| Jeff Cavins | |
| Birth Date: | 8 November 1957 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | Evangelist, author, and biblical scholar |
| Website: | Holy Land Pilgrimage and Tours |
| Education: | Antioch University (B.A.) Franciscan University of Steubenville (M.A.) |
Jeff Cavins (born November 8, 1957) is an American Catholic evangelist, author, and biblical scholar.
Cavins was a Protestant pastor before he rejoined the Catholic Church.[1] He is the creator of The Great Adventure Bible Study program.[2] He was the founding host of the Television Show Life on the Rock on EWTN and was a host of the Morning Air radio program on Relevant Radio.[3] [4] He resides in Minnesota.
Cavins grew up outside of Minneapolis in a Catholic family.[5] In college, he met his future wife Emily. While attending Christ for the Nations Institute, he noticed how many born-again Christians were attracted to the Bible, unlike the adherents of his own faith, whom he felt were "dead."[6] He subsequently left the Church after a public dispute with a Catholic bishop.[7]
While working for a Christian radio station, Cavins trained as a Protestant pastor. After completing a program at The Institute of Ministry in Bradenton, Florida, he returned to Minnesota as the first pastor of Open Arms ministry.[8] While there, he developed the first iteration of his Bible Timeline program, which focuses on understanding the narrative books of the Bible, using a color-coded timeline to display the supporting books for each element.[9] This later became the basis for his Great Adventure Bible Study program.
Cavins decided to return to the Catholic Church after twelve years as an evangelical pastor.[10] In 1996 he introduced his Great Adventure Bible Timeline to Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he taught Introduction to Scripture. Later that year, Franciscan University professor Scott Hahn partnered with him to film Our Father's Plan, a thirteen-part series based on the Timeline program, to be broadcast on the EWTN Global Catholic Network.[11]
Cavins received his MA in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1999.[12]
Cavins developed The Great Adventure Bible Study program, which organizes the Bible into a reading plan structured on the narrative parts of the text.[13]
The Great Adventure Bible Timeline was used, in 2021, as the framework for the popular The Bible in a Year podcast, hosted by Father Mike Schmitz with some commentary by Cavins. The podcast was the number-one podcast in America for seventeen days in 2021 and for five days in 2022.[14] [15] [16] [17]
Mother Angelica, then president of EWTN, asked Cavins to develop a weekly live program for young people.[18] The Cavins family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, and launched Life on the Rock, which he hosted for six years.
Cavins has authored a number of books:
He has co-edited the Amazing Grace series of books.
In 2008 he took over as director of the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute in St. Paul, Minnesota, which prepares adults for teaching catechetics in the home, at parishes, and in parochial schools.[20]
In 2014, Cavins was named director of evangelization for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.[21]
In 2016, Cavins presented a video reflection as part of a multi-part series in response to the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy declared by Pope Francis.[22]
In April 2016, Cavins was a featured panelist at the Amazing Parish Conference, speaking to parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit about ways that parishes can engage their parishioners to become more involved with the church.
Cavins is married to Emily, with whom he has three daughters.