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Rev. Dr. Virginia Ward is a ministry leader with over three decades of experience training youth leaders. She has extensive experience as an urban pastor, ministry organizer, and youth ministry expert. Her debut book, It’s Personal: Five Questions You Should Answer to Give Every Kid Hope (Orange Books, May 15, 2019), is the latest title from Orange, a book and church curriculum publisher focused on family ministry, an environment where the church and family work together to influence the faith and character of the next generation. Rev. Dr. Ward co-authored It’s Personal with Orange CEO Reggie Joiner and Orange executive director of messaging Kristen Ivy. In a world where kids are known by a number on a jersey, digits on a carpool tag, and random usernames, Rev. Dr. Ward explains the need for more adults who will stop and take the time to know them personally. It’s Personal revisits the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus’ simple model for how to be personal. It’s Personal centers around the five questions every leader working with kids should be able to answer: Do you know my name? Do you know what matters to me? Do you know where I live? Do you know what I have done? Do you know what I can do? Taking the time to answer these five questions for a kid or teenager could radically change someone’s faith -- maybe even that of the adult leaders themselves. Rev. Dr. Ward is an assistant dean at the Boston campus of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, one of the largest evangelical seminaries in North America. She is responsible for facilitating the development of leadership skills and managing urban collaborative field experiences for students. Additionally, she is an assistant professor, teaching youth ministry, leadership, and ministry development courses, along with providing spiritual formation support on the Boston campus. She has served in many other ministry organizations, including the DeVos Urban Leadership Initiative, Black Ministerial Alliance, and as New England's black campus ministries director and consultant for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Rev. Dr. Ward is also a keynote and workshop speaker at various Orange speaking events and tours across the country. A third-generation minster, Rev. Dr. Ward is an associate pastor at Abundant Life Church where her husband of 33 years, Bishop Lawrence A. Ward, is the senior pastor. She has a degree in management from Northeastern University, a master of arts in youth ministry from Gordon-Cornwell Theological Seminary and a doctorate of ministry in emerging generations at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her husband and is the mother of two adult sons, Paul and Mark. For more information, please visit www.thinkorange.com. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/youthministrymentor/support