MARK DEVRIES
Mark DeVries (MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary) is the founder of Ministry Architects, a consulting team that helps churches and ministry organizations build sustainable ministries for children, youth, young adults, and entire congregations. He served for twenty-eight years as associate pastor for youth and their families at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. He has trained youth workers on five continents and has taught courses or been a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and seminaries.
DeVries is the author of Sustainable Youth Ministry and Family-Based Youth Ministry, coauthor of The Most Important Year in a Woman’s Life/The Most Important Year in a Man’s Life, and he has been a contributing writer for Josh McDowell’s Youth Ministry Handbook, Starting Right, and Reaching a Generation for Christ. In addition, his articles and reviews have been published in a variety of journals and magazines. He and his wife, Susan, have four grown children.
ANNETTE SAFSTROM
Annette fell in love with children’s ministry in the 1980s and has never looked back. After graduating from Bible college in 1991 with a certification in children’s ministry, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University, and a Master’s from SMU. Over the years, she has consistently served in various roles and in various settings as either a staff member or volunteer team member.
In recent years, Annette served as a director for a rapidly growing children’s ministry, and has been a member of the Ministry Architects team since January of 2012. She is a conference speaker for both Children’s Pastor’s Conference and Group’s KidMin Conference. She lives in McKinney, TX with her husband Kevin, and their two children, and enjoys traveling, cooking, and writing.