The CREST Team
Dr. Dan Reinhardt
He was 43, leader of a large and growing organization … and tired.
The research says that if you are 40+ there is a good chance you have reached your apex and will flatline in the second half of your life. He was determined not to join that statistic.
A doctorate later, Dan Reinhardt launched The CREST Leadership Centre, passionate to help midlife adults make the necessary deep shifts to make their second half their best half.
With hundreds of graduates, CREST has emerged as a premier life and leadership program for men and women in the mid years who want their life to matter and to flourish.
Dr. Terry Young is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology at Ambrose Seminary in Calgary.
He has over thirty years of pastoral experience in churches of various sizes and in different locations throughout Canada – including eleven years as lead pastor at First Alliance Church in Calgary.
His doctoral work (PhD) was on holding environments for leaders and the need for all leaders to have a secure base from which to live and lead. He is dedicated to encouraging and inspiring church leaders towards wise, calm, and healthy engagement on the front line of ministry.
He also works with The CREST Leadership Center as the Dean of the Master in Christian Leadership Program.
Terry is married to Maureen and together they have a tribe of four grown children. He has three daughters-in-law named Kristen and eight amazing grand children.
John Pritchard graduated from CREST with a Masters of Christian Leadership in 2006, one of the first CREST graduates. He has been engaged with CREST since the beginning. He was one of the original members of the CREST Board of Directors, and now is the Lead Facilitator for the CREST Diploma program.
He comes with leadership experience: he served as Lead Pastor of several churches around Alberta for over 25 years, before starting a network of home churches called The Edge. The Edge is John’s “sweet spot”, representing the convergence of experience, gifting, and passions. His enthusiasm for entrepreneurship and servant leadership comes through clearly in his contribution to the cohorts of CREST.
John is married to Trish and they have a daughter, two sons, two daughters-in-law, a son-in-law, and five grandchildren.
Shawna Lepp joined the CREST Leadership Centre as administrator in 2007.
Previously, she was a Production/Revenue Accountant in the oil industry and then home educated her children.
During her fourteen years of home educating, she served on the Board of the Alberta Home Education Association and was Speaker/Convention Coordinator for the annual convention of the Association. Shawna has also held a variety of volunteer positions at her church.
Shawna and her husband live north of Calgary, Alberta. They have two grown daughters.
Eric Lowther has 30 years of experience as a senior manager and successful entrepreneur in the Canadian Telecommunications and Information Technology sector.
He graduated with distinction from the University of Alberta and is a trained Systems Development Analyst.
In addition, Eric was elected (1997) and served as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre.
He was an active member of the House of Commons Industry Committee and specialized in CRTC policy, Telecom legislation and Y2K readiness.
He also successfully advanced child and family-friendly policies in Canadian law.
As a Crest graduate, Eric personally attests to the critical importance of the CREST Program. “CREST results in a renewed personal vision for our lives and leverages all our past to make the latter half of life more richly rewarding, in all dimensions, than we can ever imagine.”
Verdeen Bueckert graduated with a CREST Masters in Leadership in 2011. It marked a turn-around in her life.
CREST equipped Verdeen to shift her role as a Registered Nurse: from passing out pills to leading provincial quality improvement for Alberta Health Services.
Verdeen was nominated in 2013 for an Award of Nursing Excellence in Education, and with her team, received the 2015 President’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievements in Quality Improvement. She was interviewed in 2019, for her peer-reviewed Toolkit, “When Psychosis Isn’t the Diagnosis,” one of the top ten of more than 1000 Choosing Wisely resources, in seven of 20 participating countries.
John Henry is a retired oil industry executive and currently resides with his wife, Shirley, near the village of Carbon, Alberta.
Most recently, John was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Tarpon Energy Services Ltd. He began with the company in 2010, and it became an industry leader, working in Western Canada, the USA and the Middle East.
After losing his first wife, he eventually obtained some grief counseling and began the road to healing. During this time, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. Meeting Shirley and getting married in 2016 was an important part of that journey.
John’s goal now, with Shirley’s and the Lord’s help, is to ultimately be a humble and kind servant. He is looking for significance as opposed to a focus on success.
John is presently taking the CREST Diploma program and serves as a CREST Board member and faithful supporter.