Meet the Speakers:
Scott Kenworthy grew up in rural Indiana where he worshipped with his family at a small country church. The love of that close-knit congregation played a role in him leaving his studies at Indiana University to
pursue vocational ministry. He earned his undergraduate degree from Johnson University (’06) before
completing master’s degrees at both Cincinnati Christian University (’12) and Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary (’17). He was rewarded the Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School (’22) for his work on preaching the imprecatory psalms. One of his greatest joys over the
past twenty years has been serving churches of various sizes: from as small as 20 people to as large as
2,500. While each congregation presents its own challenges, he believes the call of the pastor remains
the same – to help people hear and heed the Word of God. Since 2013, he has served as the senior
minister of Owensboro Christian Church in Owensboro, KY.

Barney Wells is one of less than a dozen people in North America with a terminal degree in Rural
Ministry. After 4 years as youth minister near his home in south-central Indiana and two years preaching
in western Illinois, Barney served as preaching minister of the Walnut Grove Christian Church in rural
Arcola, IL for over 25 years. His BA and MDiv are from Lincoln Christian University and the DMin from
Bethel Theological Seminary. He has served as DMin Director at Lincoln Christian Seminary, where he is
also Dean Emeritus. Now serving as the Director of the Craddock Center for Preaching Excellence at
Johnson University, he is passionate about making churches, especially in rural contexts, more effective
and healthier.