Rev Dr. Michael Beck is a spiritual guide who helps people heal, love, and unleash imagination to create better lives, organizations, and communities. Michael and wife Jill have led a series of revitalizations and unconventional church plants over the past 18 years. They are currently co-pastors of Compassion/St Marks UMCs, which house a holistic inpatient recovery program called Open Arms Village. They oversee a network of fresh expressions led by laity that gather in tattoo parlors, dog parks, burrito joints, digital spaces, and a substance abuse rehab. Michael also teaches sociology at the University of Florida and is an adjunct professor at several seminaries, including Duke, United, SMU, Emory, and Palmer. His consulting firm coaches, trains, and educates leaders internationally across a broad theological spectrum and has consulted with hundreds of churches, districts, denominations, networks, synods, and dioceses.  Beck earned a bachelor’s from Saint Leo University, Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate in Semiotics and Future Studies at Portland Seminary with his mentor Leonard Sweet. He’s currently a graduate instructor and PhD candidate in the sociology department at the University of Florida. A rare breed of practitioner and scholar, Beck is the author of eighteen books and is widely considered a global thought leader in the Fresh Expressions movement.  Michael serves as the Director of Fresh Expressions Florida, Director of the Fresh Expressions House of Studies at SMU, and Director of Fresh Expressions for The United Methodist Church. Michael has a passion for helping laity and clergy cultivate new forms of church. He helps leaders across the globe follow Jesus in new and exciting ways.