{"id":178,"date":"2025-06-20T19:07:53","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T19:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/?page_id=178"},"modified":"2025-10-17T18:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:11:47","slug":"speakers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"\"<\/span>
\n
\n
\n
\n

Speakers<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Julia Royall Johnson, Mark Oestreicher, and Ismael Ruiz-Mill\u00e1n will serve as keynote speakers for Pilgrimage 2025. Join them for an informal Meet & Greet during Camp Fun Day<\/a> on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Julia Royall Johnson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Julia Royall Johnson grew up at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smithfield, North Carolina, where she was confirmed in the seventh grade. From a young age, she was deeply engaged in the life of the church, actively participating in youth leadership both at her local congregation and at the conference level. As a youth, she was highly involved in conference youth ministry, laying the foundation for a lifelong passion for service and discipleship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her early twenties, Julia reconnected with conference youth ministries as a volunteer and began serving with the youth group at Wrightsville United Methodist Church. She later joined the staff at Ann Street United Methodist Church as the Director of Youth and Children\u2019s Ministries. Over the years, Julia has held several leadership roles within the North Carolina Conference, including Harbor District Youth Coordinator, Sound District Youth Coordinator, and Co-Chair of the Conference Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM). Her continued involvement reflects a deep commitment to nurturing young people in their faith<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia currently serves on the full-time team at Don Lee Camp and Retreat Center, a United Methodist-affiliated camp located on the coast of North Carolina. Her journey with Camp Don Lee and in youth ministry spans decades\u2014beginning as a camper in elementary school, continuing through her years on summer staff, and now in her professional role. With over 20 years of experience in youth ministry at the local, district, and conference levels, Julia brings a deep well of passion, experience and a servant\u2019s heart to everything she does in service to the youth in this conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julia will serve as the keynote speaker on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Julia<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Mark Oestreicher<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mark Oestreicher (Marko) has been involved in church ministry for over 40 years, particularly with teenagers and youth workers. Marko has had a broad experience working in churches in roles ranging from Junior High Pastor to Executive Pastor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 11 years, Marko was at Youth Specialties in San Diego, an organization that trains and equips church youth workers\u2014the last 8 of those years as president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marko has authored or contributed to more than 80 books, and is the founding partner at The Youth Cartel, providing coaching for church youth workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marko has been married to Jeannie for 39 years, and has two young adult kids, Riley and Max. X: @markosbeard<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marko will serve as the keynote speaker on Saturday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Mark<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Ismael Ruiz-Mill\u00e1n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ismael knows what it\u2019s like to live in the in-between\u2014between cultures, between questions, and between one season of life and the next. Originally from the border town of San Luis R\u00edo Colorado, Sonora, M\u00e9xico, he brings a deep love for God and people shaped by stories of resilience, hope, and new beginnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Executive Director of Connectional Ministries in the North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church, Ismael works to support churches and leaders as they live into God\u2019s mission. Before this role, he served as the District Superintendent of the Heritage District and directed the Hispanic House of Studies at Duke Divinity School, where he accompanied and mentored leaders for ministry in diverse communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year at Pilgrimage, Ismael is honored to walk alongside youth asking the same question many of us carry: \u201cWhat\u2019s next?\u201d<\/strong> Scripture is full of people who asked that very question\u2014Thomas in the upper room wrestling with doubt, Paul on the road to Damascus encountering unexpected transformation, Jesus pausing to pray before making big decisions. And then there\u2019s the Samaritan woman at the well\u2014a person carrying deep questions and brokenness, who meets Jesus and, in that encounter, discovers her true identity and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ismael believes God meets us right in the middle of our questions and transitions. Whether you feel certain or uncertain, hopeful or heavy-hearted, you are not alone. The Holy Spirit is already moving in your story. What\u2019s next may not be clear\u2014but you are deeply loved, you already belong, and God wants you to experience a fully alive kind of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ismael will serve as the keynote speaker on Sunday.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Ismael<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Julia Royall Johnson, Mark Oestreicher, and Ismael Ruiz-Mill\u00e1n will serve as keynote speakers for Pilgrimage 2025. Join them for an informal Meet & Greet during Camp Fun Day on Saturday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-no-title","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-178","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeakers - Pilgrimage 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speakers - Pilgrimage 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Julia Royall Johnson, Mark Oestreicher, and Ismael Ruiz-Mill\u00e1n will serve as keynote speakers for Pilgrimage 2025. Join them for an informal Meet & Greet during Camp Fun Day on Saturday […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pilgrimage 2025\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T18:11:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2025\/06\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Speakers - Pilgrimage 2025\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/60\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-1024x683.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-20T19:07:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-17T18:11:47+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/60\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/60\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/speakers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Speakers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pilgrimage 2025\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccpilgrimage.org\\\/2025\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Speakers - Pilgrimage 2025","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Speakers - Pilgrimage 2025","og_description":"Julia Royall Johnson, Mark Oestreicher, and Ismael Ruiz-Mill\u00e1n will serve as keynote speakers for Pilgrimage 2025. Join them for an informal Meet & Greet during Camp Fun Day on Saturday […]","og_url":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/","og_site_name":"Pilgrimage 2025","article_modified_time":"2025-10-17T18:11:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2025\/06\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/","url":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/","name":"Speakers - Pilgrimage 2025","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2025\/06\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-1024x683.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-20T19:07:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-17T18:11:47+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2025\/06\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/60\/2025\/06\/54165329162_49bc7c98ef_o-1-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/speakers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Speakers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/","name":"Pilgrimage 2025","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":517,"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/178\/revisions\/517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccpilgrimage.org\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}