Education
Hope College, B.A.
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, MDiv
University of Leicester, Ph.D.
About Dr. DeYoung
Kevin DeYoung was born in 1977 in South Holland, Illinois, and was raised in Jenison, Michigan. He earned a B.A. in religion (summa cum laude) in 1999 from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. From there Kevin moved to South Hamilton, Massachusetts, to attend Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, earning his MDiv (summa cum laude) in 2002.
While attending First Presbyterian Church in Ipswich, MA, Kevin met Trisha Bebee, the daughter of an ordained EFCA minister who served for over 30 years as a Navy Chaplain. Kevin and Trisha were married in 2002 during his last semester in seminary.
In 2002 Kevin was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America, and the newly married DeYoungs moved to northwest Iowa, where Kevin served as the associate pastor at the First Reformed Church of Orange City. Two years later, he was called to be the senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, across the street from Michigan State University. In 2015, Kevin and his congregation moved from the RCA into the Presbyterian Church in America. In 2017 Kevin accepted a call to serve as Senior Pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC.
Kevin received his Ph.D. in early modern history at the University of Leicester (UK). In addition to his pastoral duties he teaches as an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte.
Kevin has written, edited, and contributed to more than twenty books—among them academic books like The Religious Formation of John Witherspoon, popular level books like Just Do Something, Crazy Busy, Taking God at His Word, and The Hole in Our Holiness, and children’s books like The Biggest Story and The Biggest Story Bible Storybook. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
Kevin is also a popular columnist, blogger, and podcaster and a frequent speaker at ministry conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the United States and around the world. All of his content can be found at clearlyreformed.org.
Kevin and Trisha have been blessed with nine children: five boys and four girls. As a family they enjoy sports, being with friends, and enduring nonstop craziness. Kevin likes running, biking, and swimming, and, of course, lots of reading.
Publications
BOOKS
- The (Not-So-Secret) Secret to Reaching the Next Generation (Crossway, 2024)
- Do Not Be True to Yourself: Countercultural Advice for the Rest of Your Life (Crossway, 2023)
- Impossible Christianity: Why Following Jesus Does Not Mean You Have to Change the World, Be an Expert in Everything, Accept Spiritual Failure, and Feel Miserable Pretty Much All the Time (Crossway, 2023)
- The Biggest Story Bible Storybook (Crossway, 2022)
- The Lord’s Prayer: Learning from Jesus on What, Why, and How to Pray (Crossway, 2022)
- Men and Women in the Church (Crossway, 2021)
- The Religious Formation of John Witherspoon (Routledge, 2021)
- Grace Defined and Defended: What a 400-Year-Old Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God (Crossway, 2019)
- The Ten Commandments: What They Mean, Why They Matter, and Why We Should Obey Them (Crossway, 2018)
- The Biggest Story ABC (Crossway, 2017)
- The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden (Crossway, 2015), illustrated by Don Clark
- What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? (Crossway, 2015)
- Taking God at His Word: Why the Bible is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough (Crossway, 2014)
- Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book About a (Really) Big Problem (Crossway, 2013)
- The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap Between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness, (Crossway, 2012)
- Preaching and Preachers, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, (Zondervan, 2012). Ed. new edition and contributed the article “Preaching for Brand New and Tired Old Preachers.”
- What is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission, co-authored with Greg Gilbert, (Crossway, 2011)
- Don’t Call it a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day, editor and contributor (Crossway, 2011). Contributed the Introduction and two other chapters: “The Secret to Reaching the Next Generation” and “Homosexuality: Grace, Truth, and the Need for Gentle Courage” (co-authored with Eric Redmond).
- The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism (Moody, 2010)
- Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion, co-authored with Ted Kluck (Moody, 2009)
- Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will (Moody, 2009)
- Why We’re Not Emergent By Two Guys Who Should Be, co-authored with Ted Kluck (Moody, 2008)