Van-guard (văn’gärd), noun: “The foremost or leading position in a trend or movement.”
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Van-guard (văn’gärd), noun: “The foremost or leading position in a trend or movement.”
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Check out Bob's other web resource:
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What About Bob? (bio)
In 1996, after five years of seminary training, he received the Master of Divinity degree with honors from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. During that time he interned as Knute Larson's assistant at The Chapel. Bob has extensive experience in developing visionary ministries and is always rethinking innovative ways to produce Christian spiritual formation. As Pastor of Adult Ministries at The Chapel in North Canton (a daughter church of The Chapel) for three years, Bob proved to be an innovative leader as he developed a multi-faceted adult ministry through teaching, preaching, casting vision, developing programs, recruiting and training leaders, and writing curriculum. He initiated evangelism efforts, began the “Institute for Christian Living,” trained Adult Bible Fellowship leaders, doubled small group participation, and initiated many adult learning experiences, including a young adult ministry. Bob then planted a church with the Allegheny District of the Evangelical Free Church. Starting in his family room, 20 people met and then grew as they moved to a large conference room in a local doctor's office. In the next two years, they grew to nearly 70 people. Bob preached every Sunday (the messages can be found here at this website) led innovative servant-outreach projects, and initiated community-growth programs. As the church developed, Bob's vision of ministry began to shift from "ministry as we have always done it" to "ministry for those in the 21st Century," as God was moving his heart toward the generation coming after him. In this effort, he humbly seeks to continue the Reformation practice of "always reforming," thinking through new ideas for doing ministry so that the gospel can connect with people in the 21st Century. He enjoys engaging in the theological implications of the way we do ministry, studying and engaging with other practitioners in how to implement new ideas. This has led him to create a blog, writing about missional ideas for ministry, and creating a space for interaction with others in the United States and around the world about how to revitalize Christian mission for the 21st Century. He has written extensively on missional ideas for ministry. Bob is also concerned as to how our Christian faith impacts what we do in the world. Spiritual transformation is meant to be the catalyst for transforming the world. Matters of justice, the battle against poverty, care for the Creation, issues of economic globalization, seeking peace in times of war, and issues of life are high on his social action list. In 2005, Bob accepted the position of Area Director for Northern Ohio with the CCO (Coalition for Christian Outreach). He supervised and mentored campus ministry staff placed strategically on university and college campuses, seeking to "transform students to transform the world," and created cooperative ministries with churches and institutions to reach the students at all the schools in the northern region of Ohio. Due to financial troubles for the CCO ministry, Bob's position as Area Director was downsized. But the CCO gladly hired him onto campus staff, where he now reaches students at Kent State University, Hiram College, and Northeast Ohio Universities College of Medicine. He works as a CCO campus minister in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity, as excellent opportunity to connect with students in a non-threatening way. There are 200 students he works with, meeting one-on-one for discipleship as well as holding a bi-weekly "open forum" called "TRANSFORM THE WORLD," where Bob leads a discussion among Christian and non-Christian students about issues that pertain to suffering in the world and what God wants to do about it through us. Bob's ideas for reaching the next generation of young adults have helped CCO with its purpose. Bob has contributed to books on theology and mission, including A New Kind Of Conversation edited by Myron Bradley Penner and Hunter Barnes, and has been thanked for his help by Scot McKnight in two of his books (Embracing Grace: A Gospel for All of Us and A Community Called Atonement). Cardus featured Bob's article, "Who Am I?: Rooting Your Identity in the Image of God" as the cover story for Comment Magazine's third annual "Making the Most of College" issue in September, 2008. In 2009, this article was included in a compendium publication from Cardus, The Cardus Worldview CoursePack. Bob's article was included with other articles from well-known authors like Michael Goheen, Gabe Lyons, Steven Garber, Richard Mouw, Calvin Seerveld, and David Naugle. Bob has been married to Linda for 16 years; they have three wonderful children, Trey (11), Joel (9), and Kaira (9). Linda has her Masters Degree in Physical Therapy. She specializes in Sports Medicine Rehab, especially for young athletes. They are members of The Chapel, where Bob leads a sub-congregation (also known as an Adult Bible Fellowship) of married couples with elementary-aged children. The group is called "E.P.I.C.," an acronym for "Experiential Participatory Incarnational Community." Bob also works with the Children's Ministry, teaching 3rd - 5th Graders in the "ZOOM" worship service, teaching Sunday Schools, and leading VBS classes. One of Bob's passions is to help parents with the spiritual formation of their children, so he regularly teaches parenting seminars at the church. His other contributions to his local church involve directing a conference on faith in the workplace ("InteGratE: When Faith and Work Meet"), and consulting with key leaders on the direction of the church. Among Bob's interests include sports, music (as you can tell from the Prog Rock link here), mountain climbing and hiking with his wife, reading (his favorite authors and books can be seen here), writing, playing with the kids, and talking with people over a good cup of coffee. Bob currently resides in Canton, Ohio.
Bob's family: Trey, Kaira, Joel, and Linda
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Ministry Transformation- The Emerging Church Personal Transformation- Spiritual Formation World Transformation- Social Action Interact with Bob Robinson about missional ministry, spiritual formation, or social action by e-mailing him at vanguardchurch (at) gmail (dot) com, or by going to the blog and commenting there. |
Bob Robinson was born and raised in Akron,
Ohio.
He received his bachelor degree from
