About Rick Lawrence

Rick Lawrence has been editor of GROUP Magazine for 24 years and is the co-leader of The Simply Youth Ministry Conference. GROUP is the world’s most widely read resource for Christian youth leaders, and was honored with a 1st place award for Editorial Excellence by Folio, the magazine industry’s umbrella organization. In his role as “Youth Ministry Champion” at Group Publishing, he leads the organization’s expeditionary efforts to challenge, encourage, and equip youth pastors. He created GROUP Magazine Live, a series of nationwide youth ministry training workshops, and co-hosts the “GROUP Magazine Live” podcast, available on simplyyouthministry.tv.

Rick has authored hundreds of magazine articles and is the author, co-author, or editor of 31 books. He co-authored The Family Friendly Church (1998), IT: Innovative Tools for Youth Ministry (2004), and Youth Ministry In the 21st Century (2005). He’s authored TrendWatch (2000), JC Q’s: 150 Jesus-Centered Discussion Questions (2006), Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry (2007), the adult/teenager small-group curriculum In Pursuit of Jesus (2007), Make Their Day (2009), and Ten Tough Things (2009)—all published by Group Publishing.

His latest book is Shrewd: Daring to Live the Startling Command of Jesus (David C. Cook)—released in August of 2012. Read the Introduction, and watch the video trailers, at ShrewdBook.com.

He’s a consultant to national research organizations and a frequent conference and workshop speaker. He has been interviewed by national publications and media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Homeword with Jim Burns, Dennis Rainey’s FamilyLife Today, and the Moody Bible Institute radio network, among others.

He’s married to Beverly Rose and has a 13-year-old daughter named Lucy Rose and a 8-year-old daughter named Emma Grace.

You can follow Rick on Twitter @RickSkip or @TheDailySifted, or you can email him at RLawrence@group.com, or you can drag a banner behind your biplane over Denver, Colorado with a special message for Rick. If you're craving a more three-dimensional relationship, you can watch a short video with Rick pontificating about “Soul Care”—--just click here. Or you can watch a short video of Rick describing the message of Sifted--just click here. And if you'd like to hear one or two “sampler” national radio interviews I've done for the book, you can click here or click here.