Richard W. Coffen

Richard W. Coffen’s career has included six years as a church pastor in Massachusetts and 34 years as a religious book editor, acquisitions editor, and publishing executive in senior management positions. He earned both a B.A. and M.A. degree in systematic theology, though in recent years his theological taste has turned more to biblical studies. He has held membership in the prestigious Society of Biblical Literature for more than 35 years, attending most of their annual meetings, the world's largest gathering of biblical scholars. He also served a term as president of Andrews Society for Religious Studies.

He has authored numerous magazine articles and several books, including: Snapshots of God, Wake Up Your Bible Study, When God’s Heart Breaks, When God Sheds Tears, Metaphors That Matter, All God's Children, John 3:16--a Word-by-Word Study, and Time of the Sign. Having read widely in academic biblical studies, his aim has been to “translate” some of these helpful insights so that they are accessible to the thoughtful layperson.

Coffen retired in 2004, and his wife, Rosalia (registered dietitian and certified diabetes counselor), retired the following year. They have relocated in the Omaha, Nebraska, area, although they like to spend about half their time in Tucson, Arizona. They have two married sons and two grandchildren, who are arguably the cutest and smartest children in the entire Milky Way Galaxy!

Coffen is somewhat of a compulsive writer. If he isn't writing a magazine article, he's likely authoring a book. If he's not doing a book, he's probably crafting a sermon. If he isn't preparing a sermon, he's likely writing an essay for his own amusement. If he's not laboring over his own literary creations, he's most assuredly doing freelance editing on someone else's material, such as that written by a Navy chaplain, a Japanese physician (who knows biblical Greek and Hebrew), a doctor who provides free eyecare in Fiji, his former employer, etc.

The Coffens enjoy travel and nature photography. In recent years they have traveled from Arizona to Washington State to Massachusetts so that Richard can hold seminars based on his book Wake Up Your Bible Study.