Connections 2025 Speakers
Michael is a Licensed Professional Counselor, spiritual director, speaker, and CEO at Restoring the Soul, an intensive counseling ministry in Lakewood, Colorado. Michael is an author of two books including Sacred Attachment: Escaping Spiritual Exhaustion and Trusting In Divine Love, and Surfing for God: Discovering the Divine Desire Beneath Sexual Struggle. Having experienced the restoring touch of God in a deeply broken life and marriage, Michael’s passion is to help people create deeper connections with God, themselves, and others.
In addition to leading Restoring the Soul and equipping Christian organizations around the world is the host of the Restoring the Soul podcast. He holds an MA in Biblical Counseling from Colorado Christian University and an MA in counseling psychology from the University of Denver. Michael lives with his wife Julianne in the foothills of Colorado where he enjoys the Rocky Mountains and a host of other outdoor activities with friends and family.
Alexis Abernethy is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychology in the School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary. In 2021 she was named Chief Academic officer at Fuller. Prior to that she served as the Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She graduated from Howard University with a BS in Psychology. She received her MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.
Her primary research interest is the intersection between spirituality and health. Dr. Abernethy’s Spirituality and Health Lab includes three research teams: Experience of Spirituality and Health-Related Outcomes; Spirituality, Cancer, and Health Disparities; and Spirituality, Culture, and Eating Disturbance. She is the Principal Investigator of the Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services-Fuller Theological Seminary Research Collaborative.
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of National Community Church (NCC) in Washington, D.C.
One church in multiple locations, NCC owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse, the Miracle Theatre, the DC Dream Center, and the Capital Turnaround. Mark holds a doctor of ministry degree from Regent University and is the New York Times bestselling author of 24 books. His newest books include A Million Little Miracles and The Best Worst Day Ever, the third children’s book he’s written with his daughter, Summer. He and his wife reside in Washington, D.C.
Jill Phillips Gullahorn is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter who has been recording albums and performing for over 25 years. She is also a licensed marriage and family therapist who enjoys working in her private practice and teaching at a wide range of events across the country. She has been married to her husband, musician Andy Gullahorn, for 26 years and has three children ages 23, 20, and 17. In her free time she loves reading, hiking with friends and family, cooking and hosting, and visiting the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Christine Labrum is a spiritual director, retreat leader, and artist. Her vocation is to companion and shepherd others with presence, words, and art. Christine’s artwork emerges from prayer, engagement with Scripture, and our life’s journey with God.
Christine is passionate for us to experience God’s tenacious pursuit of our hearts: God’s kind invitation to repentance, God’s offer of deep rest from our striving, and God’s gift of love that leads us toward renewal, transformation, and co-creation. Her desire is to live life with God in an ever deepening surrender, intimacy, and partnership. She is committed to engaging, encouraging, and teaching spiritual practices (disciplines) that enable us to open our hearts and minds to God’s Spirit through Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Curt Thompson, MD
Curt Thompson, MD, is a board certified psychiatrist, author, speaker, and co-host of The Being Known Podcast. He has been in private practice for over 30 years in Falls Church, Virginia, graduated from Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine, and completed his psychiatric residency at Temple University Hospital.
Curt strives to help patients develop flourishing lives by telling their stories more truly, in order to become more deeply known, for the purpose of creating beauty and goodness in the world. With conviction and humor, he trains clinicians and speaks at workshops, retreats and conferences, integrating neuroscience, human relationships and Christian faith. He and his wife Phyllis are the parents of two adult children and live in Northern Virginia.