Born in 1971 with a birth defect that required four surgeries before the age of four, Pastor Kelly has always defied the odds. Raised on a dairy farm in Kentucky, he grew up under the influence of a bi-vocational pastor father and a godly mother whose prayers shaped his faith. His calling to ministry deepened during his time at Liberty University, where he won the 1993 Preaching Award and addressed over 5,000 attendees at convocation. That same year, he married Tosha, graduated with a degree in pastoral studies, and pursued a Master of Theology (Th.M.) at Dallas Theological Seminary, graduating cum laude in 1996.
After seminary, he and Tosha became church planter apprentices with the Southern Baptist Convention, leading them to found Vanguard Church in Colorado Springs. Under his leadership, Vanguard has grown to three campuses and become the largest Southern Baptist church in Colorado, baptizing over 3,300 believers and planting 44 churches. His work has been featured in Time, The 700 Club, Christianity Today, The New York Times, ABC World News Tonight, and more. An accomplished speaker and author, he has shared his insights at churches nationwide and written multiple books, including Friend of Sinners and Real Marriage, co-authored with Tosha. Alongside his pastoral work, he cherishes his role as a husband, father of five, and small beef farm owner in Colorado Springs. His passion for Scripture drives him to train the next generation of leaders, helping them embrace their God-given calling.
On contributing to Patheos, Pastor Kelly had this to offer, “Patheos has a diverse representation of writers and topics. I am grateful for the privilege to represent the Evangelical voice on Patheos. My partnership with Patheos has allowed me to also write for Beliefnet.com and this has expanded my topics and thoughts on matters that maybe I wouldn’t choose for myself. It has also opened up ideas and thoughts that I have then followed up and written about as well for Patheos. I am grateful for Patheos’ partnership in giving me a chance to deliver content that impacts and influences the Christian and non-Christian communities.”
He offers this advice for future Patheos contributors, “Writing is always scary at first. Creative ideas and concepts often slowly come together, and even after they do, we struggle to believe we have anything to say. Patheos is a great place to develop a followership of readers. It gives you a wide variety of writers and topics you can read yourself to help give you better ideas on how you want to tackle the topics and interests that pique your writing skills and ideas. The best way to learn to write is to write, and Patheos gives a great platform to share your message.”
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