Eugene H. Peterson (1932–2018) was a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. He wrote more than thirty books, including his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, his memoir, The Pastor, and the bestselling spiritual formation classic A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

Peterson was founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he served for twenty-nine years before retiring in 1991. With degrees from Seattle Pacific, New York Theological Seminary, and Johns Hopkins University, he served as professor of spiritual theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, until retiring in Lakeside, Montana, in 2006.

Peterson's Message paraphrase and writings on spirituality inspired leaders and Christians around the world. His popularity even reached U2 frontman Bono, and they formed a friendship around their common interest in the Psalms. Watch the film that highlights a conversation between Bono and Peterson at Peterson’s Montana home.

Read tributes to Peterson from Christianity Today and Religion News Service.

For further information and a complete biography, see the IVP press release: Eugene Peterson, Beloved Pastor and "Long Obedience" Author, Passes.