Meet Arise AZ 2023 Main Session Speakers
Catherine Renfro
Main Session Speaker
Catherine Renfro has been a Main Session Speaker for Arise for all 4 years! She is the evangelism strategist at the North American Mission Board. She graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and graduated from Southeastern Seminary in 2010 with a Master’s Degree in Christian Education and Biblical Counseling. Catherine was called to ministry at the age of 22 and has been serving in both student and ladies' ministry ever since. She has a passion for seeing lost people come to know Jesus and for saved people to live out their purpose of making Jesus known.
Catherine is married to Chris Renfro and they have recently planted Hope Church in Johns Creek, GA. They have 2 children, Isaac and Ava.
Erica Wiggenhorn
Main Session Speaker
Erica Wiggenhorn is an award-winning author and the founder of Every Life Ministries, bringing you the truths of Scripture to transform your life. By digging deeply into God’s Word, Every Life Ministries encourages you to discover your unique purpose, accept God’s promises, and live by His power. Erica is the author of five books and three video series released by Moody Publishers: An Unexplainable Life, The Unexplainable Church, Unexplainable Jesus: Rediscovering the God You Thought You Knew, Letting God Be Enough & An Unexpected Revival.
​Erica serves on the women’s ministry leadership team for her church and regularly teaches in various venues. She’s also taught women in the Arizona State Prison system, and overseas. She loves to bring God’s Word to anyone who’ll listen whether it’s a large women’s conference, a church women’s retreat, her own kitchen table. Erica serves on the writing team for Proverbs 31 Ministries for their First 5 app.
Cherie Wagner
Main Session Speaker
Cherie’s life-long passion is two-fold: knowing Jesus Christ and making Him known. Founder of Neue Thing Ministries and author of Found On My Knees, Awake O Sleeper, Rest, and Hope: Tethered to an Unwavering God, Cherie writes Bible studies and books that will encourage, equip, and empower women with the Word of God. Cherie, her husband Jeremy, and their son Redford live in Mesa, Arizona. Born and raised in Chicago and transplanted to the desert of Arizona, Cherie is a city girl at heart with a wild love for the mountains, a coffee connoisseur, a lover of knowledge, and forever a student of God’s Word. Connect with Cherie at neuething.org.
Jan Shrader
Main Session Speaker
Jan Shrader is a preacher’s kid who attended six schools in six years because, as she jokingly points out, her father believed in the myth of green pastures. Her senior year of college she met the love of her life, Gary Shrader. They married and together they served at Casas Church in Tucson, AZ where Gary pastored for 40 years. As a native of Southern AZ Jan’s roots run deep in the desert southwest. She loves hiking and camping in the mountains of AZ and finds the challenges of gardening with little water and cactus exciting. Jan holds degrees from U of A and Gateway Baptist Theological Seminary.
Chris Syme
Main Session Speaker
Chris and her husband farm in northeast Montana and live in Phoenix, Arizona in the off-season. Chris teaches Bible studies in the Phoenix area and loves to golf, and watch college sports. You can probably expect a lot of sports analogies from her years of playing and coaching. She has two daughters, one son-in-law, and the best granddaughter in the whole world–honest. She loves to teach the Word of God and bring God’s hope to women of all ages.