Kevin DeYoung
Husband. Father. Pastor. Professor. Author.
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 M.Div. (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.
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.