Executive Director of Lifeway Research Stetzer to Speak in Chapel

Author, pastor and church planter Dr. Ed Stetzer will speak during chapel Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 10 a.m. The service will take place in Raley Chapel's Potter Auditorium on the OBU campus in Shawnee. He will continue the fall chapel series theme, "Parables of the Kingdom: Jesus' Word Pictures as Found in the Gospel of Luke," and will be speaking on the "Parable of the Rich Fool," from Luke 12:13-21.

Stetzer serves as executive director of LifeWay Research, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources and previously worked as director of research and missiologist-in-residence for the North American Mission Board. Stetzer is also author or co-author of over a dozen books and various publications.

Stetzer is known for leading conferences and seminars, as well as planting churches and acting as a missions consultant. He has planted churches in several states and has helped train pastors across the United States and on five continents. He has been featured in several national conferences, including the Catalyst Conference and the National Outreach Convention.

Stetzer is a contributing editor for Christianity Today, a columnist for Outreach Magazine and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USAToday and CNN. He is also the executive editor of The Gospel Project, which is used by over 500,000 individuals each week. He is also executive editor of Facts & Trends Magazine, a Christian leadership magazine with a circulation of 70,000 readers.

He currently serves as lead pastor of Grace Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee, a church he planted in 2011. He serves as visiting professor of research and missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and visiting research professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has taught at many other colleges and seminaries.

He earned a bachelor's degree at Shorter University, two master's degrees from Liberty Theological Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Doctor of Ministry from Samford University and a Doctor of Philosophy from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.