Speaker Media Kit

Stephen John Williams

Short Bio:

Stephen John Williams attended the University of California at Berkeley on a swimming scholarship and qualified for the 1984 and ’88 Olympic trials. After graduating with a degree in economics he worked as an economic consultant before pursuing a teaching career. Stephen spent ten years teaching 5th and 6th grade in the Cupertino Union School District in California.

Stephen founded Prepare the Way Ministries in 2006, following his involvement in a federal court case concerning the censorship of historical documents with Christian references. With the help of the Christian legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom, Stephen filed a federal court case in November of 2004 to protect the freedom of speech and religion in public schools. The case was settled out of court in the summer of 2005 and a written settlement was put in place that allowed primary source documents with Christian references to be used in Cupertino classrooms.

Prepare the Way Ministries empowers Christians to uphold a Biblical worldview in an increasingly secular culture through seminars and events. Having been on the front lines in the church/state battle, Stephen offers a unique perspective on the ways our culture can erode a Biblical worldview. Stephen speaks nationally on worldview, apologetics, and cultural issues. He currently resides in Bend, Oregon with his wife and four daughters. His wife, Sarah, has a Ph.D. in environmental microbiology from Stanford and partners with him in ministry. They co-authored a book titled, Navigating Public Schools, and offer a Biblical worldview DVD curriculum titled Standing Firm.

Long Bio:

Stephen John Williams was born in 1966 in Madison, Wisconsin and grew up in Ithaca, New York and Cupertino, California. Before becoming a disciple of Christ in 2001, his life revolved around swimming and singing–he qualified for the 1984 and 1988 Olympic trials in swimming and attended the University of California at Berkeley on a swimming scholarship. He graduated with a degree in economics and worked as an economic consultant before pursuing a teaching career. Stephen spent ten years teaching in the Cupertino Union School District in California. In the summer of 2000, a Christian friend challenged him to consider whether the claims of Christianity are true. Upon reading Lee Strobel’s The Case for Faith, he joined a Bible study and an Alpha course. He had a dynamic conversion experience in 2001 and has been a committed, on-fire Christian ever since.

As a teacher, Stephen made a commitment to honor policies against proselytizing in school. However, he became increasingly aware of outright hostility towards Judeo-Christian values in our public schools. His principal and school district censored primary source documents with Christian references from his classroom because “the school district honored the Separation of Church and State.” He was prevented from teaching a lesson on the wording of the Declaration of Independence using such primary sources as William Penn’s “Frame of Government” and Samuel Adam’s “The Rights of the Colonists.” With the help of the Alliance Defending Freedom, he filed a federal court case in November of 2004. The case gained national media attention with articles appearing in The New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, Associated Press, and The New Yorker Magazine, among others. Stephen and his lawyers did interviews on the Hannity and Colmes news program (including the “Take Back America” tour), as well as several national radio talk shows. The case was settled out of court in the summer of 2005 and a written policy was put in place that allowed primary source documents with Christian references to be used in Cupertino classrooms.

Surprised by the lack of awareness within the body of Christ about the level of hostility towards a Christian worldview in public schools and society, as well as the role Christianity played in shaping our country, Stephen felt led to start a teaching ministry on this subject. He founded Prepare the Way Ministries in 2006, which empowers Christians to uphold a Biblical worldview in an increasingly secular culture through seminars and events. Having been on the front lines in the Church/state battle and having spent ten years immersed in the public school system, he offers a unique perspective in his seminars on how the education system and an increasingly secular culture can erode the Biblical worldview of believers. He gives practical advice for Christians on how to stand firm in a Christian worldview, exercise their rights in the area of Church and state, and navigate through the education system and society. Prepare the Way has organized an annual conference called the Christian Youth Summit since 2007, which equips the next generation to stand firm in their Christian faith and impact our culture for Christ.

Stephen speaks nationally on worldview, apologetics, and cultural issues. He currently resides in Bend, Oregon with his wife and four daughters. His wife, Sarah, has a Ph.D. in environmental microbiology from Stanford and partners with him in ministry. They co-authored a book titled, Navigating Public Schools and offer a Biblical worldview DVD curriculum called Standing Firm.

Photos:

Sarah Middleton Williams

Bio:

Sarah Middleton Williams completed a Ph.D. in environmental engineering with an emphasis in microbiology from Stanford University. She is the recipient of a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship. Prior to attending Stanford, Sarah graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in engineering. While at the University of Michigan, she was awarded several Hopwood Awards in Poetry and Fiction; following her undergraduate coursework, Sarah was awarded a one-year fellowship to study English at Oxford University. She has published several scientific papers and book chapters in the area of environmental microbiology, as well as poems and stories in several magazines. She is married to Stephen Williams and is the mother of four daughters. She also consults part-time in the area of environmental engineering, enjoys creative writing, and helps with Prepare the Way Ministries.