Global Religious Freedom Gathering

Steve Bezner

Steve Bezner is a longtime pastor who currently serves as Associate Professor of Pastoral Ministry and Theology at Truett Seminary at Baylor University. He is the author of Your Jesus Is Too American: Calling the Church to Reclaim Kingdom Values over the American Dream. He most recently served as Senior Pastor of Houston Northwest Church from 2013 until 2025. His passion is to see the world—become more like Heaven as people become more like Jesus. Steve loves to preach, teach, write, and speak about the Bible in a way that is easy to understand but also challenges people to live the life that God has designed for each of them. Steve loves the local church and finds perhaps his greatest professional joy in training, teaching, and coaching pastors and church leaders.He is married to Joy and has two adult sons—Ben and Andrew. He holds his B.A. and M.A. from Hardin-Simmons University and his Ph.D. from Baylor University.

Knox Thames

Knox Thames is a globally recognized human rights lawyer, advocate, and author who has worked for over two decades to promote human rights, defend religious minorities, and combat persecution worldwide. Over his 20 years of service in the U.S. government, Knox held several key positions advocating for freedom of religion or belief, including at the State Department and two different U.S. government foreign policy commissions. Currently, Knox is a Senior Fellow at Pepperdine University and directs the Program on Global Faith and Inclusive Societies from the Washington, DC, campus. ​He has written widely, including for USA Today, the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, TIME, CNN, Newsweek, RealClearPolitics, the Times of London, the Harvard Human Rights Journal, the Yale Journal of International Affairs, the Small Wars Journal, and others. His new book, Ending Persecution: Charting the Path to Global Religious Freedom (Notre Dame Press, 2024), comprehensively explores strategies to combat religious oppression worldwide. In addition, his creative work includes developing a graphic novel about his late friend Shahbaz Bhatti and writing a screenplay that highlights religious peacemakers in Iraq during the civil war. Originally from Kentucky, he received a Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown College, a Juris Doctorate (cum laude) from American University's Washington College of Law, and a Master's in International Affairs from the School of International Service at American University. In addition, he studied at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

Randel Everett

Randel Everett is the founder of the Center for Global Religious Freedom at Dallas Baptist University, and founding President of the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative. In addition to spending four decades pastoring churches, Randel served as Chaplain to the Arkansas Legislature during President Bill Clinton’s term as Governor, as Chuck Colson’s minister while pastor of the Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, Virginia, and as Executive Director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Randel was the founding president of the John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Falls Church, Virginia. During this time, the Leland Seminary became fully accredited by the Association of Theological Schools and a respected member of the Washington Consortium of Seminaries. Randel earned his B.A. from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas, his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and received two honorary degrees, including a Doctor of Divinity from the University of Richmond and a Doctor of Humanities from Dallas Baptist University. He resides in Pensacola, Florida with his wife, Sheila. They have two children and four grandchildren.