Jeff Cavins (born November 8, 1957) is an American

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

, author, and

biblical scholar Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

Overview

Cavins was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

pastor before he rejoined the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He is the creator of ''The Great Adventure Bible Study program''. He was the founding host of the Television Show ''Life on the Rock'' on

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic programming. It is the largest Catholic television network in America, and is purported to be "the world's larges ...

and was a host of the Morning Air radio program on

Relevant Radio Relevant Radio (corporate name Relevant Radio, Inc.) is a radio network in the United States, mainly broadcasting talk radio and religious programming involving the Catholic Church. Relevant Radio broadcasts "talk radio for Catholic life" over a ...

. He resides in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Biography

Early life

Cavins grew up outside of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in a Catholic family. In college, he met his future wife Emily. While attending

Christ for the Nations Institute Christ for the Nations Institute (CFNI) is an interdenominational charismatic Bible college based in Dallas, Texas, and serves as the educational cornerstone of Christ for the Nations, Inc. It was established in July 1970 by James Gordon Lindsay ...

, he noticed how many

born-again Christians To be born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelical Christianity, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is di ...

were attracted to the Bible, unlike the adherents of his own faith, whom he felt were "dead." He subsequently left the Church after a public dispute with a Catholic bishop.

Evangelical pastor

While working for a

Christian radio Christian radio refers to Christian media radio formats that focus on Christian religious broadcasting or various forms of Christian music. Many such formats and programs include contemporary Christian music, gospel music, sermons, radio dramas, ...

station, Cavins trained as a Protestant pastor. After completing a program at The Institute of Ministry in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

, he returned to Minnesota as the first pastor of Open Arms ministry. While there, he developed the first iteration of his Bible Timeline program, which focuses on understanding the narrative books of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, using a color-coded timeline to display the supporting books for each element. This later became the basis for his ''Great Adventure Bible Study'' program.

Return to Catholicism and Steubenville

Cavins decided to return to the Catholic Church after twelve years as an evangelical pastor. In 1996 he introduced his Great Adventure Bible Timeline to

Franciscan University of Steubenville Franciscan University of Steubenville is a Private university, private Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance, Franciscan university in Steubenville, Ohio, United States. As of fall 2023, the university enrolled 3,750 students in 40 under ...

, 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. Cavins received his MA in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1999.

Evangelization projects

The Great Adventure Bible Study Program

Cavins developed ''The Great Adventure Bible Study'' program, which organizes the

into a reading plan structured on the narrative parts of the text.

Podcast

''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.

Television

In 1996

Mother Angelica Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation (born Rita Antoinette Rizzo; April 20, 1923 – March 27, 2016), commonly referred to as Mother Angelica, was an American Roman Catholic nun of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. She was known fo ...

, then president of

, asked Cavins to develop a weekly live program for young people. The Cavins family moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, and launched ''Life on the Rock'', which he hosted for six years.

Books

Cavins has authored a number of books: * ''My Life on the Rock, Walking with God: A Journey Through the Bible'' * ''I’m Not Being Fed! Discovering the Food that Satisfies the Soul'' * ''Praise God and Thank Him: Biblical Keys to a Joyful Life'' * ''When You Suffer: Biblical Keys for Hope and Understanding'' * ''Pope Fiction: Answers to 30 Myths & Misconceptions About the Papacy'' (with Patrick Madrid) * ''The Activated Disciple: Taking Your Faith to the Next Level'' He has co-edited the ''Amazing Grace'' series of books.

Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

In 2008 he took over as director of the Archbishop Harry J. Flynn Catechetical Institute in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, which prepares adults for teaching catechetics in the home, at parishes, and in

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

s. In 2014, Cavins was named director of evangelization for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Year of Mercy

In 2016, Cavins presented a video reflection as part of a multi-part series in response to the

Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy () was a Catholic period of prayer held from 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, to 20 November 2016, the Feast of Christ the King. Like previous jubilees, it was seen by the Church a ...

declared by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

Detroit Amazing Parish Conference

In April 2016, Cavins was a featured panelist at the Amazing Parish Conference, speaking to parishes in the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States. The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...

about ways that parishes can engage their parishioners to become more involved with the church.

Awards

* "Envoy of the Year" for Excellence in Evangelization, 1997 * "Unity Award" for best Catholic television show, 2000 * "Christ Brings Hope Award" from Relevant Radio

Personal life

Cavins is married to Emily, with whom he has three daughters.

External links

Official website

''Great Adventure Bible''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cavins, Jeff 1957 births Living people 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century Christian biblical scholars 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Christian biblical scholars 21st-century Roman Catholics American biblical scholars American male non-fiction writers American religious writers American Roman Catholic writers Christian apologists Former evangelicals Franciscan University of Steubenville alumni Franciscan University of Steubenville faculty Roman Catholic biblical scholars