J. D. Payne serves as the Thomas Welby Bozeman Chair of Christian Ministry at Samford University where he teaches missions, evangelism, and theology.  He has been a professor for twenty-seven years, pastored churches for nineteen years and served with a mission agency. In 2014, he was given the Donald A. McGavran Award for significant contributions to the Church Growth Movement in the United States. He holds memberships in the Great Commission Research Network, Evangelical Missiological Society, International Society for Frontier Missiology, and Evangelical Theological Society.  J. D. has served as the book review editor for The Great Commission Research Journal. He is the author of sixteen books on missions and evangelism including Apostolic Church Planting, Apostolic Imagination, and Understanding Evangelism. He blogs at jdpayne.org, hosts Strike the Match with J. D. Payne podcast, and produces a YouTube channel. He is married to Sarah, a physician in internal medicine and pediatrics. They have three adult children and live in Birmingham, Alabama.