Ralph Browne "Chip" Ingram II (born June 21, 1954) is an American

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

pastor, author, and teacher. He is the founder, teaching pastor, and CEO of Living on the Edge, an international teaching and

discipleship In Christianity, disciple primarily refers to a dedicated follower of Jesus. This term is found in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. In the ancient world, a disciple is a follower or adherent of a teacher. Discipleship is not the ...

ministry. A pastor for over 30 years, Chip is the author of many books, including ''Culture Shock'', ''The Real Heaven'', ''The Real God'', ''The Invisible War'', and ''Love, Sex, and Lasting Relationships''.

Early life

Originally from

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, Ingram grew up in what he called "a negative religious environment". In his book ''Living on the Edge: Dare to Experience True Spirituality'', Ingram recounts growing up in a church that did not believe in the Bible or in having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ: "We read our prayers, we said the right things, we fulfilled our religious duty, and then we went home. There was absolutely no expectation that what we did on Sunday would have any impact on how we lived the rest of the week.” As a result, by the time Ingram was a teenager, he was disengaged from church and God. He recalls, "I wanted to believe, but the older I got, the less interested I became in going through the religious motions and pretending and saying things that no one lived or believed."

The intersection of faith and basketball

Ingram went on to graduate from

West Liberty State College West Liberty University (WLU) is a public university in West Liberty, West Virginia. It is West Virginia's oldest institution of higher education. It offers more than 70 undergraduate majors plus graduate programs, including a master's degree i ...

in 1976. Afterwards, he received an invitation from Sports Ambassadors to travel overseas with other college basketball players from around the nation using basketball as a vehicle for evangelism. During the next two summers he would go on to ball out on "dem folks", dunking on people, then spreading the Gospel to them. Ingram toured the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, South America, and Asia with three international basketball teams, a trip that he said to be the turning point of his life. While he was on tour, he caught a vision that God could use an ordinary person like him to accomplish extraordinary things. Ingram started to believe that God was not calling him to coach athletes, but to "coach" people for Jesus Christ and become a pastor.

Ministry

In 1982, Ingram began his pastoral ministry at Country Bible Church in

Kaufman, Texas Kaufman is a city in and the county seat of Kaufman County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,797 at the 2020 census. History Kaufman was founded as "Kings Fort", named after Dr. William P. King, who established the fort in 1840 after pu ...

, a rural community near

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. Under his leadership, the church grew from 30 to 500 people. In 1990, he became the senior pastor for Santa Cruz Bible Church in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, where he led a church congregation of 1,000 that grew to over 4,000. In 1995, he founded Living on the Edge as a nationally syndicated radio ministry; it has since grown into an international Christian discipleship ministry. In 2003 Ingram moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, to become president and chief executive officer of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, succeeding

Bruce Wilkinson Bruce Wilkinson is the founder and chairman of Teach Every Nation (TEN), an Evangelical parachurch organization. He is best known for founding Walk Thru the Bible, an evangelical Christian educational organization, with Howard Hendricks, and for ...

. In 2009, Ingram became the senior pastor for Venture Christian Church in

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the ...

, where he served until 2018. Today, Ingram serves as CEO and teaching pastor of Living on the Edge. He is the author of 15 books and several studies for small-group ministry.

Education

Ingram completed his undergraduate work at

, and went on to earn a

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

from

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

and a

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...

from

Dallas Theological Seminary Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) is an evangelical theology, theological seminary in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system dispensationalism. DTS has campuses in Dallas, Houston, and Washington, D.C., as well as cont ...

Family

Ingram and his wife, Theresa, have four children (including the songwriter

Jason Ingram Jason David Ingram is an American Christian music producer and songwriter. He has been a songwriter for many Christian artists, including Bebo Norman and Point of Grace. Career Around the end of 2001, he was the first artist to be signed to ...

) and 12 grandchildren.

Works

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References

External links

* Living on the Edge (http://www.livingontheedge.org) * Culture Shock (http://www.cultureshockthebook.com/) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Chip 1954 births Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Christians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Christians 21st-century American male writers Activists from California Activists from Ohio American Christian religious leaders American Christian writers American evangelicals American motivational writers American radio personalities Christians from California Converts to Christianity Writers from California Writers from Columbus, Ohio West Liberty University alumni