Advisory Board

The Land Center advisory board members serve in pastoral ministry, academia, public policy advocacy, missions, journalism, and other fields and lend their voices to the work of the center and help equip the next generation of Christians engage in the public square.

Nineteen thought leaders and cultural influencers were named to the inaugural advisory board in April 2022.

Richard Land

Board Chairman

Dr. Richard Land serves as the Executive Editor of The Christian Post. Previously, he served as the President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention prior to becoming the president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in 2013. In 2007, The Richard Land Center for Cultural Engagement was established by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where Dr. Land is a Visiting Professor. Dr. Richard Land is a well-respected commentator on issues related to religion, politics, history and culture, and has appeared in thousands of media interviews in most major media outlets over the course of his career.

Jack Graham

Dr. Jack Graham is the pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. He has previously served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention and as president of the SBC Pastor’s Conference. He has written multiple books, with his most recent being Reignite, released in 2021. Dr. Graham has a master of divinity degree with honors and a doctor of ministry degree in Church and Proclamation from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Nathan Lorick

Dr. Nathan Lorick currently serves as the Executive Director for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He has served the Southern Baptist Convention on the nominating committee as well as a trustee for the International Mission Board. He is a graduate of East Texas Baptist University and Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned both a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degree. He also holds an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Louisiana Baptist University. He and his wife Jenna live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with their 4 children.

Jon Kelly

Jon Kelly serves as the Lead Pastor at Chicago West Bible Church in Chicago, IL. He also serves with Prison Fellowship in the role of Justice Advocacy and Church Mobilization where he helps to equip church with many of Prison Fellowship's resources to care for individuals and families impacted by crime and incarceration. In his 20’s, Jon served a 6-year prison sentence for his role in a shooting that left a young man dead. While in prison, John received a copy of the Bible, and gave his life to Christ in his prison cell. When Jon was released from prison, he served in youth ministry at his church in Philadelphia. Jon received a degree in Systematic Theology from Moody Bible Institute, and a Masters in Biblical Studies from Wheaton Grad School. Jon and his wife, Danielle, have two sons and live in Chicago.

Trevin Wax

Trevin Wax is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Wheaton College. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today, which named him one of 33 millennials shaping the next generation of evangelicals. He has served as general editor of The Gospel Project. He is the author of multiple books, including The Multi-Directional Leader, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, Eschatological Discipleship, and Gospel Centered Teaching.

Daryl Crouch

Daryl Crouch pastored Southern Baptist churches for 28 years until 2021 when he became the founder and executive director of Everyone’s Wilson, a coalition of churches working together for community transformation. He is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MDivBL, 1996) and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin., 2001). He is married to his high school sweetheart, Deborah. They have four children and live in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. 

Matt Carter

Dr. Matt Carter was called as the Lead Pastor of Sagemont Church, Houston, Texas, May 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic. He is the founding pastor of The Austin Stone Church, that grew from a core team of 15 to a weekly attendance of 8,000 over six campuses. During his tenure at The Stone, they sent over 300 full-time missionaries to unreached people groups around the world. Matt has co-authored multiple books including a historical fiction, Steal Away Home which tells the real-life story of Charles Spurgeon's unlikely friendship with former slave-turned-missionary, Thomas Johnson. Matt holds an MDiv from Southwestern Seminary and a Doctorate in Expositional Preaching from Southeastern Seminary. He and his wife Jennifer have been married for over 20 years, and they have three children.

Dana Hall McCain

Dana Hall McCain is a columnist writing on faith, culture, and politics for Alabama Media Group, which comprises the digital platform AL.com and three of the state's largest newspapers. She is a graduate of Auburn University and a member of First Baptist Church of Dothan, Alabama.

Shannon O. Royce

Shannon O. Royce is the President of Christian Employers Alliance. Her professional background includes government and private sector experience, and her personal faith in Christ compels her to honor God as she serves the Christian business community. Shannon sees her leadership role as one of service and stewardship, carrying out the vision and mission of the Christian Employers Alliance as she serves the Body of Christ. She received her Juris Doctor from the George Washington University School of Law and is licensed to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia (Associate).

Katie Frugé

Katie Frugé is a stomach cancer survivor, special needs parent, amateur baker, professional theologian, and human rights advocate.  She has a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology, her primary area of interest is the imago Dei and human dignity. She serves as Director for the Center for Cultural Engagement & Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Katie loves a good cup of coffee, a good run, and a good musical.

Adron Robinson

Rev. Dr. Adron Robinson serves as the first ever African American Senior Pastor in the 53-year history of Hillcrest Baptist Church located in Country Club Hills, Illinois. Pastor Adron currently holds a B.A. from DePaul University, a certificate in Urban Ministry from the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (S.C.U.P.E.), a Master of Divinity from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and was past President of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

Kevin L. Smith

Kevin L. Smith is Teaching Pastor of the Family Church Network in South Florida. He and his wife, Patricia, moved to West Palm Beach, Florida after leading the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware for five years. Family Church is committed to taking the gospel to every person in every neighborhood in South Florida, anchoring this vision in three core values: teach the Bible, build families, and love our neighbors. Kevin is a missionary, conference speaker, and hosts the Peculiar People podcast at familychurchnetwork.com. A former president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, he serves on the Board of Trustees at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. When he is not riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle, he also teaches as a visiting professor at both The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Anderson University.

David Whitlock

David Whitlock is the former president of Oklahoma Baptist University. Active in a variety of professional organizations, Whitlock has served as a consultant-evaluator with the Higher Learning Commission since 2006. He has completed four academic institution evaluation visits, including a site visit to a Chinese institution. He also is an evaluator and mentor with the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, working with institutions standing for accreditation by the ACBSP. While at Southeastern, he directed the university's Small Business Institute from 1990-97, working with small business development in the Durant area. Whitlock serves on the boards of trustees for First United Bank, and Integris Baptist Medical Center. He also serves on the board of the Oklahoma Independent Colleges and Universities, International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities, and Consortium for Global Education. He is a member of the Shawnee Rotary Club and serves as Chair-elect of the Executive Committee of the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce.

Michael McAfee

Michael McAfee is the President and Co-Founder of Inspire Experiences. He also serves part-time as the Teaching Pastor at Council Road Baptist Church. Michael and his wife Lauren co-authored a book on next gen Bible engagement titled Not What You Think. He has earned degrees from the University of Oklahoma and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Julie Warren

Julie Warren is the deputy director of Right on Crime. She is a graduate of Marshall University and of Regent University School of Law. She also attended Georgetown Law Center as a visiting student. While in law school, she clerked on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Warren served four years at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. After a few years in private practice as a civil defense litigator, Warren returned to public service and began her work in the Office of the West Virginia Attorney General where she primarily served as an appellate advocate for the State of West Virginia and as legislative counsel to the Attorney General.

Jenny Yang

Jenny Yang is the Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief where she provides oversight for all advocacy initiatives and policy positions for the organization and leads the organization’s public relations efforts. In this position, she coordinates and leads the marketing, programs, and strategic engagement division teams on media relations, public engagement and brand elevation strategies. She also represents the organization’s advocacy priorities to the U.S. government and leads mobilization efforts for churches on advocacy campaigns. She has worked over a decade in refugee protection, immigration policy, and human rights and was on an active deployment roster for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Jenny is co-author of “Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate" and contributing author to three other books. Jenny was named one of the “50 Women to Watch” by Christianity Today.

Bob Roberts Jr.

Pastor Bob Roberts Jr is the founder of GlocalNet, a non-profit dedicated to mobilizing the church for transformation in the public square, and co-founder of Multi-Faith Neighbors Network (MFNN). He also started and led Northwood Church in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, for the past 34 years. He is the author of six books and has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Christianity Today, and other leading newspapers and publications. He is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary (Doctorate of Ministry), Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Masters of Divinity), and Baylor University (BA).

Julio Arriola

Julio Arriola moved to the United States with his wife in 2002. In 2011, he became a US Citizen and that same year he graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Religion. It was also that summer that he accepted the position as Global Worship Pastor for Cross Church in Northwest Arkansas under the leadership of Pastor Ronnie Floyd. At the end of 2016, Julio and his family moved to Guadalajara, Mexico following God’s direction to plant a church there. They started the church in September 2017 with Julio being the lead Pastor. In December 2019, Julio and his family returned to live in the United States in Nashville, TN where he served as the Executive Director of Hispanic Relations and Mobilization. He completed his Master’s studies at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas and is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

J. B. Horton

J.B. Horton attended West Texas A&M University where he was elected as student body president for two terms his junior and senior years. After graduating from college, he moved to Austin, Texas to work on President Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign. He, then, moved to Washington D.C. where he worked at the Republican National Committee. While in Washington, he received a sponsored Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study in England and received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Leeds University Business School in 2005. He then returned to complete his work in the Bush Administration. After this, he and his wife, Lindsay, spent two months serving as humanitarian consultants on an energy project in Tajikistan. For the past 8 ½ years, JB has worked at The Heritage Foundation, managing a development team that covered all states west of the Mississippi River. In 2017, he co-authored a fundraising book dedicated to his late mentor, John Von Kannon, called The 10 Laws of Fundraising. In January of 2018, JB joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation team as the Chief Development Officer. He and his wife, Lindsay, have three children: Audrey, Ben, and Sam. They proudly live in Fort Worth, Texas.

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