April 28 – 29, 2023
Sessions & Breakouts Recordings
Recordings of both the main sessions and breakout sessions are available below, and on YouTube.
Christ in Culture is a conference designed to help Christians engage and think biblically about some of the most significant cultural issues of the day. This year's conference theme is 'Hopeful Living in an Anxious Age.' The conference is tackling the significant problem of anxiety and loneliness in our age, especially as we emerge from the pandemic.
MAIN SESSIONS
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Endless Demands, Anxiety, and the Comfort of God’s Presence
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Experiencing the Supernatural Peace of God
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How to Pray Through Anxiety With a Heavenly Hope
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Hopeful Living: God’s Promise to Finish the Work He Began in Us
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Anxiety and Loneliness in this Cultural Moment
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Suffering & Glory: Final Redemption as the Believer's Greatest Hope
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
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Worshipping God from Dark Places
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Digital Addiction, Anxiety, and Rest
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How to Be Mentally Healthy as a Young Adult or Teenager
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Hopeful Living and Trauma
GUEST SPEAKERS
Dr. Kelly Kapic
Professor & Teacher
Covenant College
Georgia, USA
Kelly M. Kapic (PhD, King's College, University of London) is a professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, where he has taught for twenty years. He is an award-winning author or editor of more than fifteen books, including You’re Only Human and Embodied Hope, which each won a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award. Kapic, a popular speaker, has been featured in places such as Christianity Today and The Gospel Coalition, has worked on research teams funded by the John Templeton Foundation, and contributes to the Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care and various other journals.
Main Session 1: Endless Demands, Anxiety, and the Comfort of God’s Presence
Main Session 4: Hopeful Living: God’s Promise to Finish the Work He Began in Us
Tobi Adetayo
Pastor
Grace Fellowship Church
Toronto, ON
Tobi Adetayo is a sinner saved by grace. He is grateful to have been a staff member at Hope Bible Church in Oakville, and at Grace Fellowship Church in Etobicoke, where he and his family continue as church members. He received his Masters of Divinity from Heritage Seminary in 2022 and currently travels around preaching. He and his wife Rachel live in Burlington, along with their four daughters.
Main Session 2: Experiencing the Supernatural Peace of God
Main Session 5: Suffering & Glory: Final Redemption as the Believer's Greatest Hope
David Robinson
Lead Pastor
Grace Bible Church
Cambridge, ON
David Robinson has served as pastor of Grace Bible Church in Cambridge, Ontario, for almost 28 years. David is thankful to serve as a Board member of the Canadian Biblical Counselling Coalition, as the Director of the Graduate Certificate of Biblical Care and Counselling at Heritage College & Seminary, and as a lecturer at Carey International Pastoral Training. David is married to Eva for 27 years and has three children and one grandson.
Main Session 4: How to Pray Through Anxiety With a Heavenly Hope
PANEL DISCUSSION
with Andrew Noble, Dr. Kelly Kapic, Melodie O'Connell & David Robinson
Conference Theme: Anxiety and Loneliness in this Cultural Moment
BREAKOUT SESSIONS & FACILITATORS
Worshipping God from Dark Places
This breakout session reviews stories of pain, loss and loneliness of the psalmist David found in the psalm titles, hears his cry and call from those places, and helps us with our own voices when we find ourselves in similar places. The session will look at the place of the church as uniquely positioned to minister in this context. We will hear his voice of lament in particular as a communal worship voice for the church, and how it takes him, and us as Christ’s people, from despair to hope.
Dr. David Barker
Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies
Heritage College & Seminary
David is Professor of Biblical Studies at Heritage College & Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario. He presently teaches Old Testament Survey, Hermeneutics, and the Book of Psalms. He has taught at Heritage since 1978. He has served as Academic Dean, Vice-President of Academics, and Interim President over the years. His specialty is in Old Testament, particularly the Psalms and Wisdom Books. He has pastored several churches including Summerside Community Church (formerly Westminster Hope Baptist Church) and Stoney Creek Baptist Church (formerly Central Baptist Church) both in London, Ontario. He has also served as an Associate Pastor at Benton Street Baptist Church in Kitchener. He has ministered in several churches as an interim pastor and is busy most Sundays speaking in churches across the province. David is married to Lorraine, and they have five married children and fourteen grandchildren.
Breakout Session: Worshipping God from Dark Places
Digital Addiction, Anxiety, and Rest
How do digital devices addict us? How do they, as Jonathan Haidt argues, make us anxious and depressed? And how do we respond without rejecting the common grace given to us through technology? It starts with rest. Come to this session to learn the relevance of Jesus’ words in our attention economy.
Joel Jacob
Principal Product Manager
Splunk
Joel Jacob is a principal product manager at Splunk, where he focuses on driving technology innovation to their data analytics platform. He earned his BASc in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Waterloo and worked on the Lexus RX 2016 350 at Toyota and the SmartSensor at Ecobee before starting the What Would Jesus Tech Podcast. He lives with his wife and two sons in Toronto where they are members of Hope Church, Mississauga.
Andrew Noble
Pastoral Assistant
Grandview Church
Andrew Noble is a husband, a father, and a graduate of Heritage College & Seminary (MDiv). He has written for The Gospel Coalition Canada, has served as the Labs Director for Faithtech, and currently co-hosts a podcast called What Would Jesus Tech. Prior to entering pastoral ministry, Andrew helped grow a technology company called Plum from seven to thirty-five people and has also served as the President of the Student Union at the University of Waterloo.
Breakout Session: Digital Addiction, Anxiety, and Rest
How to Be Mentally Healthy as a Young Adult or Teenager
One of the worst mistakes we can make in supporting others is to reduce their health to being either spiritual, physical, mental, or emotional. We need a holistic framework with Scripture as our authority and Christ as our counsellor. Come to this session to see what this looks like, whether you’re a teenager or young adult yourself or loving one who is.
Stella Mfoafo-M’Carthy
Counsellor/Therapist
University of Guelph
Stella is a professional Counsellor/Therapist at the University of Guelph with a Master’s degree in Social Work. She is a staff member of Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly, a Registered Social Worker, and a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist. Stella has worked extensively with students, teenagers, couples, families, and groups on a variety of issues including but not limited to depression, anxiety, separation/divorce, domestic violence, and grief/loss. As an eclectic social worker, Stella works from a strength-based perspective using diverse interventions such as narrative, solution-focused, and cognitive-behaviour therapy.
Breakout Session: How to Be Mentally Healthy as a Young Adult or Teenager
Hopeful Living and Trauma
When most people think of trauma they think of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but there is a much greater range and diversity of traumas which affect people to varying degrees. Come to this session to grow in your understanding of how trauma affects the human body, what responses are beneficial, and how Jesus gives us hope amidst it all.
Melodie O'Connell
Social Worker
New Vision Family Health
Melodie has been working in the area of Mental Health for the past 20 years. She currently is a Social Worker with the New Vision Family Health Team. Melodie is married to Dan, and they have four children; Daniel, Marley, Mikayla and Dylan. She is currently serving as an Elder at Wilmot Centre Church and has been heavily involved in the Alpha and Alpha Marriage course over the past several years. Melodie enjoys being active and spending time outdoors.
Breakout Session: Hopeful Living and Trauma