HBCU Link 2024 Speakers

  • Reverend Elbert McGowan, is the Senior Pastor of Redeemer Church in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from Alabama A&M University in Hunstville, Alabama with a mechanical engineering degree, Elbert took an engineering job in Cincinnati Ohio. But God had other plans for Elbert’s life. As a young man in Jackson, Elbert watched drugs ravage his family’s life, but, while he was in Cincinnati, he observed from a distance the radical change that took place in his parents’ lives when they came into contact with the Gospel of Jesus through the witness of a Church in Jackson. Shortly thereafter, Elbert himself was converted, and after an eventful few years that included marrying his wife, Karen, and moving to Kentucky to launch a prison ministry, he moved back to Jackson to attend Reformed Theological Seminary. Elbert started the campus ministry, Reformed University Fellowship at Jackson State University. This RUF chapter was the first RUF on the campus of a Historically Black College or University. After serving nearly a decade at JSU, Elbert was called to be the senior pastor of Redeemer Church, a multi-ethnic PCA church in the Broadmoor neighborhood of Jackson; the same church that was instrumental in the conversion of his parents many years before.

    Conference Speaking Topic: “Walking with Students Through Suffering”

  • In 1969, Carl Ellis began his ministry as a Senior Campus Minister with the Tom Skinner Associates in New York. From 1979 to 1989, Carl served as the Assistant Pastor of Forest Park Community Church in Baltimore, MD, served on faculty at Chesapeake Theological Seminary, and served as a seminar instructor for Prison Fellowship where he developed and taught “in-prison” and “in-community” seminars for inmates and community volunteers. Between 1986 and 2009, Carl served as an adjunct faculty member at the Center for Urban Theological Studies (C.U.T.S.), and as Dean of Intercultural Studies at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. Carl was recently the Associate Pastor for Cultural Apologetics at New City Fellowship. Dr. Ellis completed his MAR (Theology) at Westminster Theological Seminary and holds a D.Phil. from Oxford Graduate School. Dr. Ellis currently serves as Provost's Professor of Theology and Culture and Senior Fellow of the African American Leadership Initiative for Reformed Theological Seminary.

    Conference Speaking Topic: “Reaching Unchurchables”

  • K.A. Ellis is the Director of the Edmiston Center at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, where she teaches practical theology courses on Christian endurance in the face of cultural hostility. She holds master’s degrees from Yale University and Westminster Theological Seminary and is a Ph.D. candidate at Oxford Center for Mission Studies in Oxford, England. Since 2003, she has worked as an advocate for the global persecuted Church, raising awareness and promoting indigenous leadership in countries where Christianity is restricted or repressed.

    Conference Speaking Topic: “Making Enduring Disciples”

  • Dr. Anthony Bradley serves as a distinguished research fellow at The Acton Institute and Research Professor of Interdisciplinary and Theological Studies at Kuyper College. Prior to that, he was the professor of religious studies and director of the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing at The King’s College and the Theologian-In-Residence at Redeemer Presbyterian Church—Lincoln Square. Dr. Bradley lectures at colleges, universities, business organizations, conferences, and churches throughout the U.S. and abroad. His writings on religious and cultural issues have been published in a variety of journals. Dr. Bradley is called upon by members of the broadcast media for comment on current issues and has appeared on C-SPAN, NPR, CNN/Headline News, and Fox News, among others. He studies and writes on issues of the covenant theology, criminal justice reform, youth and family, poverty, education policy, social ethics, and race in America. Dr. Bradley holds a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from Clemson University, a Master of Divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary, a Master of Arts in Ethics and Society from Fordham University, and his PhD is from Westminster Theological Seminary.

    Conference Speaking Topic: “Building Ministries that Build Men”