- 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.
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