Richard A. Ross
CONTACT
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy in Student Ministry, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1980
Dissertation: “The Effect of the Teaching Methodology as Presented in the Southern Baptist Convention Base Design on Selected Attitudes Related to Mate Selection among High School Students”
Master of Religious Education in Youth Education, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1974
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Hardin-Simmons University, 1972
RESEARCH INTEREST
Dr. Ross is interested in research projects in the following areas: the role of parents as spiritual leaders in the home, implications of a high Christology in the lives of teenagers, the design of intensive discipleship models for teenagers who desire to follow Jesus.
Richard Ross has served as senior professor of student ministry in the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries since 2000. His entire life has focused on seeing Christ glorified in the lives of teenagers and their parents and leaders. He served as a local-church youth minister for 30 years. Overlapping part of that time was 16 years of service as the youth ministry consultant at LifeWay Christian Resources.
He has written over 20 books related to teenagers, youth leaders, and parents of teenagers. Each year he speaks and preaches in over 40 churches, conferences, and conventions.
God whispered the idea for the True Love Waits movement to Jimmy Hester and Richard Ross. The first promises of purity were made by members of Ross’s youth group in 1993. Today the movement has been embraced by 100 denominations and national student organizations in the U.S. and in 100 countries.
1984–2000: Youth Ministry Consultant, LifeWay Christian Resources (Nashville, TN)
1985–1999: Minister of Youth, Tulip Grove Baptist Church (Nashville, TN)
1978–1983: Adjunct Professor of Student Ministry, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
1972–1984: Minister of Youth, Royal Haven Baptist Church (Dallas, TX)
1970–1972: Minister of Youth and College, Pioneer Drive Baptist Church (Abilene, TX)
1970: Summer Youth Minister, Fannin-Terrace Baptist Church (Midland, TX)
1969–1970: Minister of Youth, Caps Baptist Church (Abilene, TX)
1969: Summer Youth Minister, Hillcrest Baptist Church (San Angelo, TX)
“The Preeminence of Christ” on November 18, 2018.
Meet Richard Ross
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Senior Professor of Student Ministry Richard Ross has known for most of his life what he has been called to do: “by the Spirit, live, teach, speak, and write to see Christ’s kingdom come through teenagers and their parents and leaders, for the glory of God.” He became a believer and follower of Jesus as a seven-year-old boy and when he was only ten years old, he said he “experienced a call to do Christian ministry as his life vocation.”