Contributors

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  Thomas A. Tarrants

  Author, President Emeritus, CSLI
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Team Members



Thomas A. Tarrants

Author, President Emeritus, CSLI

Thomas A. Tarrants is President Emeritus of the C.S. Lewis Institute. After serving twelve years as president and nine years as vice President, he retired from his position as Vice President for Ministry and Director, Washington Area Fellows Program, with CSLI in June 2019. He holds a Master's of Divinity Degree, as well as a Doctor of Ministry Degree in Christian Spirituality. Tom is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Church Alliance and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society. He spends his time writing, mentoring, consulting and traveling. His life story is told in Consumed by Hate, Redeemed by Love, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.

 

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  Thiago M. Silva

  City Director, CSLI Lake Charles
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Team Members

Thiago M. Silva
City Director, CSLI Lake Charles
Thiago M. Silva, D.Min., is the City Director for the C. S. Lewis Institute Lake Charles. He has been the pastor of Bethel Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Lake Charles, Louisiana, since August 2022. He earned his Th.M. in Systematic Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary (2016) and completed his doctoral studies at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (2024). He’s authored several articles and books including Discipleship in a Post-Christian Age: With a Little Help from C. S. Lewis (Wipf & Stock, 2025). Thiago’s God-given vocation is to equip people to live as Christians in every sphere of life through teaching and preaching.
 
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  Michael Houts

  Scientist
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Team Members

Michael Houts
Scientist
Michael Houts is a dedicated scientist whose journey began with a passion for science and engineering. He earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering from the University of Florida and a PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT. He spent 11 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he held key roles including team leader for criticality reactor and radiation physics. Now, Michael is a nuclear research manager at the Marshall Space Flight Center, working on advanced propulsion systems to boost space exploration.
 
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  Jana Harmon

  Senior Fellow For Christian Apologetics, CSLI
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Team Members

Jana Harmon
Senior Fellow For Christian Apologetics, CSLI
Jana Harmon, Ph.D, is the Senior Fellow For Christian Apologetics for the C.S. Lewis Institute and a Teaching Fellow for C.S. Lewis Institute Atlanta. She serves on the Atlanta Advisory Board and as an Adjunct Professor of Cultural Apologetics at Biola University. Her doctoral research studied the religious conversion of atheists to Christianity looking at the perspectives and stories of 50 former Atheists. She views apologetics through a practical, evangelistic lens. She is the host of the podcast eX-skeptic for the C.S. Lewis Institute. Jana received her PhD from the University of Birmingham, England.
 
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  Richard L. Gathro

  VP Programs
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Team Members

Richard L. Gathro
VP Programs
Richard L. Gathro, VP Programs, formerly served as program director for the Pepperdine Washington DC program. He was formerly the executive vice president of the Council for Christian College & Universities, an association of 182 campuses in 24 countries and headquartered in Washington, D.C. He received his doctorate in education and theology from the University of Oxford.
 
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  Brian Smith

  Podcast Guest
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Team Members

Brian Smith
Podcast Guest
Brian Smith is a Student Pastor at Dunwoody Baptist Church in the Metro of Atlanta. He has been in student ministry for 16 years, and is a loving husband and father of four.
 
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  Aimee Riegert

  CSLI Fellow
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Team Members

Aimee Riegert
CSLI Fellow
Aimee Riegert, CSLI Fellow, earned bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and foreign language studies from Southern Methodist University. In addition to supporting various national security efforts in Northern Virginia, she has worked as an itinerant high school math teacher and drama coach, and has served in women’s ministries, praise teams, on the adult support team for Young Life and as a “mentor mom” for MOPS International ministries, as well as English instructor in several ESL programs in Japan. She is a graduate of the C.S. Lewis Institute Year One Fellows Program.
 
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  J.I. Packer

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Team Members

J.I. Packer
J.I. Packer (1926 – 2020) is known for his best-selling book, Knowing God, as well as his work as an editor for the English Standard Version of the Bible. He was a signer on the 1978 Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, a member on the advisory board of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and also was involved in the ecumenical book Evangelicals and Catholics Together in 1994. His last teaching position was as the board of governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was awarded the St. Cuthbert's Cross at the Provincial Assembly of ACNA on 27 June 2014 for his "unparalleled contribution to Anglican and global Christianity."
 
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  Jesse Johnson

  Pastor
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Team Members

Jesse Johnson
Pastor
Jesse Johnson received his Ph.D. in theology from Christ College, Sydney, and is the Lead Teaching Pastor at Immanuel Bible Church in Springfield, VA. He attended The Master’s Seminary as a student and then later served as a professor. He spent time as Outreach Pastor at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, and as a chaplain for the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. Jesse is a graduate of the University of New Mexico (Sociology/Spanish), as well as The Master’s Seminary (MDiv; ThM Systematic Theology). He has edited a number of publications including Fundamentals of the Faith, co-editor of Evangelism in the John MacArthur Pastoral Library Series, and was a contributor to Men of the Word, Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong, and Right Thinking in a Church Gone Astray.
 
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  Henare Whaanga

  Podcast Guest
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Team Members

Henare Whaanga
Podcast Guest
Henare Whaanga is the Regional Director at Thinking Matters, New Zealand’s leading apologetics organization, where he works to strengthen the understanding and defense of the Christian faith. He is a devoted husband, father, lay pastor and Bible teacher.
 
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  William L. Kynes

  Pastor, Senior Fellow for Pastoral Theology, CSLI
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Team Members

William L. Kynes
Pastor, Senior Fellow for Pastoral Theology, CSLI
William L. "Bill" Kynes is the Senior Fellow for Pastoral Theology at the C.S. Lewis Institute, and retired Senior Pastor of Cornerstone, an Evangelical Free Church, in Annandale, VA, where he served from 1986 - 2022. He majored in Philosophy at the University of Florida, where he also played quarterback and was later inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving an MA in theology. He received an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, before returning to England for a PhD in New Testament from Cambridge University.