Rob Bell

Bell is the son of U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who was appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan.[1][2]

After graduating from high school, Bell attended Wheaton College in Illinois. While at Wheaton, he formed an alternative rock band and taught water skiing at a Christian camp. At camp, he was asked to fill in as a replacement preacher.[3] Bell received his bachelor's degree from Wheaton[4] and also earned a Master of Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.[5]

Bell and his wife moved from California to Grand Rapids to be close to family and on invitation to study under pastor Ed Dobson. He handled many of the preaching duties for the Saturday Night service at Calvary Church. Bell announced that he would be branching out on his own to start a new kind of community and would name it "Mars Hill" after the Greek site where the apostle Paul said: "For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you."[6]

In February 1999, Bell founded Mars Hill Bible Church, with the church originally meeting in a school gym in Wyoming, Michigan. Within a year the church was given a shopping mall in Grandville, Michigan, and purchased the surrounding land. In July 2000 the 3,500 "grey chair" facility opened its doors. As of 2005, an estimated 11,000 people attended the two "gatherings" on Sundays at 9 and 11 AM.[7] As of March 2011, Sunday attendance numbered between 8,000 and 10,000.[8] His teachings at Mars Hill inspired the popular "Love Wins" bumper sticker, and the congregation freely distributed these stickers after services.[9]

In order to maintain balance in his life, Bell maintained his Fridays as a personal sabbath, where he did not allow contact by electronic means, and had all pastoral duties transferred to other Mars Hill pastors.[10]

In the January 2007 issue of the magazine TheChurchReport.com, Bell was named No. 10 in its list of "The 50 Most Influential Christians in America" as chosen by their readers and online visitors.[11]

On September 22, 2011, Bell announced his resignation from Mars Hill Church to start "a spiritual talk show in Los Angeles".[12] Bell's 2011 book, Love Wins, had caused controversy within evangelical circles because of its teachings about hell; that controversy caused thousands to leave Mars Hill and also led to Bell's departure.[13]

In July 2012, Bell held his first major event since leaving Mars Hill, speaking at the Viper Room night club in Los Angeles.[14] Bell has hosted conferences and workshops in Laguna Beach for "leaders, teachers, preachers, entrepreneurs, artists, pastors—anyone whose work involves creating something and then turning it loose in the world."[15]

Bell was the featured speaker in NOOMA, a series of short films.[16] The title of the video series, "NOOMA", is an English representation of the Greek word pneuma, which means breath or spirit. All the videos feature the teachings of Bell accompanied by music written and sung by local independent artists (with the exception of The Album Leaf's music, which was licensed for the NOOMA DVD Lump).

In August 2005, Zondervan Publishing published Bell's first book, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith, which is, according to the official online summary, "for the millions of people who are fascinated by Jesus, but can't do the standard Christian package. In his debut book, Bell explores a new understanding of the Christian faith."[17]

Bell's Everything is Spiritual national speaking tour launched on June 30, 2006, in Chicago. The proceeds from ticket sales were used to support WaterAid, an international non-profit organization dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation.[18]

Bell's second book, titled Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality, was released in 2007.[19] In June 2007, Bell toured the United Kingdom and Ireland with a series called Calling All Peacemakers.[20] Bell launched another speaking tour in 2007, —"The Gods Aren't Angry", which provided a narrative defense of justification through faith and not works.[18] The tour drew sold-out crowds in cities across North America. Proceeds from this tour were used to support the Turame Microfinance program supporting the poor in Burundi, a mission supported by Bell's church.

Bell's 2009 project, Drops Like Stars, explores the links between creativity and suffering. Drops Like Stars was an international tour and a book, initially handwritten by Bell, with photographs. The title of the project comes from a young child's view of raindrops on a window at night. Rather than focusing on the conundrum of why an all-powerful God would allow suffering, Bell instead looks at the creativity, empathy, new connections, and growth that can spring from suffering. When asked in an interview how he had become interested in suffering, Bell replied that as a pastor he had been given a front row seat in the most poignant moments of people's lives. At the same time he was doing lectures on creativity and realized, "There was a connection between these two halves of my life – all these connections between suffering and art-making."[21]

In September 2013 Bell was interviewed by Oprah for her Super Soul Sunday television show. Bell's book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, was also listed as the first recommended book that month in Oprah's "Book of the Month" club.[22]

Beginning in 2011, ABC television announced production of a new television drama, Stronger, co-written by Bell and Carlton Cuse, the executive producer of the television series Lost.[23] The show, based loosely on Bell's life and his unpublished novel-turned-pilot-script, would follow the life of Tom Stronger, a musician on a spiritual journey.[24] Ultimately, Bell and Cuse were unable to get approval to shoot a pilot for Stronger.

Bell and Cuse have moved on to another project described as a "faith-inflected talk show" presented by Bell. Two tapings of the proposed show were filmed in September 2012 in a warehouse in Los Angeles' art district in order to put together a reel for network executives.[25] At the time, they were referenced as either That One Show Rob Bell and Carlton Cuse Have Been Working On, or The September Shows for short.[26][27][28]

Bell hosts a podcast called The Robcast. He is the only host, but is regularly joined by guests.[29] Bell believes that "churches and denominations are waning" and that the medium of podcasting provides freedom to learn and grow spiritually without the hindrances of institutions.[30] It was called the best religion and spirituality podcast of 2015 on iTunes.[31] Juliana Chan Erikson of the World Magazine, questioned the direction that podcasts like the Robcast steers their audiences.[32]