Callings Conference

at George Fox University


May 3-5, 2024

What is the Callings Conference?

The Callings Conference (formerly Theologia) is a weekend experience designed for current high school students to explore their sense of calling and discover their God-given talents.

Hosted by the School of Theology, Callings is an event for high schoolers to explore identity, career paths and their educational future on the beautiful George Fox campus.

As a participant, you’ll experience a taste of college life for a weekend. The event includes passionate worship gatherings, engaging conversations with current faculty and college students, close-up experiences with individual departments in “learning labs,” and activities across George Fox’s campus.

A happy student on campus quad

You can “try on” a major and see how it fits to discern your calling. As a Christ-centered community, George Fox is committed to helping students, like you, discover how Jesus is the answer to the biggest questions of identity, purpose and belonging.

Participants may qualify for a $1,000 annual visit experience scholarship, pending admission to George Fox University for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.

Who Can Participate?

Callings is for high school sophomores through graduating seniors. If you’re a high school student seeking God’s calling in your life, the Callings Conference is for you!

Details

Where: George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon
When: May 3-5, 2024

Cost:

Early registration: $100 (Jan. 5 – March 8)
Regular registration: $120 (March 9 – April 26)
Late registration: $140 (April 27 – May 3)

Your registration fee covers all meals and housing. You may pay an additional $35 for use of bedding and a towel.

Register

Callings Conference Speakers and Leaders

Worship Leader: Debrianna DeBolt

Debrianna DeBoltDebrianna DeBolt serves as university pastor for chapel programs at George Fox. She is a musician, releasing her first full-length album, Seek and Behold, in 2017, and following it with an EP, In My Night, in 2022. Debrianna is passionate about creativity, holistic health, and helping others discover their life in Christ. She and her husband, Noah, live in McMinnville and enjoy hiking, reading, cooking, baking, playing disc golf, and cheering on their favorite football team, the Detroit Lions.

Friday Evening: Jamie Johnson

Jamie JohnsonJamie Johnson is dean for spiritual life, inclusion and leadership, and university pastor. A George Fox graduate, he has studied church history (MA) and Christian education (PhD) and hungers to learn more about what it means for individuals and communities to follow Jesus in every aspect of life. He is married to Erin, director of the George Fox social work program, and together they parent three wonderful children. In his spare time, Jamie enjoys leading worship, running, reading and coaching soccer teams. He is a huge fan of the Portland Timbers and the Boston Red Sox.

Saturday Morning: Trisha Welstad

Trisha WelstadTrisha Welstad began the Leadership Center coaching and consulting organization in 2012. She received a doctorate in Leadership from Portland Seminary in 2020 and is an ordained pastor and coach with over twenty years of experience. Trisha’s background in leadership includes facilitating staff teams as the lead executive, serving as the director for leadership development in organizations in Oregon and Los Angeles, teaching at the collegiate, graduate, and doctoral level in practical leadership, and facilitating the Institute for Pastoral and Congregational Thriving at Portland Seminary as a grant writer and Executive Director, as well as volunteering locally with her family. Trisha’s vision for the world is for all people to activate their unique identity and calling, welcoming one another to play and work together in mutually honorable, hospitable and generous ways that create healthy and sustainable relationships with God, self, others, and the planet.

Saturday Evening: Megan K. Lemmons

Megan K. LemmonsMegan K. Lemmons is the Teaching, Home Community & Rooted Pastor at Willamette Christian Church in West Linn, OR, where she helps to create spaces for people to be known and belong. With degrees in biblical studies and spiritual formation, Megan also serves as an adjunct professor for George Fox University’s Adult Degree program, where she teaches classes on the Bible and the life of Christ. Megan is originally from Alaska, and you can find her exploring food in Portland with friends or hanging out in the Columbia River Gorge with her husband.

Sunday Morning: Hannah Souter

Hannah SouterHannah Souter is the Assistant Director for the Institute for Pastoral & Congregational Thriving at Portland Seminary, where she also earned a Masters in Ministry Leadership. Hannah served as a pastor in SE Portland and now works at Leadership Center—helping leaders grow in personal and organizational wellness. From 2016-2022, Hannah served as the Director for Theologia, a theology camp for high school students on the George Fox University campus. Hannah is a born and raised Portlander. She and her dog, Teva, like to play outside and have dinner parties with friends.

Callings Director and Conference Host: Joel Mayward

Joel MaywardJoel Mayward is Assistant Professor of Christian Ministries, Theology and the Arts at George Fox University, where he also serves as a Faculty Fellow in the Honors Program. A Portland Seminary alumnus, Joel earned his PhD from the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts (ITIA) at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He has published four books (so far!) and has over two decades of youth ministry experience serving churches in Oregon, Arizona, and British Columbia. Nearly every student at George Fox will take a class with Joel, as he teaches core courses on the Bible, Christianity, and in the Honors Program. Joel, his wife Katie, and their three children currently live in Newberg.

Contact Us

The Callings Conference is hosted by the School of Theology at George Fox University and is funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. For all questions and inquiries, contact the conference organizer, Dr. Joel Mayward, assistant professor of Christian ministries, theology and the arts, at jmayward@georgefox.edu.