DENNAE PIERRE, CO-DIRECTOR

Dennae Pierre is co-Director for CTCNA, The Crete Collective, and the Surge Network and lives in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. She has been involved in church planting, community development, immigration reform, and started a non-profit that serves birth mothers whose children are in the foster care system. She has her MA from Covenant Theological Seminary and DMin from Western Theological Seminary (Holland, MI) and is the author of Healing Prayers & Meditations to Resist a Violent World.

Dennae is married to Vermon, the lead pastor of Roosevelt Community Church and they have five children: Marcel, Mya, Judah, Jovanna, and Rosa Joy.

FELIPE ASSIS, CO-DIRECTOR

Felipe Assis was born in Brazil, but was raised between his native country and the United States. He has earned a TH. B from Seminario Presbiteriano do Norte and and M.Div from Reformed Theological Seminary. Felipe has previously founded and pastored two other churches in Recife, Brazil. 

In 2008, at the invitation of Redeemer City to City, Felipe with his wife Beth and their two young daughters moved to Miami to plant Crossbridge Church to serve as a catalyst to a gospel movement in Miami. Beth holds a masters in mental health psychology and international education and deeply compliments Felipe in ministry. 

Together, they enjoy life in Miami with their four daughters, Ana, Zoe, Camila, and Francesca.

JON DENNIS, CO-DIRECTOR

Jon Dennis is a founding pastor and the Senior Pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Chicago, a multi-ethnic church with congregations in Pilsen, Hyde Park, Downtown and the North Side. They just celebrated their 20th anniversary since planting.  

He is the chairman, co-founder, and Lead for Vision for Neopolis, and the chairman and city leader for the Chicago Partnership for Church Planting. In addition, he serves on several boards including The Charles Simeon Trust (which he helped found), Together Chicago, and Crossway Books. He is the author of Christ + City, married to Amy with five children, and for the last 20 years has lived in Hyde Park.

ABE CHO, TRAINING DIRECTOR

Abe Cho is the Senior Director of Training with City to City NYC and North America.

Cho has more than 20 years of pastoral ministry experience, including 14 years as a pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NY and six years as the Senior Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church East Side. Cho’s leadership also within the Asian American community create opportunities for CTCNA to theologically strengthen the leadership of practitioners in the cities we work. Cho holds an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Abe’s gifts as a preacher, teacher, and church leader have shown a proven ability to have deep biblical frameworks that integrate a vision for justice and reconciliation into Christian leadership. His reputation, relational network, character, and theological depth hold significance for us as CTCNA seeks to build multi-ethnic tables with a vision to advance the mission of the church in North America. Abe and his wife Jordyn live with their four children in Manhattan.

ROBERT GUERRERO, VICE PRESIDENT, CITY TO CITY AND DIRECTOR, LATINO INITIATIVE OF CITY TO CITY NORTH AMERICA

Robert Guerrero works toward catalyzing church planting networks in key cities of North America and the Hispanic Caribbean.

Born to Dominican parents in New York City, Robert has spent much of his life in both the U.S. and Dominican Republic. He has planted churches in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), Chicago and New York City. Robert was also co-founder of La Red del Camino for Integral Mission in Latin America, committed to inspiring and training churches to live out the gospel holistically with a commitment to justice, compassion and community renewal. He now lives in Miami from where he leads the recently launched Latino Initiative of City to City North America.

Robert and his wife Damaris have 4 sons - Joshua, Tomas, Robert Jr and Joel.

EFREM SMITH, CATALYST, AFRICAN AMERICAN NETWORKS  

Efrem Smith is a pastor, consultant, speaker, and author. He is passionate about life transformation, multiethnic development, thriving churches, and community development. As a product of the African American Church, he also serves as a collaborative catalyst for African American Church Planting, Disciple Making, and Urban Empowerment Movements.

Efrem was the founding pastor of The Sanctuary Covenant Church, a multi-ethnic church in Minneapolis, MN, He served as the Superintendent of the Pacific Southwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. He also served as the President of World Impact, an urban missions organization. Currently, Efrem is the Co-lead Pastor of Bayside Church Midtown, a thriving and multi-ethnic community in Sacramento, California. He is also Co-Owner of Influential LLC, a speaking, consulting, and coaching ministry. Efrem is the author of Raising Up Young Heroes, The Hip Hop Church, Jump, The Post-Black and Post-White Church, and Killing Us Softly.

Efrem is a graduate of Saint John's University and Luther Theological Seminary. He completed the Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and received an honorary Doctor of Ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary. Efrem is married to Donecia and they have two daughters, Jaeda and Mireya.

KIMBERLY DECKEL, DIRECTOR, FAITH AND WORK

Kimberly and her family recently moved to Austin from Phoenix, Arizona where Kimberly was a church planter director of operations for Surge Network. Kimberly currently serves as a priest and executive pastor at Church of the Cross Austin. After completing her education in social work at the University of Missouri, Kimberly relocated to Phoenix, where she met her husband Steve.

Before transitioning into full time ministry, Kimberly worked in the field of social work for over a decade serving as therapist, hospice social worker, and working in foster care and adoptions. She completed her MA in Missional Theology through the Missional Training Center and has done work related to faith, work, mercy and justice for Surge Network, Made to Flourish, and other ministries. Kimberly and Steve have a nine year old daughter, Keenan, and they enjoy movies, the outdoors, the arts, and good food.

KRISTIN PARKE, PROJECT DIRECTOR, COMPELLING PREACHING

Kristin Parke joined the City to City North America team having unique experience in church planting and in church leadership.

Based in South Florida with her husband and two young children, Kristin enjoys living close to the beach and experiencing the vast amount of beautiful cultures in South Florida.

Kristin is an advocate for authenticity in a modern culture of counterfeit. She enjoys writing and speaking to encourage and equip women to their full God-given potential.

Prior to coming to CTCNA, Kristin has served in marketing for a pregnancy resource center as well as development for a foster care agency serving domestic and international children. She holds an MBA from Florida Atlantic University. Kristin and her husband, Tommy, are parents to Selah and Theo.