As a mom of 4 teenage boys, Ginnie understands the difficulties of helping youth know why they believe what they believe. She knows the struggles, the questions, the doubts, and the apathy that teenagers can develop in response to faith. That’s why she’s so passionate about 7x7 Conversations and the environment it creates for students to be mentored and feel the freedom to ask the hard questions.
Ginnie’s experience studying Christian Education at Moody Bible Institute helped equip her to understand how students think and how to best communicate with them. As the Youth Director for 7x7 Conversations, Ginnie was vital in developing the curriculum and topics, and first trying it out with students.
Ginnie shared, “So many of these teenagers don’t have a mentor who care about them and what they believe. They don’t have a person to call, a person to ask questions to, a person to love them through the hard times. Not only do we want to be that person, but we want to equip others to be that person, too.”
When she’s not working, Ginnie enjoys being spontaneous! She and her husband Brian along with their four boys (Brian Jr., Brayden, Brody, and Branson) enjoy camping, snowboarding, and traveling together.
When Dave was getting ready to retire, his wife told him that he’d better find something to do. He’d spent his entire career working hard, casting vision, and leading teams. As he prepared for this new season of life, he spent time fasting and asking God to show him what to do next. The Lord showed up quickly and revealed that he needed to do everything he could to share the Gospel in the Tampa Bay area and beyond. “Now I’m simply marching to those orders.”
Little did he know that God was going to use his MBA and business experience to create an organization that would reach people for Jesus. For over 15 years, Dave had harbored an interest in apologetics. In 2014, he flew to Oxford for a weeklong “summer school” with their RZIM program and learned what it would look like to teach and lead people in apologetics.
“There’s a huge amount of interest in understanding why people believe what they believe, and helping them gain confidence in their beliefs.” It was this thought that launched 7x7 Conversations as a way to specifically reach and empower students. He and his team’s mission was to come alongside parents who want their teenagers to be confident in their faith.
When he’s not working, Dave enjoys golfing, biking, and reading. He also loves spending time with his family which includes his wife Diane, their 4 grown kids (Jen, Matt, Rob, and Alison), their son-in-law Lonnie, their daughter-in-law Michelle, and their 4 grandkids (Gavin, Brooke, Owen, and Dustin).
Mike has spent over 20 years working with teens and college students. In this time, he’s learned that the next generation asks really good questions – and doesn’t settle for poor answers.
He was first pulled into the apologetics space 15 years ago because of a sense of justice. Mike shared, “The thing that drives me is I know abundant life can be had in the ways of Jesus, but there are so many lies out there trying to rob people of that.”
This has led him to develop a stubbornness to know true things and communicate clearly. Mike loves when people respond to apologetics with, “I thought Christianity was for stupid people, but I’ve changed my mind.”
Mike has a BA in Religion and a Masters in Divinity with a concentration in Apologetics from Luther Rice College and Seminary. He’s currently pursuing his PhD in Apologetics.
Mike enjoys listening to music (especially Pearl Jam!), playing guitar, and spending time with his wife Terri and their 5 kids: Aaron, Kaiden, Kiley, Conrad, and Allie.
Dr. Tom Woodward
Senior Lecturer
In addition to his work with the C.S. Lewis Society and 7x7 Conversations, Dr. Woodward has been a professor at Trinity College of Florida since 1988, teaching courses in science, philosophy, theology, anthropology, and communications. He previously chaired the Department of World Missions, and from 2000 to 2014 was chair of the Department of Bible and Theology. Dr. Woodward is a graduate of Princeton University, obtained his Th.M. in Systematic Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. from the University of South Florida.
He authored Doubts about Darwin (a 2004 Book of the Year -- Christianity Today magazine) and co-edited Darwinism Under the Microscope with Dr. James Gills. Darwin Strikes Back: Defending the Science of Intelligent Design (2006) continued to trace the history of the debate over Darwinism and design theory, and more recently (2012) Dr. Woodward teamed up with Dr. James Gills to produce The Mysterious Epigenome: What Lies Beyond DNA.
Dr. Woodward’s experience coupled with his passion for the next generation hugely contributes to the heartbeat of 7x7 Conversations.