Shane Stanford
Shane Stanford is a teacher, speaker and author committed to connecting people in significant relationships with Christ and each other.
Shane is the Senior Pastor of Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church in Gulf Breeze, Florida. GBUMC is an innovative congregation of nearly 5,000 members and has an average worship attendance of approx. 2,500.
A former Church planter, Shane served as the Founding and Senior Pastor of Asbury UMC in Mississippi Annual Conference from 1996-2005.
Shane is also the host of "MakingLifeMatter Daily Lesson Podcasts" and the "Salt and Light Podcasts" (co-hosted with Dr. Herb Sadler). Beginning in January, Shane will return to Christian television as the host of “Making Life Matter” on FamilyNet.
Shane is the President/Chief Vision Architect for Making Life Matter Ministries, a non-profit teaching and resource ministry that produces a variety of media and teaching resources for FamilyNet and Abingdon/United Methodist Publishing House.
A dynamic, effective motivational speaker, Shane travels extensively sharing his journey as an HIV+ Hemophiliac and Christian minister. Shane recently spoke, at the invitation of Rick and Kay Warren, at the Global AIDS Summit for Saddleback Community Church in California.
Shane is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church. Shane currently serves on the oversight committee of the United Methodist Global AIDS Fund and on the Commission for United Methodist Communications (UMCOM).
His books include:
- The Seven NEXT Words of Christ (Abingdon Press, 2006).
- The Eight Blessings (Abingdon Press, 2007).
- 365 Devotions for Men by Men (Contributing Author-- Abingdon Press, 2008).
- When God Disappears (Regal Books, 2008).
- A Positive Life (Zondervan, February 2010)
- You Can't Do Everything... So Do Something (Abingdon Press, May 2010)
- Aching for Answers (Abingdon Press, Fall 2010) (co-authored with Deana Favre)
Shane writes a regular blog/evotion entitled Making Life Matter and has published articles in Alive Now!, Giving, Worship Connection and The Upper Room. Shane recently published an article in InTouch Magazine, of Charles Stanley’s InTouch, read in over 1,000,000 homes.
Shane is represented by the MacGregor Literary Agency.
However, if you ask Shane, he will tell you the most important job in his life is being a husband and father. Shane is married to Dr. Pokey Stanford, an Associate Professor of Education at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS. They are the parents of three daughters, Sarai Grace (12), Juli Anna (9) and Emma Leigh (5). You can find out more at his website: www.shanestanford.com