Robert E. Coleman, PhD
Robert E. Coleman is professor emeritus of evangelism at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He has been at Trinity since 1983.
Dr. Coleman came to Trinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, where he taught evangelism for 27 years. Prior to that, he spent six years pastoring United Methodist churches in Indiana, New Jersey, and Iowa.
Dr. Coleman earned the Doctor of Philosophy in religion from the University of Iowa, the Master of Theology in biblical literature from Princeton University, the Bachelor of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, and the Bachelor of Arts in history from Southwestern University.
Dr. Coleman's areas of expertise include the evangelism of Jesus, discipleship, the theology of evangelism, contemporary church evangelism, the history and theology of revival, evangelistic preaching, and the songs of heaven. He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, the Evangelical Missiological Society, and the Academy for Evangelism in Theological Education.
Dr. Coleman is director of the Billy Graham Institute of Evangelism at Wheaton and dean of the International Schools of Evangelism. He is a founding member of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and the president of the Christian Outreach Foundation. He is on the board of AD 2000, OMS International, the Barnabas Foundation, and the Francis Asbury Society.
Dr. Coleman has written 21 books; and his books have been translated into 96 languages, English editions along having a total circulation of more than five million copies. Dr. Coleman's published works include The Master Plan of Evangelism, which has over two million copies in print (Revell 1963 - first printing, 1997 - 68th printing). Dr. Coleman also wrote The Master's Way of Personal Evangelism (Crossway 1997), The Heartbeat of Evangelism (NavPress 1985), Songs of Heaven (Revell 1980), The New Covenant (NavPress 1984), The Mind of the Master (Revell 1977), The Master Plan of Discipleship (Revell 1987), The Great Commission Lifestyle (Revell 1992), Nothing To Do but Save Souls: John Wesley's Charge to His Preachers (Zondervan 1990), and The Coming World Revival (Crossway, 1995), among others. He has also written numerous articles, book introductions, and book contributions.
In addition to his writing, Dr. Coleman maintains an active schedule as a speaker at seminars, lectures, and evangelistic crusades around the world.
Dr. Coleman and his wife, Marietta, reside in Deerfield, Illinois. They have 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren. In his spare time, Coleman enjoys oil painting, hiking, and racquetball.