Lecturers

The Rev. Cariño Casas

Come with CMJ USA and Shoresh Study Tours on an unforgettable journey through Greece, tracing the footsteps of the Jewish Apostle Paul. On the road to Damascus, Jesus Messiah commissioned Shaul the Pharisee to take the gospel to the Greco-Roman world. Join the Rev. Cariño Casas and a Messianic Jewish guide from Israel as we explore historic Jewish and Christian sites. Savor delicious Greek cuisine, and immerse yourself in this vibrant culture as we visit the communities Paul visited -- Philippi, Corinth, Thessaloniki, Cenchrea, Athens and more -- while bringing the good news of the Messiah to the Jew first and also to the Greek!

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Shoresh Study Tours

A Ministry of CMJ Israel

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Jennifer Cowart

Jen loves Jesus and God’s Word. Through writing and speaking, she helps connect the dots from Scripture to life application to help people live their very best life in Christ. In addition, she serves as the Executive Director at  Harvest Church in Byron, GA.

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Tod Bolsinger

Tod Bolsinger, MDiv, PhD, the co-owner and principal of AE Sloan Leadership, Inc, an executive coaching and consulting firm that works with church, non-profit, and marketplace leaders in leading change. He is also the Executive Director of the De Pree Center Church Leadership Institute, a Senior Fellow of the De Pree Center for Leadership, and an Associate Professor of Leadership Formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. He founded the Fuller Leadership Platform, an innovative approach to online formation and leadership development, and served as Vice President of Fuller Seminary for six years. Prior to his educational career, he served as a pastor for 27 years. Tod is the author of nine books, including the Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year in pastoral leadership, Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory, the Christian Book Award Finalist, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change, and The Practicing Change Series. Tod is married to Beth, a professional artist. They have two adult children, Brooks and Ali, and a son-in-law, Ben. An avid outdoor lover, Tod would have been a national park ranger if he hadn’t taken biology after lunch in high school. When he retires, he will do hiking trail maintenance, trout rescue, and be a ski host who makes sure there are four people on every quad-chair lift.  

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Dr. Scott Hoffman

 Scott Hoffman currently serves as a strategic consultant for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, where he is responsible for managing major relationships for Franklin & Will Graham.  A role that Scott fulfills with BGEA is planning, producing, and hosting for major partner Vision Trips all around the globe.
Returning to work with BGEA after having served for three years at the Executive Pastor and the Oceanfront Pastor for Trinity Church in Virginia Beach, where his responsibilities included supervision of the pastors across 6 campuses, teaching and preaching at the Oceanfront campus and leading the discipleship and mission’s ministry under Trinity’s GROW strategy.  
Scott served as Vice President of Donor Ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association headquartered at the BGEA Corporate Headquarters in Charlotte, NC.   He was the senior executive for the Donor Ministries office and field teams, the Direct Mail department, the Christian Response Center and the Television Telephone Ministry.  His team was responsible for all domestic and international fund-raising activities for BGEA. 
Scott and his wife Nancy previously served as the Chief Executive Officers of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a position they held for five years. The CEO position is the senior staff position for the OGCMA and is responsible for all facets of the Camp Meeting’s ministry and business operations.  Together they worked with the Board of Trustees in reversing a ten year financial downturn and implementing many innovative programs and ministries.
Prior to assuming the position at Ocean Grove, Scott served the First Congregational Church of Chester in Chester, New Jersey for 16 years as the Senior Pastor.  He earned a Doctor of Ministry degree with a specialty in Church History, a Master of Divinity from New Brunswick Theological Seminary and a Bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University.  He is the author of Acts 29:  Being the Church and Where Two or Three Are Gathered. 
Before entering the ministry, Dr. Hoffman spent 12 years in the business world in the fashion accessories business in New York City.  He served as founder & president of the $25 million accessories division of Bag Bazaar, International with offices in New York, Hong Kong, Calcutta, Bangkok, and Taipei. 
Dr. Hoffman is on the Boards of several Christian ministries and foundations, including serving as President of Dayspring Ministries, a Christian mission program working exclusively in Haiti, Lighthouse for Christ, a Christian mission program working in Mombasa Kenya, as well as serving as the President of 1Died4All basketball ministries.  He is also a governing elder at Trinity Church. 
Scott and Nancy have been married for 39 years and have been ministry partners ever since.  They have one son, Kevin, who is a practicing attorney in Virginia Beach, VA.   He and his wife Brittany have twin sons, Caleb & Nathanael and daughters, Elizabeth & Madison, their adopted son, Ezekiel.  

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The Rev. William Sachs, PhD

The Rev. William Sachs, PhD is an Episcopal priest, author, and consultant. He has served parishes in Virginia, Connecticut, and Chicago. He recently retired after serving St. Stephen’s Church, Richmond, Virginia, a parish of over 4,000 members. He has directed varied research projects and formation programs on leadership, spiritual growth, religious trends, and interfaith relations. He has been Visiting Professor at Virginia Theological Seminary and at Yale Divinity School. He serves on the Council of the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is a member of the North American Committee for St. George’s College, Jerusalem. He has led parish, diocesan, and non-profit group retreats and planning meetings.  

Sachs consults with Family Health International, an international health and medical research group. He conducted USAID-funded research on the response to HIV/AIDS by religious groups in seven countries and sits on the Protection of Human Subjects Committee which reviews HIV/AIDS research. He is a trustee of the Elizabeth Raymond Ambler Charitable Trust of Wilton, Connecticut.  

He is the author or editor of thirteen books and has written over 200 articles, reviews, reports, chapters, and essays on Anglicanism, pluralism, minority rights and leadership. In part his writing has grown out of research projects in Britain, Asia and the Middle East. A contributor to the Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer and the Wiley-Blackwell Guide to the Anglican Communion, he is an editor of the Oxford History of Anglicanism.  

He is an avid traveler for refreshment and for intercultural and interfaith discovery. He has led various travel groups to the Middle East and has spoken before groups, conferences, churches, schools, and businesses in Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkey. He has taken sabbatical time at Rikkyo University in Japan.  

Sachs received the PhD at the University of Chicago in modern religious history after earning degrees from Baylor, Vanderbilt, and Yale. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he is married to Melinda Fitzgerald, who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia.   

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Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Kloha

Jeffrey Kloha serves at the Institute for Lutheran Theology and is Dean of the Center for Missional and Pastoral Leadership Formation, which includes Christ School of Theology. Previously served as Chief Curatorial Officer of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. (2017-2024). He was responsible for the overall artifact collection, exhibitions, educational programs, and research projects offered by the museum. Prior to then, he was Provost and Professor of Exegetical Theology (New Testament) at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis (1999-2017). During his tenure as provost, he led the revision of all program curricula, transitioned the institution from quarters to semesters, and led two strategic planning processes. He served as Associate Pastor of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Lakewood, OH, and currently also serves as Associate Pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church, Arlington, VA. Kloha has contributed to 31 scholarly published books and articles, as well as supervising 13 student theses and publications. 

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Dr. Steve Wilke

Dr. Steve Wilke is the Director Emeritus of the Institute for Discipleship at Southwestern College. Founded in April of 2021, the Institute under Steve’s leadership has developed programs that enrich the religious life of the college and with its online courses and studies, serves the larger body of Christ worldwide. He began his work at Southwestern College in 1991 as the Vice President of Student Affairs and worked on the administrative leadership team until 2020 when he went full time with the Institute. Prior to coming to Southwestern College, Steve worked for 10 years as a licensed psychologist on the staff of Prairie View Psychiatric Hospital. 
Steve has had a lifetime of active church leadership, taking on a variety of responsibilities in his local church. He has led or co-led a Disciple Bible Study over 25 times and has taught an adult Sunday School class for over 35 years. 
Steve received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) in Fresno, California, in 1982. In his doctoral research, he studied the role of the church and clergy as agents of community mental health. Steve is part of the Missional Outreach Committee for the Kansas Methodist Foundation. 
Steve and his wife Beth will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in April of 2026. They have four children, their spouses and nine grandchildren. They live in Winfield, Kansas. 

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Dr. Jack Levison

Jack Levison is the W. J. A. Power Professor of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. Jack has won many awards, including a 2021 Christianity Today award for A Boundless God: The Spirit According to the Old Testament, and grants from the National Humanities Center, Association for Theological Schools, Louisville Institute, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, International Catacomb Society, and Rotary Foundation. He has lectured throughout the USA, Canada, Scotland, England, Germany, Holland, and Switzerland, and his books have appeared in Chinese, Korean, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Jack and Priscilla live happily on the SMU campus as faculty-in-residence in Boaz Commons, where they host events, bake lots of cookies, and hang around with 200 bright and lively undergraduates.

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Rev. Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison

Rev. Dr. Priscilla Pope-Levison [DePauw University (B.Mus.), Duke Divinity School (M.Div.), and the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (Ph.D.)] is a Research Professor of Practical Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. Her published areas of research—eight books and more than 30 articles, dictionary entries, and chapters—include women’s religious history, contextual theology, missiology, evangelism, and ecumenism. She has recently received two million-dollar grants from the Lilly Endowment for her work to revitalize congregations. Priscilla, a United Methodist minister, has served in the local church as a college chaplain, college and seminary professor, and seminary administrator. In 2022, she received the Distinguished Service Award from the UMC’s General Commission of Archives and History.

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