Edward John Stetzer (born 1966) is an American author, speaker, researcher, pastor, church planter, and Christian missiologist. Stetzer is Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and Executive Director of the

Billy Graham Center The Wheaton College Billy Graham Center was founded and opened in 1981 on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Named after Billy Graham, the center is the primary location for many of Wheaton College's bible and theology classes, as ...

at Wheaton College. He is the North American Regional Director for Lausanne International and serves as interim Teaching Pastor. He is a contributor to the North American discussion on missional church,

church planting Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

, church revitalization, and Christian cultural engagement.

Early life and education

Stetzer was born in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and grew up

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Levittown, New York Levittown is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York. It is located halfway between the villages of Hempstead and Farmingdale. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a tota ...

, outside

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He holds master's degrees from

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

School of Divinity and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Doctor of Ministry from

Beeson Divinity School The Beeson Divinity School of Samford University is an interdenominational evangelical divinity school located in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The current dean is Douglas A. Sweeney. Though located on the campus of a Baptist university, ...

, and a Ph.D. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Ministry

Stetzer is Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and Executive Director of the

at Wheaton College. Formerly, he worked as Executive Director of LifeWay Research, a division of

LifeWay Christian Resources Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of their physical retail presenc ...

, and as LifeWay's Missiologist in Residence. Before that, Stetzer served as Director of Research and Missiologist-In-Residence for the

North American Mission Board The North American Mission Board (NAMB) is the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It is involved in Southern Baptist church planting and revitalization, coordinating one of the United States's largest disaster relie ...

. Stetzer became Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) is an academic divinity school founded in 1897 and located in the northern Chicago suburb of Deerfield, Illinois. It is part of and located on the main campus of Trinity International University. It’s ...

in 2019.Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
Faculty: Ed Stetzer, PhD
accessed, May 23, 2019. Stetzer is a contributing editor for ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'' through his blog, ''The Exchange,'' a columnist for Outreach magazine. He is also the Executive Editor of The Gospel Project, a church curriculum produced by

Lifeway Christian Resources Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of their physical retail presenc ...

. In 2020, he became interim pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in

. Ed Stetzer,
Calvary Baptist Church and Worship in New York City in a Pandemic
christianitytoday.com, USA, December 14, 2020

Published books

* Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (

B&H Publishing Group Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of their physical retail presenc ...

, 2003) * Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church (with Elmer Towns, Moody Publishing, 2004) * Breaking the Missional Code (with David Putman; B&H Publishing Group, 2006) * Planting Missional Churches (B&H Publishers, 2006) * Comeback Churches (with Mike Dodson; B&H Publishing Group, 2007) * 11 Innovations in the Local Church (with Elmer Towns and Warren Bird; Regal Publishing, 2007) * Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living (with Philip Nation; New Hope Publishers, 2008) * Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches that Reach Them (with Richie Stanley and Jason Hayes; B&H Publishers, 2009) * MissionShift: Global Mission Issues in the Third Millennium (with

David Hesselgrave David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

; B&H Publishing Group, 2010) * Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers (with Warren Bird;

Jossey-Bass John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in ...

, 2010) * Transformational Church: Creating a New Scorecard for Congregations (with Thom S. Rainer, B&H Publishing Group, 2010) * Subversive Kingdom: Living as Agents of Gospel Transformation (B&H Publishing Group, 2012) * Compelled: Living the Mission of God (with Philip Nation, New Hope Publishers, 2012) * The Mission of God Study Bible (with Philip Nation, B&H Publishing Group, 2012) * Transformational Groups: Creating a New Scorecard for Groups (with Eric Geiger; B&H Publishing Group, 2014) * Igrejas que transformam o Brasil: sinais de um movimento revolucionário e inspirador (with Sérgio Queiroz; Mundo Cristão, 2017)

References

External links

The Official Website of LifeWay Research

Ed Stetzer's website

The Exchange
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stetzer, Ed Missiologists 1966 births Living people American evangelicals Baptists from New York (state) Missional Christianity Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Samford University alumni Shorter University alumni People from Long Island Liberty University alumni