Ray Stedman

Raymond Charles Stedman (October 5, 1917 - October 7, 1992) was an evangelical Christian pastor, and author. He was a long-time pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, and author of several books.

Ray was born in Temvik, North Dakota; where his father, Charles; worked for the railroads. Ray's mother, Mabel, was asthmatic and developed a heart condition, and after the age of six Ray lived with his aunt. His father abandoned the family, and all efforts to locate him were to no avail.

Ray planned to become a surgeon, and after high school in Montana he entered a premed course at Whitworth College; Spokane, Washington. Financial difficulties forced him to drop out. He worked in Montana which included being a Brahma bull rider in rodeos. Ray went on to work in Chicago, Illinois; and Denver. He moved to Hawaii to work for Libby Pineapple when World War II broke out. He enlisted in the Navy there in 1943.

Ray met his wife Elaine in Great Falls, Montana, and at the close of the war they were married in Honolulu on October 22, 1945. Upon their return to the mainland in 1946, Ray began attending Dallas Theological Seminary, befriending Howard Hendricks, and graduating in 1950. The Stedmans went on to spend one additional summer in Pasadena at Emmanuel Baptist Church. Before his call to Palo Alto, Ray worked alongside J. Vernon McGee, a preacher widely known in Evangelical circles for his radio ministry. In the fall of 1950, Ray accepted the call to serve on the staff of Peninsula Bible Fellowship in Palo Alto, California.

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