Author/Creator: Kevin Palau, Luis Palau Association
Description: What does it look like to proclaim and live out the Good News in one of America’s least churched cities? Six years into an ongoing movement to transform the city of Portland with the love of Christ, pastors and city leaders share what they’ve learned.
Andrew Weiler is a city minded leader, strategist, and entrepreneur with a heart for the Church and a mind for innovation. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Andrew has spent over a decade at the intersection of ministry and technology—serving on staff at a multi-site church in Charlotte, NC where he led initiatives across Children’s Ministry, media, and technology. His work included overseeing tech development projects across campuses, integrating new systems, and helping teams leverage digital tools for deeper ministry impact.
Andrew’s broader experience spans digital strategy, technology integration, brand development, and product marketing—skills he’s applied not only in the church world but also in entrepreneurial and nonprofit spaces. He’s spent several years with FORCLT, helping develop and scale the State of Our City digital tool, a platform designed to equip churches and nonprofits with data to serve their cities more effectively. An entrepreneur at heart, Andrew is actively building redemptive ventures through his involvement with Charlotte Redemptive Labs, and is currently part of a Charlotte-based FinTech startup focused on innovation in the financial services space.
Andrew lives in Charlotte with his wife and their two children.
José Durán was born and raised in Venezuela, South America. He studied marketing there before earning a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from the University of Youth with a Mission on the Big Island of Hawaii. In addition to his biblical education, José has studied Hebrew, Greek, and biblical counseling. As a missionary, José served in several Latin American countries before moving to the United States. He has been ordained by both the Foursquare denomination and the Reformed Church in America (RCA) as a minister of Word and Sacrament. He is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling.
José has been instrumental in planting two bilingual congregations and, as president of the Hispanic Council of the RCA, played a key role in establishing 53 congregations across the U.S. in less than five years. Currently, José serves as the President of Movimiento América Latina,
where he mentors leaders from 12 countries, guiding them toward the spiritual and social flourishing of their major cities.
José is married to Terri Hoekstra Durán, a native of Hudsonville, Michigan. They have been happily married for over 25 years and have a son, Andrés. Andrés is an accomplished young man who plays baseball, basketball, loves reading, plays percussion, and is fluent in three languages. Andrés is their favorite son.
Natalia is a multifaceted professional with a rich and diverse background. Born and raised in Colombia, but a Canadian for more than half of her life. She is a published illustrator, ADHD life coach, and the Network Operations Coordinator at City Leaders Collective. Natalia brings creativity, compassion, and organizational expertise to all her endeavors.
With an academic background in Arts and Culture, Natalia has also gained extensive experience in children’s ministries, Plan to Protect, and neurodiversity advocacy. Her unique ability as a super-recognizer allows her to remember faces forever, a skill that complements her fluency in Spanish, English, French, and conversational abilities in Italian and Portuguese.
In her free time, Natalia enjoys freelancing as an illustrator, baking bread, and writing fantasy stories. She is married and a proud mother of three children.
Daria is passionate about fostering greater connections, both within the community and among churches, to promote the flourishing of every city. Having begun with ‘exegeting’ the West end of Montreal in 2011 she then played a key role in establishing the West Island Network in 2016, a network of churches working together for the good of the community. After leading the West Island Network for almost five years she took a more national role building a Canadian network of both City Network Leaders and community development organizations. She currently also leads Kentro Domestic, a Canadian Christian Community Development Network. Daria also formerly led 24-7 Prayer Canada, now on the board of directors, and brings extensive knowledge in community development. Her academic background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Counseling/Psychology, an MA in Global Urban Leadership and she is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree in Transformational Leadership at Bakke Graduate University.
Daria is married to Matt and they are proud parents of Gabriel.
Eric has a passion for engaging churches worldwide in the needs and dreams of their communities toward the end of spiritual and societal transformation. After serving with Cru for 25 years he had a 20-year career with Leadership Network where he led change initiatives for over 275 leading churches in the U.S. He holds Doctor of Ministry degree in Transformational Leadership in the Global City and served as an adjunct professor at Denver Seminary and Bakke Graduate University. Eric is co-author of five books including The Externally Focused Church and To Transform a City: Whole Church, Whole Gospel, Whole City along with numerous articles on churches that are transforming their communities. Eric serves on the boards of Christians for Social Action and US Rugby Foundation. Eric has been married to Liz for over 45 years, has three married children, eight grandchildren and resides in Longmont, Colorado.
Rob Kelly is a catalyst for city movements everywhere that unite the church for the flourishing of cities. Rob is a practitioner of this work in his own city as the founder & CEO of the For Charlotte Network, currently comprising 25 networks and over 400 churches working together for the flourishing of Greater Charlotte. Globally, Rob connects, coaches and equips city network leaders as cofounder of the City Leaders Collective. Rob is co-author of the book ‘Metanoia’ (with Alan Hirsch) and author of the forthcoming book The Four Greats. Rob is also founder of the State of Our City Platform. As an author, communicator, and mission strategist, Rob is a regular speaker at churches, conferences, and seminars. Prior to this work, Rob served 13 years as a pastor in Charlotte, NC. Rob is a graduate of the University of Washington, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing doctoral studies at Bakke Graduate University. Rob is married to Ani and they are the proud parents of Addison and RJ.