Watson Jones III was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago. At the age of 14, Watson made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ in his freshmen year of high school. It was then that Watson began to discern a call into the ministry and began preaching and teaching the bible soon after. Although Watson began preaching at the age of 14, he was licensed to preach at the age of 19, making him the youngest minister at his home church, Salem Baptist Church of Chicago.
Watson earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business Marketing at Trinity International University and then continued on to earn a Masters in Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Upon completion of seminary, Watson joined the ministerial staff at his home church—Salem Baptist Church of Chicago. At Salem, he served as Children’s Pastor and eventually Youth Pastor, while leading a group of 1,000 members in various church-wide activities.
In 2012, Watson entered a joint pastoral leadership and Church planting residency with Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas and Epiphany Fellowship Church in Philadelphia. In 2015, Watson started Restoration Church of Philadelphia and served on the Leadership Team of the North Atlantic Region of Acts 29.
In 2018, Watson became the Senior Pastor of Compassion Baptist Church. In addition to his pastoral duties, Watson is a student in the inaugural cohort for the first-ever Ph.D. in African American Preaching and Sacred Rhetoric at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. He currently serves in the Chicago chapter of the AND Campaign, where he and others pastor organized the largest forum in the 2019 mayoral election. He is also a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated. He is married to Kelli Jones and is the proud father of Yeshaya Nicee Jones, Watson Jones IV, and Ellison Samuel Benedict Jones.
Watson Jones III
Timothy Keller
Timothy Keller will open Rooted 2020 with a video greeting. He is the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, which he started in 1989 with his wife, Kathy, and three young sons. For 28 years he led a diverse congregation of young professionals that grew to a weekly attendance of over 5,000. He is also the Chairman & Co-Founder of Redeemer City to City (CTC), which starts new churches in New York and other global cities, and publishes books and resources for ministry in an urban environment. In 2017 Dr. Keller transitioned to CTC full time to teach and mentor church planters and seminary students through a joint venture with Reformed Theological Seminary’s (RTS), the City Ministry Program. He also works with CTC’s global affiliates to launch church planting movements. Dr. Keller’s books, including the New York Times bestselling The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, have sold over 2 million copies and been translated into 25 languages. A frequent speaker at conferences, she has been married for over 40 years and has three adult children and six really adorable grandchildren. Along with her husband, Phil, Elyse is a member of Valley Center Community Church , a reformed congregation in the community of Valley Center.
Christina Edmondson
Blessed by an array of academic, professional and lived experiences, Christina is committed to bringing diverse people together to promote personal and team flourishing. Christina holds a PhD in Counseling Psychology from Tennessee State University, a MS degree from the University of Rochester in Family Therapy, and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Hampton University. Currently, Christina serves as the Dean for Intercultural Student Development at Calvin College. The Intercultural Student Development Center (ISDC) is committed to inspiring, challenging, and equipping Domestic and International students to engage in meaningful and intentional intercultural interactions within a global society. Additionally, a Certified Cultural Intelligence facilitator, public speaker, and mental health therapist, Christina is often contacted by churches to consult about both diversity and mental health issues. Her writing has been seen and referenced in a variety of outlets including http://essence.com, http://yourblackworld.com, and Gospel Today magazine. She is also one of the co-hosts of the Truth’s Table podcast.
Cameron Cole
Cameron Cole has been the Director of Youth Ministries at the Cathedral Church of the Advent since December of 2005, and in January of 2016 his duties expanded to include Children, Youth, and Families. He is the founding chairman of Rooted Ministry, an organization that promotes gospel-centered youth ministry. He is the co-editor of “Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: A Practice Guide” (Crossway, 2016). Cameron is the author of Therefore, I Have Hope: 12 Truths that Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem in Tragedy (Crossway, 2018), which won World Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year (Accessible Theology) and was runner up for The Gospel Coalition’s Book of the Year (First-Time Author). Cameron has a B.A. in Latin and English and an M.A. in Education, all from Wake Forest; he nearly done with his Masters in Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary.