2025 Speakers
Rich Birch
Rich Birch is a pioneer of the multi-site church movement in North America. He played a key role in helping The Meeting House in Toronto become Canada's largest multi-site church, with over 5,000 attendees across 20+ locations. He has also been part of the leadership at Connexus Community Church, a North Point Strategic Partner in Ontario, and served as Operations Pastor at Liquid Church in New Jersey.
Rich is on a mission to help 100 churches grow by 1,000 people by improving their invite cultures. He shares insights on his blog and podcast at unseminary.com
His book, Church Growth Flywheel: 5 Practical Systems to Drive Growth at Your Church, has equipped over 10,000 church leaders to reach more people. It led to the creation of the Church Growth Flywheel Masterclass, a proven step-by-step system for increasing church growth.
Rich’s latest book, UNLOCKING YOUR CHURCH’S INVITE CULTURE: Strategies for Church Growth That Work Today, provides practical strategies for enhancing invite culture in churches.
As lead coach of the Church Growth Incubator, Rich helps churches grow by learning from the fastest-growing churches and applying their strategies.
Rich is married to Christine, and together they are raising their young adult children, Haley and Hunter, while trying to keep their dog, Rory, off the furniture!
Josh Giles
Coach Josh Giles is a renowned high school basketball coach, known for his remarkable success both as a player and as a coach. With a playing career that includes standout achievements at the high school and collegiate levels playing at Concordia Irvine, Coach Giles has become a cornerstone of the basketball community in Southern California.
After transitioning to coaching, Coach Giles found success at every level. He has spent 21 seasons as the head coach at Corona Centennial High School, amassing a career record of 503-153, with a league record of 197-37. Over the course of his coaching career, Giles has transformed Centennial into one of the premier basketball programs in the country. Coach Giles has had the privilege of coaching numerous athletes who went on to play Division 1 basketball and 2 players who played in the NBA. He is a 9-time League Coach of the Year and has been named Riverside County Coach of the Year five times. He also earned 6 CIF Coach of the Year honors. Coach Giles' most significant coaching achievement came in 2022, when he led Centennial to the State Championship, a crowning achievement in his illustrious career.
Beyond the wins and accolades, Coach Giles is known for his commitment to developing student-athletes both on and off the court. His coaching philosophy emphasizes teamwork, discipline, and a relentless pursuit of excellence, values that have shaped the Centennial program and inspired generations of players. Saturday morning will be a candid conversation about raising up, discovering, and unleashing the next generation for kingdom impact.
Josh is married to his college sweetheart, Cara, and has four children. Josh and Greg Griffith were roommates at Concordia Irvine.