Home // About > Who

Louie is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, which includes the collegiate gatherings of Passion Conferences, Atlanta based Passion City Church and EMI CMG label partner sixstepsrecords. Connecting with students across the globe, Louie longs to see a generation living for the fame of Jesus. Louie lives in Atlanta with his wife, Shelley.

With songs including "How Great is Our God," "We Fall Down," "Holy is the Lord," "Forever," and "Our God" to name a few, Chris Tomlin continues to write songs that help people voice their worship to God. With eight records, numerous No. 1 radio singles, a GRAMMY® award, 18 Dove Awards, one platinum and three gold albums to his credit, Chris Tomlin is among the most well-known and influential artists in music. Tomlin is the worship leader at Passion City Church and continues to tour many dates each year, playing regularly at Passion Conferences in the United States and worldwide.

Kristian started leading worship at North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA in 2002. It was there he met Louie Giglio, who, in the fall of 2004, asked Stanfill to lead worship for 7:22, a popular weekly young adult gathering. In 2005, he became actively involved with the Passion Movement, first leading a community group at Passion 05, a conference for university students, then as a lead worshiper at Passion 06.

In 2008 he led at both Passion Regionals USA and on the Passion World Tour and joined the sixstepsrecords family in 2009. He introduced listeners to his music with his 2009 debut, Attention, which received critical acclaim from critics across the board. In 2011 he teamed up with award-winning songwriter Jason Ingram and Rusty Varenkamp to release his sophomore album, Mountains Move. Kristian currently lives in Atlanta where he serves as a worship leader at Passion City Church.

Matt Redman's songwriting is synonymous with integrity and continues to impact churches around the world. Leading a generation of worshipers, his songs have been recorded by Chris Tomlin, Michael W. Smith, David Crowder*Band, Rebecca St. James, Tree 63, Kutless and Passion among others. A key songwriter for today's church and an active worship leader for Passion conferences around the world, Redman has a history of success having garnered eight Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and recently received a GRAMMY® nod for "Best Gospel Song" for "Our God" featured on Passion: Awakening. Additionally, Redman has 21 songs in the CCLI Top 500, with 5 populating the Top 50.

Christy Nockels has long had a huge appreciation for music and the role it plays in the kingdom of God. As a worship leader for many years, she has been an integral part of Passion Conferences from its inception in 1997. She's seen first hand music sweep people into the presence of God in a powerful way. On her new sixstepsrecords release, Into the Glorious, Christy's prayer is to further explore biblical truths that elevate our worship and bind us in our hearts even closer to our Creator. Christy believes that her calling in life "is to be a songwriter for my generation to proclaim Jesus' renown."

As the David Crowder*Band has now put a period at the end of its sentence, a new chapter is emerging for front-man, David Crowder. As the next paragraph begins, David Crowder will take the stage performing with his new collective, simply called, Crowder. Fans can expect more of what they've always loved about David Crowder through the years - the songs, the worship, musical innovation - and now they get to be a part of the new beginning.

Named among the “most thoughtful, progressive and exciting acts in contemporary Christian music” by The New York Times, the popular yet unconventional David Crowder*Band unveiled their final collection of new music this year with the release of Give Us Rest or (a requiem mass in c [the happiest of all keys]). As the follow-up to the GRAMMY ® nominated Church Music, Give Us Rest gave the band the highest debut of their career selling over 50,000 units in one week, landing them in the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Top 200. David Crowder*Band’s music video for “SMS (Shine)” nabbed coverage on NBC’s The Today Show, Fox & Friends, USA Today, Billboard and Paste Magazine online as well as a GMA Dove Award win for “Short Form Video of the Year.” The video was also recognized at the LA Film Festival in 2011. Along with the group’s 9 GMA Dove Awards and 22 nominations, the band was the first Christian artist to be named MSN.com's Artist of the Year in 2006. David Crowder is part of the Passion Movement, participating in university student gatherings in the US and around the world.

Charlie aims to tell the old story of the Gospel in an ever-shifting world, without resorting to easy truisms, or lazy language. Charlie's songs are a collection of honest heart-work; a stirred up response to questions and comforts, celebrating God's steady presence in an often inscrutable world; and it is a remembering that God's heart, and Christ's mind are given to His sons and daughters, and how we can find ourselves loosed upon the world with this remembrance, to gather the put-together, and the broken alike, to find constancy in the wide love of the Father.

John Piper is Pastor for Preaching and Vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. He has served as pastor at Bethlehem since 1980. John is author of more than 40 books that have been resourcing and challenging the church, along with his sermons, articles, and teaching available free at www.desiringGod.org. John and his wife, Noel, have four sons, one daughter, and twelve grandchildren.

Beth is an incredible storyteller and a passionate teacher of the Word of God. She has written numerous books and Bible studies that have encouraged many, particularly women, to love and live on Scripture. Beth is the Founder of Living Proof Ministries based in Houston, TX where she lives with her husband Keith.

One would be hard-pressed to find another independent rapper more courageously accomplished than Lecrae, lyricist and co-CEO of Reach Records. Truly self-made, the Houston, Texas native has done what the average music artist has historically been afraid to do: stick to his own message, terms and work ethic. What most separates the 31-year-old from his peers is he’s not only rapping to fans, he’s rapping as a fan (of a higher power), unearthing unprecedented success doing so.

After launching his label, along with partner Ben Washer, in 2005, Lecrae used his debut Real Talk to wake up Hip-Hop fans that slept on “the word.” Seeing his firstborn reach #29 on Billboard’s Gospel Album chart only fueled the former University of North Texas student to become an even greater voice for his, at times, guideless generation. He would form the non-profit organization ReachLife Ministires, which aimed to provide local leaders with interactive initiatives and resources necessary to raise future community influencers. In 2006, he released his sophomore effort After The Music Stops, which fertilized the landscape for his third and most commercial success, 2008’s Rebel, the first rap album to top Billboard’s Christian Album chart for consecutive weeks. Album achievement would be followed by cosigns from rap new guards (Kendrick Lamar) and legends (DJ Premier). Lecrae credits his career’s fruitful independence to transparency. “It’s [my] clear vision and mission,” he says. “I’m not just carried by every wind and wave; I’m not trying to cater to everybody. I’ve always been about being real. I think people resonate with that.” Lecrae released his latest album, Gravity, September 2012.

Francis Chan is the best-selling author of books, Crazy Love, Forgotten God, Erasing Hell and the host of the BASIC.series (Who is God & We Are Church). He has also written the children’s books Halfway Herbert, The Big Red Tractor and the Little Village and Ronnie Wilson’s gift. Francis is the founding pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California, and is the founder of Eternity Bible College. He also sits on the board of directors of Children’s Hunger Fund and World Impact. Currently, Francis is working to start a church planting movement in the inner city of San Francisco and also working to launch a countrywide discipleship movement. Francis now lives in Northern California with his wife, Lisa, and their five children.

The Jesus Culture Worship team was formed organically through the momentum of a movement whose focus is to equip a generation to be influencers of society. It’s hard to separate the team from the movement, as they really are joined together with one focus: to bring people into an encounter with God’s love through worship and to disciple them to transform society.

The Jesus Culture Worship team is fronted by Kim Walker-Smith and Chris Quilala with Ian McIntosh playing keys, Jeffrey Kunde as the lead guitarist, Brandon Aaronson as the bassist, Josh Fisher as the drummer, and Skyler Smith as acoustic guitarist. Each member of the team knows the weight of the call God on their lives and they live devoted to a lifestyle of worship, hoping that their music can help lead all those who hear it into an experience of His presence that won’t leave them the same.

Over the past 5 years, the Jesus Culture Worship team has released five CD/DVDs with the latest one being Jesus Culture with Martin Smith; Live from New York, in November of 2012. Each album captures the heart of this generation burning for God and seeking an encounter with His presence

Judah and Chelsea Smith are the Lead Pastors of The City Church in Seattle, Washington. The City Church is a thriving multi-site church noted for its cultural relevance, commitment to biblical integrity and faith, and love for Jesus. Weekly attendance is over six thousand, and many thousands listen in each week via online video and audio broadcast at thecity.org.

Judah is known around the US and the world for his preaching ministry. His fresh, anointed, humorous messages demystify the Bible and make Christianity real. Judah is a popular conference speaker and the author of several books and resources, including his most recent book, Jesus Is ____.
Judah and Chelsea have three children, Zion, Eliott, and Grace; they live in Bellevue, Washington. Judah is an avid golfer and all-around sports fan. He believes the Seahawks are God’s favorite team and is praying for the Sonics to come back to Seattle. You can follow Judah on Twitter at @judahsmith.

Gary Haugen serves as President and CEO of International Justice Mission, a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violent oppression. Prior to founding IJM in 1997, he worked in the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice and directed the United Nations’ investigation in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. In 2012, Gary was honored with the Trafficking In Persons Report Hero Award- the U.S. State Department’s highest honor for leadership in the fight against human trafficking. He is the author of the books Good News About Injusticeand Just Courage. Gary currently resides in the Washington, DC, area with his family and has a passion to see students embrace God’s call in Isaiah 1:17 to “Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan and plead for the widow.”