Larry Christenson

Larry Christenson is widely known in the United States and overseas as a speaker and writer on the theme of spiritual formation and family relationships. He is the author of more than 15 books, with more than 3 million copies in print, including The Christian family, Welcome, Holy Spirit, The Mantle of Esther, The Renewed Mind, and Ride the River. Larry graduated from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota in 1952. Following graduation he studied with a literary consultant in Los Angeles, Bert Mitchell Anderson, and began work on an historical novel based on the biblical prophet Hosea. In 1955 he enrolled at Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, where he received a Bachelor of Theology degree, graduating with honors in 1959. He served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in San Pedro, California for 22 years. From 1983 until he retired in 1995, he served as Director of the International Lutheran Renewal Center, in St. Paul, Minnesota, speaking at conferences, congregational missions, Leadership Institutes, and theological seminaries on spiritual renewal through the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit. In the years since graduating from college, he continued working on the novel based on the biblical prophet Hosea, completing the work in 2013.