David Jeremiah | |
|---|---|
 Jeremiah in 2011 | |
| Born | February 13, 1941 Toledo, Ohio, United States |
| Education | Dallas Theological Seminary (MTh) Cedarville University (BA) |
| Occupation(s) | Pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church Founder, Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries Author |
| Predecessor | Tim LaHaye |
| Spouse |
Donna Thompson (m. 1963) |
| Children | 4 (Janice Dodge, David Michael Jeremiah, Jennifer Sanchez, Daniel Jeremiah) |
| Parent(s) | Rev. Dr. James T. Jeremiah (father) Ruby Jeremiah (mother) |
| Website | davidjeremiah |
David Jeremiah (born February 13, 1941) is an American evangelical Christian author, founder of Turning Point Radio and Television Ministries and senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church, a Southern Baptist megachurch in El Cajon, California, a suburb of San Diego.[1][2]
David Paul Jeremiah was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1941 to Ruby and James T. Jeremiah.[3][4] At age eleven, his family, which also included his three siblings, moved to Dayton, Ohio, when his father became the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church.[3][4] Then in 1953, the family made the move to Cedarville, Ohio, when his father became the new president of Cedarville College (now Cedarville University).[3][5][6][4][7]
Jeremiah earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Cedarville College in 1963, and that same year he married his college sweetheart, Donna Thompson.[3][4] He went on to receive a Master's degree in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary (1967) and completed additional graduate work at Grace Seminary (1972).[3][4] Cedarville presented him with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in 1981.[3][8]
In 1969, Jeremiah founded Blackhawk Baptist Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Blackhawk Christian School in 1973.[3][9] That same year, he also developed and launched The Bible Hour, gaining experience with using televised mass-media to share the Gospel.[3] In the 12 years he was senior pastor at Blackhawk, the congregation size grew from seven families to 1,300 members.[3]
In 1981, the Jeremiah family, which now included four children, moved to Southern California, where David Jeremiah succeeded Tim LaHaye as the senior pastor at Scott Memorial Baptist Church (now Shadow Mountain Community Church).[3][10] Jeremiah's leadership of the church has led it to become affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and expand to nine satellite locations that include Hispanic and Arabic congregations.[3][10] The main campus of the church has become home to the Southern California Seminary and Christian Unified Schools of San Diego, a K-12 Christian school district.[3][11][12]
In 1982, Jeremiah founded Turning Point for God, a multi-media broadcast ministry.[3][13] With the mission to deliver the unchanging Word of God to an ever-changing world, Turning Point’s radio and television program began with local influence, developed national influence through television by 2000, and has since become an international leader in the world of broadcast ministry.[13] Jeremiah has won numerous awards over the years through the Turning Point program, including the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Hall of Fame Award and the NRB President’s Award in 2020.[14][15]
In 1994 and again in 1998, Jeremiah was diagnosed with lymphoma.[16] In 1999, a nodule was surgically removed from his neck and he underwent stem cell transplant therapy.[16] The story of his experiences during that season are recorded in his book, When Your World Falls Apart.[17][16]
In addition to pastoring Shadow Mountain Community Church and leading Turning Point for God, Jeremiah is an author and speaks frequently at conferences, conventions, and universities, as well as at the chapels for professional basketball and football teams.[3]
David and Donna Jeremiah have four grown children and are the grandparents of twelve grandchildren.[3][1][2] Jeremiah’s oldest son, David Michael, is the president of Turning Point and the anchor voice of the radio program.[18] Jeremiah’s other son, Daniel, is a former NFL scout, and now works as an analyst with the NFL Network.[19][20]
| Awards & Honors | |
|---|---|
| 1985 | San Diego Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy for outstanding programming in the religious category |
| 1998 | The Gold Medallion Award for Prayer the Great Adventure[21][22] |
| 1999 | The National Religious Broadcasters’ Broadcaster of the Year Award[23][22][24] |
| Nominated for a Gold Medallion Book Award for Jesus’ Final Warning[21] | |
| 2000 | North Carolina Christian Radio Stations Award of Excellence in Christian Radio Ministry |
| Pacific Southwest Emmy Award for outstanding achievement in the religious program category | |
| 2002 | Western Chapter of National Religious Broadcasters’ Award of Merit for Excellence in Broadcasting and Faithfulness in Service[22][24] |
| 2003 | The Gold Medallion Award for My Heart's Desire, Integrity[21][22] |
| 2005 | Nominated for a Gold Medallion Book Award and the Jordan Christian Book of the Year Award for Searching for Heaven[21] |
| 2006 | National Religious Broadcasters’ Media Award for Best Radio Teaching Program |
| 2007 | G. Campbell Morgan Preaching Award |
| Nominated for the ECPA Medallion of Excellence Award for Captured by Grace[21] | |
| 2009 | Recipient of a 2009 Retailers Choice Award in the category of Church & Culture for What in the World is Going On?[21] |
| 2010 | Recipient of a 2010 Retailers Choice Award in the category of Christian Living for Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World. |
| 2012 | Served as Honorary Chairman of National Day of Prayer Task Force[25] |
| 2019 | Recipient of The Illumination Book Awards, Silver award in Spirituality for Ever Faithful.[26] |
| 2020 | National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Hall of Fame Award and NRB President’s Award[14][15] |
