- Tim Keller
Timothy J. Keller (born 1950) is an American author, speaker, and the founding
pastor ofRedeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) inNew York City, New York .Biography
Keller was raised in
Lehigh Valley ,Pennsylvania . He is a graduate ofBucknell University (B.A., 1972),Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div. , 1975), andWestminster Theological Seminary , where he received his D.Min in 1981. [cite_web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070401224544/http://www.wts.edu/faculty/faculty-parttime.html |title=Westminster Faculty - Part Time (via the Internet Archive) |accessdate=2007-03-30] He became a Christian at university due to the ministry ofInterVarsity Christian Fellowship , with which he later served as a staff member.cite_web |url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070218113355/http://clc.2pc.org/index.php/tim-keller/ |title=Speaker biography for a Christian Life Conference (via the Internet Archive) |date=2007 |accessdate=2007-03-28] He was ordained by thePresbyterian Church in America (PCA) and served as a pastor inVirginia for nine years, while also serving as director ofchurch planting for the PCA.cite_news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/nyregion/26evangelist.html?ex=1298610000&en=bd2c8ed6c62e68f5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |title=Preaching the Word and Quoting the Voice |author=Michael Luo |work=The New York Times |date=February 26, 2006 |accessdate=2007-03-28] He also served on the faculty ofWestminster Theological Seminary inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania , where he and his wife Kathy were involved in urban ministry, and he continues as an adjunct professor of practical theology. [cite_web| url=http://www.wts.edu/resources/articles/keller_posteverythings.html |title=Post-everythings
author=Timothy Keller |publisher=" [http://byfaithonline.com byFaith] " magazine, republished by Westminster Theological Seminary |accessdate=2008-01-08] Keller lives onRoosevelt Island in New York City with his wife, Kathy. They have three sons, David, Michael, and Jonathan.Keller was asked by the PCA to start Redeemer in 1989 despite his relative lack of experience and after two others had turned down the position. The church grew from 50 people to total attendance of over 5,000 people each Sunday as of early 2008, leading many to call him "the most successful Christian Evangelist in the city." [cite_journal |journal=New York Magazine |url=http://www.nymag.com/news/features/influentials/16921/ |date=2006 |title=The Influentials: Religion |accessdate=2007-03-28] His target audience consists mainly of urban professionals, whom he believes exhibit disproportionate influence over the culture and its ideas, [cite_journal |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/005/1.36.html |title=A New Kind of Urban Christian |author=Tim Keller |journal=Christianity Today |date=May 2006 |accessdate=2007-03-28] and in his preaching, "he hardly shrinks from difficult Christian truths, [but] he sounds different from many of the shrill evangelical voices in the public sphere." Indeed, he shuns the label "evangelical" because of its political and fundamentalist connotation, preferring to call himself simply orthodox because "he believes in the importance of personal conversion or being '
born again ,' and the full authority of theBible ."Redeemer started a church planting center in 2001 and has helped start over 100 churches of various denominations in the New York City area and around the world, and "
The New York Times " reports that "pastors from around the world are beginning to come in a steady stream to New York City to glean what they can from Dr. Keller and Redeemer." Keller, once the director of his denomination's mercy ministries, has always emphasized Christian service and charity, both in his own church's members and in those the center trains to plant urban churches.Redeemer, according to "
Christianity Today ", is "one of Manhattan's most vital congregations"cite_journal |journal=Christianity Today |date=December 2004 |url=http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2004/december/15.32.html |title=New York's New Hope |author=Tony Carnes |accessdate=2007-03-28] and, according to a 2006 survey of 2000 American church leaders, is the sixteenth most influential church in America. [cite_web| work=The Church Report |url=http://www.thechurchreport.com/mag_article.php?mid=671&type=year |title=50 Most Influential Churches |date=July 2006 |accessdate=2007-03-28]Keller's book "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism" was named Book of the Year for 2008 by "
World Magazine ", a conservative evangelical news magazine. [cite_journal | journal=World Magazine | url=http://www.worldmag.com/articles/14143 |date=June 28, 2008 | title=Anti-moralist Christianity | author=Marvin Olasky | accessdate=2008-07-02] It rose as high as #7 on the New York Times Non-Fiction Best-Seller list in March of 2008. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE3DC133AF930A15750C0A96E9C8B63&scp=8&sq=reason+for+god+keller&st=nyt BEST SELLERS: NONFICTION: Sunday, March 23rd 2008 - New York Times ] ]Books
* "Resources for deacons: Love expressed through mercy ministries" (Christian Education and Publications, 1985) ISBN 0-9703541-6-9
* Contributor to "Center City Churches: The New Urban Frontier" edited by Lyle E. Schaller (Abingdon Press, 1993) ISBN 0-687-04802-8
* "Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road" (P & R Publishing, 1997) ISBN 0-87552-217-3
* Contributor to "It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God" edited by Ned Bustard (Square Halo Books, 2000) ISBN 978-0978509712
* "Church planter manual" (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2002)
* Contributor to "Worship by the Book" edited byD. A. Carson (Zondervan, 2002) ISBN 0-310-21625-7
* Contributor to "The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World" edited byJohn Piper and Justin Taylor (Crossway Books, 2007) ISBN 9781581349221
* "The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism" (Dutton Adult, February 2008) ISBN 0-525-95049-4
* "The Prodigal God: Christianity Redefined Through the Parable of the Prodigal Sons" (Dutton Adult, November 2008) ISBN 0-525-95079-6References
External links
* [http://www.redeemer.com Redeemer Presbyterian Church]
* [http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/bio/timkeller.html Tim Keller page] at Monergism.com with a short biography and the select sermons and essays (some text, some audio)
* [http://www.djchuang.com/keller/ Unofficial Tim Keller web page]
* [http://www.stevekmccoy.com/reformissionary/2005/07/tim_keller_arti.html Tim Keller Resources] a continuously updated site with articles, audio, links and all things Keller
* [http://thereasonforgod.com/index.php "Reason for God" website]
* [http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kxup3OS5ZhQ Authors@Google]
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