Dr. Josh Mulvihill

Josh Mulvihill is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministry at Renewanation, where he equips parents and grandparents to disciple their family and coaches church leaders in children, youth, and family ministry with a focus on biblical worldview. Josh has served as a pastor for nearly 20 years, serves as the chairman of the board of Awana, provides leadership to the Christian Grandparent Network, and has a PhD from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of more than ten books including 50 Things Every Child Needs to Know Before Leaving Home, Biblical Grandparenting, Family Ministry, and Biblical Worldview. Josh is a regular main stage speaker and workshop presenter at conferences such as The Gospel Coalition, the Children’s Pastors Conference, and the Legacy Coalition and popular radio guest on programs such as Focus on the Family and FamilyLife Today. 

Josh’s primary ministry, and greatest joy, is being a husband and father. He is married to Jen, they have five children and one daughter-in-law, and live in Minnesota at Prairie Hill Farm with their Jersey Cows, Kune Kune Pigs and labs Liberty and Ellie. Josh and Jen host The Gospel Shaped Family Podcast and Josh can be found at GospelShapedFamily.com.

Seminars

Learn what worldview is, why it matters and how to help your child or grandchild develop a biblical worldview by teaching four foundational biblical truths. Participants will learn to identify strong cultural messages that threaten to distort and destroy faith in Christ. This seminar will help you gain confidence and equip you to have intentional conversations so that your children develop deep, lasting, and culture transforming faith. This seminar is based on Josh’s book Biblical Worldview.

The world is trying to win the battle for the hearts and minds of children, but there are many things we can do to help a child develop a deeply rooted, unshakable faith in Christ. This seminar is meant to awaken individuals to action. Build confidence and get equipped with this timely and impactful seminar.

In a secularized culture, it is more critical than ever for young people to know what they believe, why they believe it, and are prepared to defend themselves from attacks to their faith. Throughout church history this has been known as apologetics. This seminar will equip you to help children recognize cultural lies, provide practical ways that you can integrate apologetics into your home or ministry, and introduce you to key resources to help you disciple children with a lifelong faith in Christ.

Lots of parents outsource the discipleship of their children to other people, but what if there was a better way to disciple a child that leads to a strengthened relationship, deep conversations, and maturity in Christ! Join Dr. Josh Mulvihill to capture a family discipleship vision from Psalm 78 along with the practical how-to’s that will help you build confidence and be intentional with your opportunities to encourage your child to place their hope in Christ.

What is the biblical role of a grandparent? Can you summarize this in a sentence or even a word? Every grandparent is given a God-ordained role that is not interchangeable with any other member of the family. Come to this seminar to gain a laser-like focus on what a grandparent’s role is as well as learn the responsibilities grandparents are given by God from the Bible. If you are not a grandparent, this seminar will prove valuable as it will help you understand your parents role with your children. If you are a pastor, this seminar will equip you to provide a clear and compelling vision to share with grandparents in your context.

Do you want to help your children or grandchildren grow in their walk with the Lord? The eight practices presented in this seminar are a synthesis of Josh’s Ph.D research regarding the biblical practices to help children grow in godly maturity. You will walk away with practical tools and specific ways that you can invest in the spiritual growth of children.

What distinguishes good teachers from great teachers? What can teachers do to help children think biblically? What are key biblical principles on teaching that we need to get right in the classroom or living room? Join Dr. Josh Mulvihill to explore five highly effective practices that set great apart from good teachers and motivate children to learn God’s truth.

Do you want to partner with parents, but struggle to do that sustainably? Do you have ambivalent parents and want to encourage them to take responsibility for the discipleship of their children? Join Dr. Josh Mulvihill for a transformational seminar that will help you develop a strong theological foundation for family ministry, will expand your family ministry vision beyond resourcing parents, and will provide you with nine biblical practices that every church can implement. If you want to establish a vibrant family ministry at your church, then this seminar is for you!

Half and Full day Conferences

Biblical Parenting

What is the goal of parenting? The world encourages parents to raise happy, healthy kids, but the Bible encourages us to nurture the faith of children so they treasure Christ. Dr. Josh Mulvihill will teach you how to develop a biblical foundation to reach and disciple your children to maturity in Christ.

The Biblical Parenting conference is designed to equip this generation of parents in the battle for the hearts, minds and souls of the next generation—their children. This event will help parents understand the cultural realities of today and how to prepare our children to walk in the truth in a world that rejects Christ. The conference is helpful for parents with children of any age and stage.

What is the goal of parenting? The world encourages parents to raise happy, healthy kids, but the Bible encourages us to nurture the faith of children so they treasure Christ. Dr. Josh Mulvihill will teach you how to develop a biblical foundation to reach and disciple your children to maturity in Christ. In addition, you will be given practical methods to help children grow in their faith in Christ. Parents will have time during the conference to create their own discipleship plan for their children and leave with a vision to be an intentional Christian parent.

Available as a single seminar, full day conference, multi-day conference, or preaching in Sunday services.

9:00 Welcome
9:15 Assessing Parenting Priorities
10:15 Parent Planning Workshop 1
10:45 Break
11:00 How to Help Children Understand and Defend Faith
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Discipling Children: 8 Biblical Methods Every Family Can Do
1:30 Break
1:45 Begin With the End in Mind
2:45 Parent Planning Workshop 2
3:15 Q&A Panel

We ask that host churches or groups provide an honorarium plus travel (airfare and rental car), lodging and meals costs related to the event you will be hosting. For specific information about honorarium fees, please contact us by email at jmulvihill@renewanation.org. We will be happy to discuss these costs with you prior to sending out a contract.

Here are a few additional expenses you will need to consider when planning your event:

  • Lunch: If you are a church, you decide whether to cater or provide a meal prepared and served by volunteers.
  • Promotion/Publicity: You will want to print fliers, perhaps submit a press release to your local paper or radio stations, and put up posters.
  • Facility: Will you have facility expenses to host the seminar? Will you need to provide overnight housing for participants?
  • Handouts for the seminar: We will provide a printable handout for each of the sessions that you can copy for participants to take notes.

Biblical Grandparenting

The Biblical Grandparenting Seminar or Conference is a partnership with a local church or organization to equip grandparents in their God-designed role to be intentional, godly grandparents so that future generations may grow up with a biblical foundation that will enable them to follow Christ wholeheartedly in today’s world.

The Grandparenting conference is designed to equip this generation of grandparents in the battle for the hearts, minds and souls of the next generation—their grandchildren. This event will help grandparents understand the cultural realities of today and how to prepare our grandchildren to walk in the truth in a world that rejects Christ.

In the Biblical Grandparenting Conference, Dr. Josh Mulvihill unpacks culture’s misleading messages about grandparenting, provides a biblical overview of the role of grandparents, and shares groundbreaking research that will give you a vision to impact the next generation for Christ. In addition, you will be given practical methods to disciple your grandchildren and navigate your place in the family.

Available as a single seminar, full day conference, multi-day conference, or preaching in Sunday services.

9:00 Welcome
9:15 What’s the Big Deal About Grandparenting?
10:15 Break
10:30 Rejecting the Cultural Messages About Grandparenting
11:30 Lunch
12:15 Understanding the Biblical Role of Grandparents
1:15 Break
1:30 Discipling Grandchildren: 8 Biblical Methods Every Family Can Do
2:45 Q&A Panel
3:45 Becoming an Intentional Christian Grandparent

We ask that host churches or groups provide an honorarium plus travel (airfare and rental car), lodging and meals costs related to the event you will be hosting. For specific information about honorarium fees, please contact us by email at jmulvihill@renewanation.org. We will be happy to discuss these costs with you prior to sending out a contract.

Here are a few additional expenses you will need to consider when planning your event:

  • Lunch: If you are a church, you decide whether to cater or provide a meal prepared and served by volunteers.
  • Promotion/Publicity: You will want to print fliers, perhaps submit a press release to your local paper or radio stations, and put up posters.
  • Facility: Will you have facility expenses to host the seminar? Will you need to provide overnight housing for participants?
  • Handouts for the seminar: We will provide a printable handout for each of the sessions that you can copy for participants to take notes.

Promotional Support

We are dedicated to helping your event be successful and ensuring that you get the most impact possible. We provide promotional materials such as social media items, posters, and flyers.

Get Started

What Others Are Saying

Practical and biblical advice. A wonderful resource.

Chuck Swindoll

Josh Mulvihill’s approach is straight from the Bible, full of great insight and advice, and incredibly helpful.

Larry Fowler, Founder and CEO, The Legacy Coalition

Josh Mulvihill provides truth packed, gospel rich, invaluable resources we can all use to disciple our children.

Marty Machowski, Pastor and author

Nothing is closer to the heart of God or more central to the priorities of His kingdom than the calling of bringing little ones to Him. And, no one can do it quit like you, through your unique relationship—Josh Mulvihill shows you how!

Dr. Wess Stafford, President Emeritus, Compassion International

Josh Mulvihill has created biblical tools that parents can use to help their kids challenge worldly norms that they are exposed to regularly.

Dr. Scott Turansky, National Center for Biblical Parenting

Josh Mulvihill will equip you to sharpen your thinking, increase your impact, and influence young people to apply the truth of God’s Word to their lives.

Dr. Kevin Leman, New York Times bestselling author

A prophetic voice, strong biblical foundation, and groundbreaking research makes him the thought leader in Christian grandparenting today. Every one of the 30 million Christian grandparents in America should have a copy of his inspiring books in their homes. Every church should have it available in their library, preached from our pulpits, read in our small groups, gratefully taken to heart and then acted upon. I highly recommend Josh and his awesome books.

Valerie Bell, CEO Emeritus, Awana

When we first met, Josh was the Pastor to Families and Children at a megachurch in Minnesota. I wondered if he would be someone who was chasing all the latest church fads or if he was serious about the biblical worldview development of the children and parents in his care. I soon discovered that he was not only serious about it, but had put programming in place to make it a reality, and he practices biblical worldview development in the lives of his five children every day.

Jeff Keaton, CEO, Renewanation

I often receive emails from grandparents who are seeking advice on how to be a stronger spiritual influence on the lives of their grandkids. I always point them to Josh Mulvihill’s excellent resources! Discipling Your Grandchildren in particular is a virtual treasure trove of godly and practical ideas for creating a deeper spiritual connection with your grandchildren. If you sometimes find yourself wondering what more you can do to help your grandkids know and love the Lord, this book is for you!

Natasha Crain, National Speaker and author

God requires all parents to instill a biblical worldview in their children’s hearts and minds. Parents are in desperate need of resources to assist them in this monumental task. Dr. Josh Mulvihill provides parents, church leaders, and educators with such resources.

Dr. Glen Shultz, Author and Director, Kingdom Education Ministries

Dr. Josh Mulvihill is an outstanding advocate and supporter of the family. His research delivers new insights. Dr. Mulvihill’s writing and speaking is tempered in biblical truth which will inspire you in your journey.

Ken Canfield, Founder, National Association of Fathering

Dr. Josh Mulvihill has written a clear, powerful, truthful Biblical Worldview book that is critically important to internalize as you answer God’s call to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

David Wheaton, Author and Radio Host