Leadership Conversations With Nicky Gumbel

Dr Johannes Hartl is a philosopher, Catholic theologian and an influential mediator between Christian spirituality, philosophy and psychology. He reaches hundreds of thousands of people through his books, lectures, and YouTube videos. In 2005, he founded the House of Prayer in Augsburg, Germany.

In this conversation with Nicky Gumbel, they discuss theocentricity, the importance of being rooted in reality, and the challenges and opportunities of reaching young people in the post-modern world.

Scott and Viktoria Harrison have been on a journey – from working as colleagues at Scott’s kitchen table, to becoming a husband-and-wife team who would revolutionise the way the non-profit sector thinks about branding, fundraising, and marketing. As co-founders of charity: water, Scott and Viktoria have helped over 15 million people gain access to clean water through over 111,000 water projects in 29 countries, work which has saved countless lives and given dignity and hope to countless more. In this interview, they share their stories of how they got here, how they reimagined the rules of how charities operate, and how much more there is yet to be done in the task of making water poverty a thing of the past.

Bio |  Scott and Viktoria Harrison are husband and wife, and co-founders of charity: water – an organisation on a mission to bring clean and safe water to every person on the planet. Scott is author of Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World. Previously Creative Director for charity: water, Viktoria now runs Mission Critical, a course platform that teaches other rising non-profits essential marketing and fundraising skills to accelerate growth.

Show Notes

The Most Revd Dr Thabo Makgoba, Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town was born in 1960 and grew up in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. He holds a BSc, a BA(Honours) in Applied Psychology, and a MEd in Educational Psychology, all from the University of the Witwatersrand. He lectured at Wits University and was Dean of Knockando Residence at Wits College of Education (formerly Johannesburg College of Education – JCE), as well as Senior Lecturer. He is married to Lungi Manona and they have two children, Nyakallo and Paballo. He recently authored the book: Faith & Courage – Praying with Mandela.

Rick and Kay Warren are pastors, authors and global influencers. They founded Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California in 1980. Since then Saddleback has become one of the most influential churches in the United States and Rick and Kay continue to be at the forefront of the evangelical movement, encouraging churches everywhere to be a sanctuary for hope and healing.

Heidy Quah is a 26-year-old human rights activist who founded Refuge For The Refugees [RFTR], a one-stop centre that looks into advocating for the rights of refugees in Malaysia. Almost a decade into working with underserved populations, Heidy specializes in taking on highly complex human trafficking cases, as well as advising corporations on their anti-slavery and human trafficking policies. Heidy is currently an Associate Professor at Taylors Lakeside University, and a supervisor to a PHD candidate in Australia Catholic University. Heidy’s work over the past decade has seen her recognized regionally and globally, winning two notable awards – The Queen’s Young Leaders Award and the South East Asia Women Of The Future Award, marking some of the best practices in the region.

Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. was appointed the 16th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in 2009. In this role, Dr. Collins oversees the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world, spanning the spectrum from basic to clinical research. Dr. Collins is a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH from 1993-2008.

Dr. Collins is an elected member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2007, and received the National Medal of Science in 2009. In 2020, he was elected as a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (UK) and was also named the 50th winner of the Templeton Prize, which celebrates scientific and spiritual curiosity.

Rebecca served on the staff at the HTB Group for 14 years, as Head of Alpha UK, COO and Group CEO, prior to which she worked in banking, consulting and head-hunting.  Rebecca now works with charitable foundations and is the Vice-Chair of Alpha International.  She is married to Alex and they have two children.

Jump into the Leadership Conference archives to hear this conversation between Cardinal Luis Tagle and Nicky Gumbel from 2017.

Cardinal Tagle is currently living in Rome working as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He was the 32nd Archbishop of Manila from 2011 to 2020.  Today he also serves as the president of Caritas International, a federation of Catholic relief, development, and social service organizations, and of the Catholic Biblical Federation. More recently in 2021, he has become a member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.

Isaac Borquaye (Guvna B) is an author and multi award-winning, record-breaking urban rap artist from London. He has carved out a unique place for himself in the music world, and his other artistic endeavours draw on his personal experiences of life in London, bringing together themes of faith, masculinity and identity.

Since winning his first MOBO Music Award at just 20 years old, Guvna’s journey has been one of breathless success and cutting-edge creativity. In a world often plagued by negativity, Guvna B hopes that he can be a beacon of light. His work is intended to demonstrate the strength and inspiration faith can bring.

He lives in London with his wife and son.

Together with her husband, Nick, Christine founded the anti-human trafficking organization, The A21 Campaign – a recipient of the Mother Theresa Memorial Award for their work combating human trafficking among refugees. They also founded Propel Women, an organization designed to celebrate every woman’s passion, purpose, and potential. Christine and Nick make their home in Southern California with their daughters, Catherine and Sophia.

In this episode, Nicky sits down for a conversation with the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and his wife Caroline. The Most Revd Justin Welby was ordained in 1992 after an 11-year career in the oil industry. He spent his first 15 years serving in Coventry diocese, often in places of significant deprivation. In 2002 he was made a Canon of Coventry Cathedral, where he jointly led its international reconciliation work. During this time he worked extensively in Africa and the Middle East. Archbishop Justin has had a passion for reconciliation and peace-making ever since. He was Dean of Liverpool from 2007 to 2011 and Bishop of Durham from 2011 to 2012, before being announced as the Archbishop of Canterbury in late 2012.

Jackie Pullinger is a missionary in Hong Kong and founder of the St Stephen's Society. She has been serving in Hong Kong since 1966. The early years of her Hong Kong ministry are chronicled in her book Chasing the Dragon.

Jon Tyson is a Pastor and Church Planter in New York City. Originally from Adelaide, Australia, Jon moved to the United States twenty years ago with a passion to seek and cultivate renewal in the Western Church. He is the author of Beautiful Resistance, Sacred Roots, A Creative Minority, and The Burden is Light.

Nicky Gumbel is the pioneer of Alpha and Vicar of HTB in London, one of the largest Church of England churches in the UK. He is the author of many books and is married to Pippa.

Anthony Tan is Group CEO and Co-Founder of Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading mobile technology company focused on bringing transport freedom and financial inclusion to the region. Under his leadership, the company has expanded into eight countries across Southeast Asia. Grab's core product platform includes commuting solutions for drivers and passengers with an emphasis on convenience, safety, and reliability, as well as its proprietary mobile payments platform, GrabPay.

By focusing on a hyperlocal business strategy and building strategic partnerships, Anthony and his team successfully transformed Grab from a taxi booking app to the market-leading offline-to-online consumer app that offers the most diversified portfolio of transport services, and its popular mobile payments platform in Southeast Asia.

Anthony graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Economics and Public Policy from the University of Chicago and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with Honors from Harvard Business School. Anthony has a hands-on leadership style and travels obsessively within Southeast Asia to inspire and fight with his teammates on the ground.

Craig and Amy started Life.Church in a two-car garage in Edmond, Oklahoma in January 1996. Since then, Life.Church has grown to include dozens of locations all over the United States but its mission statement remains the same: to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Life.Church has become known for its innovative use of technology to spread the Gospel, launching the first fully digital church experience in 2006 and the most downloaded mobile Bible app in history, YouVersion, in 2008. Craig is a New York Times bestselling author of books on a wide variety of topics, including dating and marriage, social media, purpose, direction, church leadership, & more.

Pastors Michael and Natalie Todd are the Lead Pastors of Transformation Church based in Tulsa, OK since February 2015. They were entrusted with Transformation Church from the founding pastor, Bishop Gary McIntosh, after 15 years of operation. Michael’s personal philosophy and driving passion is representing God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ. He aspires to reach his community, city and world with the gospel presented in a relevant and progressive way. Michael and Natalie have been married since 2010 and live in Tulsa with three beautiful children.

Timothy Keller is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons.  For 28 years he led a diverse congregation of young professionals that grew to a weekly attendance of over 5,000. He is also the Chairman & Co-Founder of Redeemer City to City (CTC), which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and creates resources for ministry in an urban environment. In 2017 Dr. Keller transitioned to CTC full time to teach and mentor church planters and seminary students. Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 25 languages.

Sandy Millar is married to Annette and they have 4 grown up children.  He practised as a barrister for ten years before being ordained and served as a Curate at Holy Trinity Brompton in London under 2 vicars before changing places with the latter one.  He was Vicar there for 20 years and worked closely with Nicky Gumbel on Alpha before moving to three parishes in North London.  During that time he was consecrated as a Bishop in Uganda.  He remains an Honorary Assistant Bishop in the Dioceses of London and St Edmundsbury. He is retired and lives in Suffolk.

Nicky Gumbel is the pioneer of Alpha and Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton in London, one of the largest Church of England churches in the UK. He is the author of many books and is married to Pippa.