In addition to being the author of over a dozen books, Mark DeVries is the founder of Ministry Architects (2002) a consulting team that moves churches “beyond stuck” and strategically forward. Having worked with over 600 churches, Ministry Architects has helped build sustainable ministries for youth, children, families and young adults, as well as providing strategic coaching for entire churches and their senior leadership. Mark is also co-founder of a number of ministry enterprises, including the Center for Youth Ministry Training, Justice Industries, and Ministry Incubators. Mark is a 36-year veteran of youth ministry having served over 27 years as the Associate Pastor for Youth and Their Families at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, where he continues to serve in a volunteer capacity as the Associate Pastor of New Projects. Mark has trained youth workers across the United States and Canada, as well as in Russia, Uganda, South Africa, Ecuador, Trinidad, Nicaragua, and Northern Ireland, working with a wide variety of denominations. He has taught courses or been a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and seminaries, including Princeton Theological Seminary (Princeton, NJ), Vanderbilt Divinity School (Nashville, TN), David Lipscomb University (Nashville, TN), Travecca Nazarene College (Nashville, TN), King College (Bristol, TN), Montreat College (Montreat, NC), William Tyndale College (Detroit, MI), Presbyterian College (Montreal, Quebec), Reformed Theological Seminary (Charlotte, NC), Tyndale Theological Seminary (Toronto, Canada), Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), Perkins Theological Seminary (Dallas, TX) and Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI).Mark’s book credits include Building Your Volunteer Team (IVP, 2015); Sustainable Youth Ministry (IVP, 2008); Family-Based Youth Ministry (IVP, Revised and Expanded, 2004); and The Indispensable Youth Pastor (co-authored with Jeff Dunn-Rankin). Mark also served as the general editor for The True Love Waits Bible. He and his wife Susan co-authored (with their good friends Robert and Bobbie Wolgemuth) a flip-book on marriage entitled, The Most Important Year in a Woman's Life/The Most Important Year in a Man's Life. Mark has also contributed to a number of training manuals and textbooks, including Training 2Go (Group, 2015); Youth Ministry Handbook (Word, 2000); Starting Right (Zondervan, 2001); and Reaching A Generation For Christ (Moody, 1997); The New Interpreter's Bible Handbook for Preaching (Abingdon, 2007); and Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry (Group, 2007).Mark’s articles and reviews have been published in a variety of magazines and journals, including The Christian Century, Theology Today, Group Magazine, and Youthworker Journal. Mark's writings have now been translated into Korean, Chinese, and Afrikaans. Mark regularly blogs (in English) at The Sustainable Life. Follow him on FaceBook or Twitter @markdeVriesYMA.Mark graduated Summa Cum Laude from Baylor University in Waco, Texas with a B.A. in English and Greek in 1980, and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1986 with a senior concentration in Youth Evangelism. Throughout these years spent in Waco and Princeton, Mark was involved in youth ministry--working with Young Life in both Waco and Montgomery, New Jersey and serving on the youth staff at the First United Methodist Church in Waco. Upon graduation from Princeton, he was awarded the first Robert Boyd Munger Youth Ministry prize.For the past several years, Mark has been a presenter both for Homeword's "Understanding Your Teenager" seminar, as well as other Homeword parenting seminars. In addition to partnering occasionally with popular Christian musician, Mark Schultz, Mark is a frequent seminar speaker, training youth leaders at both the Youth Specialties' National Youth Workers Convention and the Simply Youth Ministry Conference sponsored by Group Publishing. He also speaks to local churches and to groups of minsitry leaders and can be contacted for speaking enagements through Ministry Architects website. Mark and his wife Susan have three grown children and three grandchildren and live in Nashville, Tennessee.