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INSTITUTE FOR FAITH & CULTURE

About

Equipping Christians for this cultural moment to be salt and light in their sphere of influence.

 

OUR MISSION

Bringing the Mind of Christ to an Upside-Down World

The Institute for Faith & Culture exists to equip Christians for this cultural moment to be salt and light in their sphere of influence, through the creation and curation of Biblical worldview resources, practical and leadership training, and by connecting the body of Christ for the advancement of the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.

With biblical literacy at an all-time low, and a disconnect between biblical belief and faithful action, the Institute for Faith & Culture is uniquely positioned to bring the hope of the Gospel and the mind of Christ to the chaos and confusion of an upside-down world.

In an era that is in many ways adamantly opposed to the gospel, the Institute for Faith & Culture proclaims that Christ is King, that the gospel is the good news that affects every sector of society and sphere of culture, and that the triumph of secularism is not inevitable—in fact, secularism will assuredly see its eventual demise.

01

WORLDVIEW RESOURCES

Creating and curating Biblical worldview content — articles, podcasts, lectures, and research papers — that equip Christians to engage culture faithfully.

02

LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Providing practical training to help believers apply a Biblical worldview in business, government, education, arts, media, entertainment, and the social sector.

03

CONNECTING BELIEVERS

Building a network of Christians committed to shaping culture together, advancing the Kingdom of God in every sphere of life.

“We want to restore Christian influence in our society for the sake of the world. Our desire is to equip Christians to shape culture in business, government, education, arts, media, entertainment, and the social sector. This is why the Institute for Faith & Culture exists.”

DR. ROB PACIENZA – FOUNDER & PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE FOR FAITH & CULTURE

STAFF

FOUNDER & PRESIDENT

Dr. Rob Pacienza

Dr. Robert J. Pacienza is the Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (Fort Lauderdale, FL), the CEO/President of Coral Ridge Ministries, and the Founder of the Institute for Faith & Culture. He serves on the General Council of the Gospel Reformation Network and is a contributor to WORLD Opinions.

Rob is a graduate of Samford University (B.A. ’03), Knox Theological Seminary (M.Div. ’12), and Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia (D.Min. ’23). His doctorate project was entitled, This Is My Father’s World: A Vision for Equipping Culture-Shaping Christians.

Rob is married to Jennifer and they have three children — Preston, Lydia, and Lilianne.

ADVISORY BOARD

George Barbar

Laura Bishop

Brent Burns

Chris Carneal

Natasha Crain

George Grant

Ryan Helfenbein

Stephen Mansfield

Rob Pacienza

Chad Volkert

Virgil Walker

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George Barbar

George Barbar is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Regional Development and Strategy for Mesirow. He is the principal of the Boca Raton office and leads Mesirow’s strategic Southeast expansion.

George is founder and president of the South Florida Bond Traders Association, treasurer of the National Foundation for Ectodermal Dysplasias, board member of Bond Dealers of America and Habitat for Humanity of Broward where he chairs the Development Committee. He serves on the Treasury Investment Council for the State of Florida and the Board of Visitors of Wheaton College. He is school board chairman at Westminster Academy, elder at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and guest lecturer for Florida Atlantic University’s Financial Analyst Program and Florida International University’s finance department.

George earned a Bachelor of Arts f rom Wheaton College and a Master of Business Administration f rom Florida Atlantic University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 63, 79 and 99 licenses and has a Florida Real Estate Broker’s license.

Laura Bishop

Laura Bishop is the Executive Vice President of Advancement at Palm Beach Atlantic University. She is responsible for planning, organizing and implementing the University’s fundraising, marketing, communications, community relations, planned giving and alumni & parent relations efforts. Working alongside the university’s president, Bishop is spearheading the $500 million “God-Sized Dreams” capital campaign.

Prior to joining Palm Beach Atlantic University, Laura served at Oral Roberts University as Vice President of Advancement, where she was instrumental in surpassing the $50 million goal for the “Whole Leaders for the Whole World” capital campaign; she also oversaw the University’s television network and global television ministry. Prior to her career in higher education, she served as Executive Director of the National Christian Foundation of South Florida and Lifework Leadership. She was also the director of Development and Communications for Habitat for Humanity of Broward County and Westminster Academy. Bishop also hosted a live Christian radio talk show on WAFG 90.3 FM for over a decade, and served on numerous committees for Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. She has an extensive background in television as the executive director for several television production companies.

Brent Burns

Brent Burns is board member and former chief executive officer of JM Family Enterprises, Inc., a privately held company with more than $20 billion in revenue and more than 5,000 associates. JM Family is rooted in automotive and united in its strong culture and core values.

Burns joined JM Family in 2000 and was named president of World Omni in 2001. He became JM Family’s chief financial officer in 2008. He became chief operating officer in 2014 and CEO in 2017. With nearly 20 years of leadership experience in automotive operations and finance prior to JM Family, Burns held several senior level positions at various companies including Alamo Rent-A-Car, Inc., AutoNation Financial Services, Inc., and KPMG Peat Marwick.

Burns is also dedicated to strengthening our community. He served on the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees f rom 2017-2022 and currently sits on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County and is a lifetime board member for Kids In Distress. He has served as the co-chair of the Habitat for Humanity of Broward CEO Builds since 2020.

Burns graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He and his wife live in Sea Ranch Lakes, Florida and have two children and three grandchildren.

Chris Carneal

Chris Carneal is the Founder and CEO of Booster, the #1 school fundraising company in America. Since 2002, Booster has raised schools over $500 million for local education through its flagship program, the Boosterthon Fun Run.

As the son of an educator, Chris created Booster to help schools flourish. It profits schools more than ever, impacts students through fitness and character programming, and saves teachers and administrators valuable time so they could focus on their highest calling—teaching.

Today, 700 team members serve schools in all 50 states. Chris believes Booster’s distinctiveness is their remarkable culture; defined by Booster’s 6 virtues: Gratitude, Wisdom, Care, Courage, Grit & Celebration.

Chris and his bride of 20 years, Lyndie, have 4 kids, age 17, 14, 11 and 9. Chris also greatly enjoys coaching his sons in little league baseball and is a big Atlanta Braves fan, having played college baseball at Samford University in Birmingham, AL, where he and Lyndie both graduated.

Natasha Crain

Natasha Crain is a national speaker, author, host of The Natasha Crain Podcast, and co-hosts the Unshaken Faith Podcast with Alisa Childers. She is passionate about equipping Christians to think clearly and hold to a biblical worldview in a secular culture. She addresses a wide range of topics including apologetics, theology, culture, politics, and parenting, helping believers engage thoughtfully and faithfully in the public square.

She is the author of several books, including When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square, Faithfully Different: Regaining Biblical Clarity in a Secular Culture, Talking with Your Kids about Jesus, Talking with Your Kids about God, and Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side. Her work has been featured in outlets such as Focus on the Family Magazine and the Christian Research Journal.

She holds an MBA in Marketing and Statistics from UCLA, a BA in Economics from USC, and a certificate in Christian apologetics from Biola University.

Natasha lives in southern California with her husband of 25 years and three teen children.

George Grant

George Grant is the Pastor Emeritus of Parish Presbyterian Church and the Founder of Franklin Classical School, the Comenius School, Bannockburn College, and New College Franklin. He is the Director of the King’s Meadow Study Center and the Coordinator of the Chalmers Fund. He is the author of more than eight dozen books in the areas of history, biography, politics, literature, and social criticism and he has written hundreds of essays, articles, and columns.

His work on behalf of the homeless, for international relief and development, for racial reconciliation, and for the sanctity of life has been profiled in such varied media outlets as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Focus on the Family, The 700 Club, the Coral Ridge Hour, Point of View, Crossfire, World Magazine, CrossPolitic, and Christianity Today.

He served as an assistant to D. James Kennedy at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and has taught at Knox Theological Seminary, Birmingham Theological Seminary, Erskine Theological Seminary, and New Geneva International Seminary. He has pioneered efforts to establish Classical Christian Schools in the US around the world—particularly in the Muslim world (with several large and thriving schools in Iraq, Egypt, and Indonesia).

His Christian history podcast, Resistance and Reformation, is available on the Fight, Laugh, Feast network, his linguistic and etymology podcast, Word Play, is heard on World Radio’s The World and Everything in It, his Ministry 101 podcast and his Standfast podcast are available through Spotify and Apple. Over the years he has led more than fifty educational group tours to England, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Israel, as well as dozens more to historic sites in the United States.

In addition to his pastoral responsibilities and regular classes in history, literature, theology, and the arts, he maintains an active writing and speaking schedule in this country and around the world. He has academic degrees in Political Science at the University of Houston (BA), Philosophy at Whitefield Theological Seminary (MA, M.Div., D.Litt., Ph.D.), Humanities at Belhaven College (D. Hum.), and Theology at Knox Theological Seminary (D.Min.). He makes his home in Middle Tennessee near the historic town of Franklin with his wife and co-author Karen. Together they have three grown children, one in heaven, and nine grandchildren (and counting).

Ryan Helfenbein

Ryan Helfenbein is the Vice President of Communications and Public Engagement at Liberty University and the Founding Executive Director of the Standing for Freedom Center where he is the host of the Give Me Liberty podcast and a regular Christian cultural and political commentator with appearances on Fox News, Newsmax, Real America’s Voice News, and Salem Media.

Ryan served as an advisor and public information officer for the 62nd Governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin. He earned his Master of Divinity at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. Ryan has been married to Lauren Helfenbein for over 18 years, and they have four children.

Stephen Mansfield

Stephen Mansfield is a New York Times bestselling author and popular speaker who leads a speaker training firm based in Washington, DC.

He first rose to global attention with his groundbreaking book The Faith of George W. Bush, a bestseller that Time magazine credited with helping to shape the 2004 US presidential election. The book was a source for Oliver Stone’s award-winning film “W.” Mansfield’s The Faith of Barack Obama was another international bestseller. He has written celebrated biographies of Booker T. Washington, George Whitefield, Winston Churchill, Pope Benedict XVI, and Abraham Lincoln, among others. Publishers Weekly described his book, Killing Jesus, as “masterful.”

Stephen’s humorous but fiery Mansfield’s Book of Manly Men has inspired men’s events in the US and abroad. His more recent The Miracle of the Kurds has been selected as “Book of the Year” by Rudaw, the leading Kurdish news service. As a result of this book, Mansfield has become a respected voice in support of the Kurds worldwide.

Stephen speaks widely about men, leadership, faith, the lessons of history, and the forces that shape modern culture. His speaker training firm, The Mansfield Group, has worked with top politicians, CEOs, rock stars, major publishing firms, and educational institutions around the world.

Mansfield lives in Nashville and his nation’s capital with his wife Beverly.

Rob Pacienza

Rob Pacienza is the Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (Fort Lauderdale, FL), the President of Coral Ridge Media, and the Founder of the Institute for Faith & Culture. He also serves on the council of the Gospel Reformation Network.

Rob is a graduate of Samford University (B.A. ’03) and Knox Theological Seminary (M.Div. ’12). He is currently pursuing a D.Min. at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.

Rob’s final project will focus on developing a discipleship plan that equips the North American Church to recapture its prophetic voice in the marketplace and the public square. Rob is married to Jennifer and they have two children – Preston and Lydia.

Chad Volkert

Chad Volkert is a Global C-Suite Leader at Protiviti and a member of the firm’s Executive Leadership team. He specializes in advising executive leadership on business optimization, AI-driven innovation, and navigating complex areas of legal risk. With over 25 years of executive experience, he has a proven track record of helping growing companies and law firms scale smarter, identify rapid areas for growth, and drive sustainable profitability.

Throughout his career, including senior leadership roles at Robert Half and Protiviti, Mr. Volkert has built and led high-performing teams across sales, operations, legal, technology, marketing, and finance. He has successfully managed organizations with more than 30 offices, overseen the hiring of over 2,000 professionals, and launched multiple business units that achieved double-digit growth and market-leading positions.

Mr. Volkert serves as a trusted advisor to CEOs, C-suite executives, general counsel, and Managing Directors. He possesses deep expertise in business strategy and business development, helping organizations navigate competitive landscapes to achieve measurable ROI. A recognized authority in talent management and hiring, he specializes in workforce optimization and building resilient cultures. Furthermore, he is dedicated to professional self-improvement, mentoring leaders on the skills necessary to transition from high-level management to visionary leadership.

His approach combines deep legal and business expertise with a focus on solving complex growth challenges through strategic clarity and operational excellence. He is particularly recognized for his work in:

  • Revenue Acceleration: Driving market expansion and scaling business divisions to significant milestones.

  • AI-Powered Innovation: Modernizing operations through automation and process transformation to identify and capture growth opportunities.

  • Organizational Resilience: Building high-performing cultures through sophisticated talent strategy and workforce optimization.

  • Strategic Execution: Managing legal, compliance, and risk landscapes while delivering measurable ROI on M&A and procurement initiatives.

In addition to his corporate leadership, Mr. Volkert is an active community leader, currently serving as an elected City Councilman in Sea Ranch Lakes. He holds several board positions, including serving on the boards of the Institute of Faith and Culture and the LCG YMCA. He is also a Deacon and active member of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. He is the author of the leadership book The Trusted Leader, which emphasizes building high-performing teams and long-term organizational impact.

A graduate of Furman University with a degree in political science, Mr. Volkert earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Miami. Outside of the boardroom, he is a devoted husband and father who remains energized through tennis, golf, skiing, and his passion for continuous learning as an avid reader.

Virgil Walker

Virgil Walker serves as a Teaching Pastor at Redeemer Bible Church in Gilbert, Arizona, where he faithfully proclaims God’s Word and equips believers for ministry. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Institute for Faith & Culture, and he is also the co-host, alongside Darrell Harrison, of the Just Thinking Podcast—one of the most influential Christian podcasts engaging theology, culture, and current events from a biblical worldview.

Virgil’s writing has been featured in The Blaze, the Standing for Freedom Center, and TPUSA’s BLEXIT movement. He is a regular commentator on Fearless with Jason Whitlock and the author of several books, including Just Thinking: About Ethnicity, Just Thinking: About the State, Why Are You Afraid?, and A Biblical Theology of Climate Change.

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