Darrell Puls was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up in a religiously conservative family. He went to work at age 10 in his father's produce business. After service in the Army during the Vietnam War, Darrell taught in the public schools for 8 years. He then found his passion in working with labor relations and organizational conflict management for 26 years. Darrell left corporate work in 2002 to concentrate on ministry to conflicted churches. He earned a Doctor of Religious Studies in Conflict Management from Trinity Theological Seminary in 2006, where his dissertation analyzed the inner workings of forgiveness and how each level is triggered. He is the founder of Peacebridge Ministries and works with churches of all sizes and denominations in dealing with conflict, forgiveness, and reconciliation. He and his wife have a daughter and two granddaughters.