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Ed Dobson

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Ed Dobson
Personal details
Born(1949-12-29)29 December 1949
Northern Ireland
Died26 December 2015(2015-12-26) (aged 65)
Alma materUniversity of Virginia

Edward George Dobson (29 December 1949 – 26 December 2015) was an American minister from Northern Ireland, a founding dean of Liberty University,[1] and an early executive at the Moral Majority. After a decade of work with Jerry Falwell he became disillusioned with Christian participation in the political process,[2] and to spend 18 years as pastor of Calvary Church, a megachurch in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[3] He was an author and speaker on Christian and other issues, including after being diagnosed with ALS in 2000.[4]

Early life

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Born Edward George Dobson [5] on 29 December 1949, in Northern Ireland,[6] Dobson was a pastor's son and came to the United States in 1964 at the age of 14.[1][6]

Career

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He became Liberty University’s dean of men at age 23, later becoming vice president for student life and an associate pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church. When Jerry Falwell started the Moral Majority in June 1979, he was on the board.[7]

In the early 1980s he was a senior editor of Fundamentalist Journal, a new Falwell-founded publication, and he became editor-in-chief in the mid-1980s[7] In the same time frame, Dobson and another Liberty faculty member, Ed Hindson, effectively ghost-wrote Falwell's The Fundamentalist Phenomenon.[full citation needed][8]: pg. unknown 

By the late 1980s Dobson said he was disillusioned with Christian participation in the political process,[2] and he moved away from fundamentalism toward mainstream evangelicalism.[9][10] He decided that the rationale behind the Moral Majority had been wrong and that to a significant degree cultural problems could not be remedied through the political process.[11]

In 1987 Dobson left Liberty.[12] He was senior pastor at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 1987–2005.[12]

Later life

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Dobson was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease) in 2000.[12][13] Dobson continued in the pastorate of Calvary Church until 2005,[14] wrote the memoir, Prayers and Promises when Facing a Life-Threatening Illness, published by Zondervan in 2007,[15] and served as an advisory editor for Christianity Today.[when?][16]

Awards and recognition

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In 1993, Moody Bible Institute named Dobson "Pastor of the Year".[16] In Spring 2008, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary dedicated a "Dobson Study Center" in its classroom building to honor Dobson's long pastorate and television ministry in Grand Rapids.[17]

Personal life

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Dobson lived for much of the latter part of his life in Grand Rapids, Michigan.[16][better source needed] He was married to Lorna Walker and had two sons.[5][18][19]

A short video was made of Dobson's ALS.[20]

Dobson died on 26 December 2015, at age 65.[1]

Fundraising

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Dobson was a Corvette enthusiast, and participated in a cross-country drive on Route 66 to raise money for ALS research, an event that drew "40 friends and a dozen Corvettes" and raised approximately $275,000.[1]

Further reading and viewing

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  • Vande Bunte, Matt (29 December 2015). "A Look Back at Ed Dobson's Ministry" (News-Grand Rapids). MLive.com. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  • Vande Bunte, Matt (28 December 2015). "Ed Dobson, Prominent Pastor, Has Died" (News-Grand Rapids). MLive.com. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  • Merica, Dan (18 February 2012). "Facing Death, A Top Pastor Rethinks What It Means To Be Christian". CNN.com. Atlanta, GA; New York, NY: CNN Belief Blog. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2024 – via The Washington Post.
  • Barker, Greg (writer-producer); Espar, David (producer-editor); Powell, Julie (producer); Lehmann; Frank-Peter (principal cinematography); et al.; Balmer, Randall; Prothero, Stephen; Dobson, Ed; et al. (interviewees); Scott, Campbell (narrator) (11–13 October 2010). Episode 6: Of God and Caesar (AV transcript). PBS American Experience: God in America. Washington, DC: Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Retrieved 13 December 2024. For cast and crew, see this link, and to view the Episode 6 video, see this link.
  • PBS Staff & Dobson, Ed (15 October 2009). "Interview: Ed Dobson" (edited transcript). PBS.org. God in America. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
  • Dobson, Edward G. (Ed) (1986). An Analysis of the Environmental Perceptions of Undergraduate Students In Evangelical and Fundamentalist Bible Colleges and Liberal Arts Colleges (Ed. D. thesis). Charlottesville, VA.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Banks, Adelle M. (29 December 2015). "Ed Dobson, Retired Pastor and Onetime Moral Majority Leader, Dies at 65". Religion News Service. Retrieved 13 December 2024 – via The Washington Post.
  2. ^ a b PBS Staff & Dobson, Ed (15 October 2009). "Interview: Ed Dobson" (edited transcript). PBS.org. God in America. Retrieved 13 December 2024. Pastor emeritus of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., Dobson worked for Jerry Falwell for more than a decade, and drafted the Moral Majority's platform. He later co-authored Blinded by Might, a book critical of the religious right, and recently published The Year of Living Like Jesus. This is the edited transcript of an interview conducted on Oct. 15, 2009.
  3. ^ Blair, Leonardo (30 October 2017). "Michigan Megachurch spent £28.5m on expansion so people can be more merciful and hospitable". Christian Post. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  4. ^ Merica, Dan (18 February 2012). "Facing Death, A Top Pastor Rethinks What It Means To Be Christian". CNN.com. Atlanta, GA; New York, NY: CNN Belief Blog. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2024 – via The Washington Post. Editor's Note: The short film accompanying this story, called "My Garden," comes from EdsStory.com. CNN.com is premiering the latest installment in the "Ed's Story" series.
  5. ^ a b "Edward Dobson". Ofield Funeral Home. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  6. ^ a b Lee, Morgan (29 December 2015). "Died: Ed Dobson, Pastor and One-Time Moral Majority Leader" (obituary). ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved 13 December 2024. Born on December 29, 1949, in Northern Ireland, Dobson immigrated to the US at the age of 14.
  7. ^ a b Merrill, Dean (11 August 1997). "The Education of Ed Dobson, Part I". Christianity Today. Retrieved 13 December 2024. See end of Part II of the series, for disclosure of the author's name. Note, Merrill does not state the years of Dobson's degrees.
  8. ^ Thomas, Cal & Dobson, Ed (1981) Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right Save America?, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Dobson said that they produced "the material so he could edit it... we were putting Jerry's political agenda in writing."[page needed]
  9. ^ Pickering, Ernest D. (1 March 1986). "Should Fundamentalists and Evangelicals Seek Closer Ties?" (PDF). Baptist World Mission. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  10. ^ "Should Fundamentalists and Evangelicals Seek Closer Ties". Baptist Bulletin. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  11. ^ Lanting, James (5 January 1999). "Christian Political Activists Concede Defeat in the Cultural War - Advocate New Strategy of Separation". The Standard Bearer. Volume 75, Issue 15. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  12. ^ a b c Nelson, Brad (1 December 2010). "The Year of Living like Jesus". Reformed Journal. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
  13. ^ Shelley, Marshall; Reed, Eric; Zahn, Drew & Dobson, Ed (2001). "Leave Room For God". Leadership Journal. 22 (4, Fall). Wheaton, IL: Christianity Today. Archived from the original (introductory biography and interview) on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2015 – via CTLibrary.com.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Liberty University website Archived 1 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine.[better source needed]
  15. ^ Dobson, Edward G. (2007) Prayers and Promises when Facing a Life-Threatening Illness, Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
  16. ^ a b c Dobson, Edward G. & Zondervan Staff (18 June 2008). "Edward G. Dobson". Zondervan.com. Archived from the original (author biography) on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008. Edward G. Dobson / Ed Dobson, pastor emeritus of Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, serves as an advisory editor for Christianity Today and consulting editor for Leadership. He holds an earned doctorate from the University of Virginia, was named "Pastor of the Year" by Moody Bible Institute, and is author of numerous books including Blinded by Might and Starting a Seeker Sensitive Service. He moved to the USA in 1964 from Northern Ireland and now lives with his family in Grand Rapids.
  17. ^ "Campus & Grand Rapids - Grand Rapids Theological Seminary". Archived from the original on 15 May 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
  18. ^ Fenton, Heidi (23 August 2012). "Mars Hill Bible Church Names Rob Bell's Successor: Kent Dobson". Religion News Service. Retrieved 30 December 2015 – via ChristianityToday.com.
  19. ^ Honey, Charley (29 May 2013). "Daniel Dobson, Son of Prominent West Michigan Minister, Talks About Being a Gay Christian". Grand Rapids Press. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  20. ^ "Ed's Story". Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
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