Biography - Paul David Tripp

Paul was born in Toledo, Ohio to Bob and Fae Tripp on November 12, 1950. Bob and Fae had recently come to faith in Christ and were very excited about parenting as believers. The Tripp family was committed to having daily family worship, being at church every time the doors were open - even family vacations were spent at the local church conference grounds! Although sounding ideal, Paul’s family was not without significant struggles, which God used to build in him a desire to see the Gospel applied to the realities of life in a fallen world. God used this early and frequent exposure to his truth to bring Paul to Christ at the age of nine. Paul spent all of his growing years in Toledo until his college years when his parents moved to Southern California.

At Columbia Bible College from 1968-1972, (now Columbia International University) Paul majored in Bible and Christian Education. Although he had planned to be there for only two years and then to study journalism, Paul more and more felt like there was so much of the theology of Scripture that he did not understand, so he decided to go to seminary. Paul met Luella Jackson at College and they married in 1971. In 1971, Paul took his first pastoral position and has had a heart for the local church ever since.

After college, Paul completed his Master of Divinity degree at the Reformed Episcopal Seminary (now known as Philadelphia Theological Seminary) in Philadelphia (1972-1975). It was during these days that Paul’s commitment to ministry solidified.

After seminary, Paul was involved in planting a church in Scranton, Pennsylvania (1977-1987) where he also founded a Christian School. During the years in Scranton, Paul became involved in music, traveling with a band and writing worship songs. In Scranton, Paul became interested in biblical counseling and decided to enroll in the D.Min program in Biblical Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. Paul then became a faculty member of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) and a lecturer in biblical counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia. Paul has also served as Visiting Professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY.

Beginning In June, 2006,  Paul became the President of Paul Tripp Ministries, a non profit organization, whose mission statement is "Connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life." In addition to his current role as President of Paul Tripp Ministries, on January 1, 2007, Paul also became part of the pastoral staff at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA where he preaches every Sunday evening and leads the Ministry to Center City.

In 2009, along with Paul's responsibilities with his speaking schedule for Paul Tripp Ministries and his role as Teaching Pastor on Sunday evenings at Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Paul is also Professor of Pastoral Life and Care at the Redeemer Seminary in Dallas, Texas and is the Executive Director of the Center for Pastoral Life and Care in Fort Worth, Texas.

Paul, Luella, and their four children moved to Philadelphia in 1987 and have lived there ever since. Luella manages a large commercial art gallery in the city and Paul is very dedicated to painting as an avocation. Paul’s driving passion is to help people understand how the gospel of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ really does speak with practical hope into all the things they will face in this broken world. Paul is a pastor with a pastor’s heart, a gifted speaker, his journey taking him all over the world, an author of numerous books on practical Christian living, and a man who is hopelessly in love with Luella.

A Quote from Paul

Many years of ministry has fueled my passion for people to understand, in an intensely practical way, the simple, yet life-altering themes of the Biblical story of redemption in Jesus Christ. I am also driven to help people grasp the present benefits of the work of Christ in their marriages, parenting, careers, and all of life. As a pastor, my heart is in and for the local church, God’s primary instrument of change on earth; I love doing anything I can to assist our church leaders to function, in the places God has positioned them, as instruments of redemption.

Books:

Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens, P & R Publishing, November,1997
War of Words: Getting to the Heart of Our Communication Struggles, P & R Publishing, January, 2000
Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands: People in Need of Change Helping People in Need of Change,P & R Publishing, November, 2002.
Lost in the Middle: Midlife and the Grace of God, Shepherd Press, October, 2004
How People Change (co-author) New Growth Press, May, 2006
Relationships: A Mess Worth Making (co-author) New Growth Press, November, 2006
A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger Than You, New Growth Press, October, 2007
Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy, Crossway Books, July 2008
A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble, Crossway Books, April, 2009
Broken Down House: Living Productively in a World Gone Bad, Shepherd Press, June 2009
What Did You Expect?: Redeeming the Realities of Marriage, Crossway Books, May 2010

Booklets:

Marriage: Whose Dream?, P & R Publishing, September, 1999
Teens and Sex: How Should We Teach Them?, P & R Publishing, June, 2000
Suffering: Eternity Makes a Difference, P & R Publishing, April, 2001
Domestic Abuse: How to Help (co-author), P & R Publishing, April, 2002
Grief: Finding Hope Again, New Growth Press, July, 2005
Peer Pressure: Recognizing the Warning Signs and Giving New Directions, New Growth Press, April, 2008
Helping Your Adopted Child: Understanding Your Child’s Unique Identity, New Growth Press, April, 2008

Paul Tripp Ministries - Mission Statement:

Connecting the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life.

You live in a fallen world. The temptation is everywhere. It's hard not to love the world and the things that are in the world. It's hard to love an invisible God more than the visible things that surround you. It's hard not to offer God a few pieces of your life while retaining most of it for yourself. It's hard not to reduce your walk with God down to a formal, external religion that lays no claim to the interior on your life. It's hard to grasp that you actually have to die before you can live. It's hard to grasp that your life is no longer your own. We're here to help you!