What About Bob?

Bob Robinson was born and raised in Akron, Ohio. He received his bachelor degree from The University of Akron in Business Administration. He immediately experienced success with NCR Corporation (then a member of the ‘Fortune 100’). At the age of 25, he began attending The Chapel in Akron, and became a follower of Jesus Christ. Just a few months later, he felt that God was calling him to the ministry.

Seminary and First Ministry
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 the assistant to the Senior Pastor at The Chapel, Knute Larson.

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.

Church Planter

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 people in the 21st Century," as God was moving his heart toward the generation coming after him.

A Voice in the Missional Church Conversation

In this effort, he humbly seeks to continue the practice of "always reforming," thinking through new ideas for doing ministry so that the gospel can connect with people of a new generation. 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 the Vanguard Church blog and website, 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. "Vanguard Church"  is recognized as a "catalyst" for the missional movement. Along these lines, Bob has initiated an on-line project called "Friend of Kuyper," a web resource for neo-Calvinist revitalization of ministry.

College Campus Minister 

In 2005, Bob accepted the position of Area Director for Northern Ohio with the Coalition for Christian Outreach (CCO). 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.

Starting in 2009, Bob moved his ministry directly onto the college campus, reaching out to college students as a CCO Campus Minister. After a year on the main campus of Kent State University, in 2010 he successfully moved his focus of ministry closer to his home, reaching out to Kent State's Stark campus, Stark State College, and Malone University. Bob's CCO ministry is in a cooperative partnership with Jackson Friends Church, where he serves as the Pastor for College and Young Adults. At Jackson Friends Church, Bob is the venue pastor for the "CURRENT" worship service, co-leads a Sunday-morning college class, and hosts "The Gathering" on Tuesday nights specifically for college students and young adults.

Published in Books and Magazines
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 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).

Church Ministries

From 2006-2010, Bob was a member of The Chapel, a mega-church in Northeast Ohio, where he led a sub-congregation of married couples with elementary-aged children. The group was called "E.P.I.C.," an acronym for "Experiential Participatory Incarnational Community." Bob also worked with the Children's Ministry, teaching 3rd-5th Graders in a children’s worship hour and helping parents with the spiritual formation of their children, teaching a parenting seminar at the church.

He continues to serve as a consultant on missional ministry for the church, meeting monthly with the Senior Pastor of The Chapel and other key leaders and providing in-service training on topics like evangelism, worldview formation, and faith-work integration.

Integrating Faith and Work 

One of Bob's greatest passions is helping Christians integrate their faith in the workplace. While at The Chapel, he directed a conference on faith in the workplace ("Integrate: When Faith and Work Meet"). Bob is currently working on his doctorate at Covenant Theological Seminary in this area of specialty, studying under Dr. Donald Guthrie of Covenant and Steven Garber of the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture. Bob is currently creating a Non-Profit Organization that will help churches equip people to be incarnational in their vocations so that they will perform their work in cooperation with the mission of God in the world. The NPO will also consult marketplace leaders and create networks of people in like-vocations to encourage believers to be agents for institutional transformation for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

Ordination for Ministry
Bob has been Ordained for Gospel Ministry by The Chapel Consortium Churches.

Family and Interests 
Bob has been married to Linda for 17 years; they have three wonderful children, Trey (13), Joel (11), and Kaira (11). Linda has her Master's Degree in Physical Therapy. She specializes in Sports Medicine Rehab, especially for young athletes.

Among Bob's interests include sports, music (as you can tell from the Prog Rock reviews he's done here), mountain climbing and hiking with his wife, reading (see what he currently reading at Good Reads), writing, playing with his kids, and talking with people over a good cup of espresso.

Bob currently resides in Lake Township, near Canton, Ohio.

Joel, Linda, Trey, Bob, and Kaira Robinson