Rick James graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor of fine arts degree. In 1985 he went to work writing ads and commercials as an Art Director with the advertising agency Young and Rubicam in New York City. He was responsible for the print and television advertising of clients such as Rolaids, New York Telephone, Oil of Olay, and STP. He is the recipient of the Addy Award (best print advertising of NYC), Andy, and his work was featured in the National Art Directors Annual.

After a series of spiritual “coincidences,” Rick and his wife, Katie, felt God was leading them into full-time Christian ministry. Responding to that call, without be quite sure of where God was leading them, Rick resigned from his job at Young and Rubicam and by faith walked away from Madison Avenue. Soon after, they joined staff with Campus Crusade for Christ where they served as campus ministers.

They ministered on campus for six years during which Rick was the Campus Director at Rutgers University in New Jersey. In 1993 he took on the role of Director of Ministry Expansion for the Mid-Atlantic states. During the six years he served in this pioneering role, he and his staff planted over 130 new campus ministries, involving several thousand students.

Starting in the late 1990’s Rick began functioning in several different roles for the campus ministry. He continued to serve as a Regional Director in the Mid-Atlantic, but increasingly devoted time to speaking and teaching, traveling to dozens of campuses and conferences each year, and speaking to thousands of students. He also began to speak evangelistically to the college audience on topics such as: the existence of God, the meaning of life, and engaged in evangelistic debates.

It was at this juncture where Rick was invited to lead several national development projects for the campus ministry including rewriting the Bible study and discipleship material of Campus Crusade, as well as several national media campaigns.

Through these years Rick and his family spent their summers at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. In 2001 he graduated with honors with a Masters of Divinity Degree, and was ordained through the Evangelical Church Alliance. His wife Katie, meanwhile, was finishing her MFA from Columbia University in New York City, which set the stage for a move and job change.

In 2003 Rick took over the leadership of WSN Press, the publishing arm of the campus ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. His job: to create new tools, materials, and relevant ministry resources for the campus ministry to aid in reaching today’s college student with the gospel. He also continues to function as a traveling speaker within the organization speaking on campuses and at national conferences.

In 2004 he will celebrate his 19th year of marriage to his wife and partner in ministry, Katie, and they have three children: Avery (15), Whitney (13) and Will (11). They now reside in Orlando, Florida.

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