FPU’s Believers Church Lecture Series offers Christians room to ‘breathe’

A leader in local ministry will help audiences unlock their collective potential for healing and transformation by examining the past, acknowledging the present and joining forces as agents of change in Christ for the future during the 2024 Believers Church Lecture Series October 1-3.

D.J. Criner is senior pastor at St. Rest Baptist Church in Fresno. He will give several presentations under the overall title "I Can Breathe: Moving from Problematic Culture to Christ-Centered Ministry" for this year's lecture series, hosted by Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary, part of Fresno Pacific University. All events will take place on the main FPU campus at 1717 S. Chestnut Ave., Fresno.

• Tuesday, October 1
  • 7:00 p.m. | Worship Service and Lecture
    • Open to all seminary, FPU and local church and community members
    • Lin Family Performance Studio, Warkentine Culture & Arts Center
    • Free event - no ticket required
• Wednesday, October 2
  • 10:00 a.m. | Chapel
    • Lyles Main Theater, Warkentine Culture and Arts Center
    • Sponsored by the FPU Office of Spiritual Formation (OSF) and geared for students. Faculty, staff and community members are welcome.
    • Free event - no ticket required
• Thursday, October 3
  • 8:30 a.m. | Pastor's Breakfast
    • BC Lounge
    • By invitation only
  • 1:00 p.m. | Connect
    • 25-minute lecture with a 25-minute Q-and-A time
    • Lin Family Performance Studio, Warkentine Culture & Arts Center
    • Free event - no ticket required

D.J. Criner

D.J. Criner was born in Stockton and accepted the call to preach at the age of 10. For 17 years, he served as children and youth pastor at Greater Faith in Stockton and Saint Rest Baptist Church in Fresno, becoming senior pastor in 2013. Criner is involved in many church, community and state organizations and initiatives. At Saint Rest, this includes a youth center and park, a food hub, an economic development corporation and a partnership with Verizon Wireless to construct a tower at the church. Among the boards he has served are the Fresno Planning Commission, the Central Valley Community Foundation, Mayor Jerry Dyer's Task Force, Governor Gavin Newsome's Faith and Clergy Covid Task Force and the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA). After studying sociology at Fresno State, Criner earned a B.A. in Business-Organizational Leadership from Fresno Pacific University. He is currently pursuing his Master of Divinity at Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary. He and wife Jessica Lauren "Lady J," a licensed clinician and marriage and family therapist who leads the Saint Rest Mental Wellness Ministry, have three daughters.

The Believers Church Lecture Series is an ongoing exploration of the relevance of the Believers Church tradition for the shape of contemporary Christian thought and life. It is supported by an endowment established by the late Dr. Herbert and Jessica Penner of Bakersfield, CA.

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