Brian Shoemaker was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio. He attended Fairmont East High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky, and both his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. His sabbatical education includes the study of Christian Spirituality, Biblical Exegesis, and Science & Religion, respectively, at both Bellarmine University and the University of Oxford.
As a youth, Brian Shoemaker was an accomplished music and comedy entertainer, humorist, and actor. He performed in many venues including local television in Dayton. He always held comics like Red Skelton, Laurel and Hardy, Dick Van Dyke, and Sid Caesar in high esteem due to their ability to add laughter to a complicated world.
Before Shoemaker's conscious commitment to the teachings of Jesus, he had been baptized as an infant in a Presbyterian Church, raised in a United Church of Christ, then came to his own faith during the Baptist revivalist movement in the 1970s. It was recently through a series of tumultuous events that Shoemaker came to embrace the sacramental tradition of Anglicanism as his chosen expression of worship. Still, he continues to celebrate the diversity of the Body of Christ!
Dr. Shoemaker has been the pastor of churches in Ohio and Kentucky, served briefly as a missionary to India, and taught biblical and religious studies for nearly two decades at a major Christian secondary school. Along with this book, he has published articles in major magazines and newspapers, and has written several plays. Most recently he has been described by the Association of Christian Schools International as a "Master Teacher."
He and his wife, Rhonda, offer a ministry of music and comedy for churches, civic groups, schools, and comedy clubs. One of the highlights of such performances was when the couple shared their ministry at the Red Skelton Performing Arts Center in Vincennes, Indiana.
The Shoemakers currently reside in Louisville, Kentucky.
