has served in various ministry roles and published two books and countless journal articles on a variety of theological topics. He is currently working on a new book, The Urban Bible: Further Thoughts and Research Related to the Christian Affections in the Bible.

Dr. Thee has served his country through leadership and management in scientific and technical organizations. He’s been married to his wife, Sonji, since 1982 and has two children and one grandchild. He’s been teaching Sunday School for many years and enjoys teaching at Ascent College.  

Dawn Wagner is a mom, wife, business owner, and closet opera singer. Her ministry experience includes youth ministry, cross-cultural urban ministry, church revitalization, and church planting, but at heart, she’s a disciple-maker. She loves to see the Gospel come alive and bring transformation! 

Yancy is a worship leader, songwriter, author and passionate advocate of raising disciples to worship. Her Dove Award winning music that makes Jesus loud is used in churches and homes globally. She hosts the “Stained Glass Kids” podcast for PK’s, ministry kids and leaders. Yancy and her family live in Nashville, TN.

Kevin is a career military intelligence professional with over thirty years of combined active and civilian service. Kevin is a Veteran of two combat tours in Grenada and Somalia. He serves as the Director of the Dream Prayer Network and Prayer Leader at Bethel Temple in Hampton, Virginia.