Dr. Rupert Loyd Jr., a United States Navy veteran, has a Bachelor of Arts in history from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston, Massachusetts, and a PhD in leadership from Union University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has over 40 years of pastoral experience in both urban and suburban churches, including multiethnic, multicongregational churches. Throughout his career he has maintained a presence in both the church and the academy. He pastored churches in Luna Pier and Taylor, both in Michigan; Miami, Florida; and Point Place and Toledo, both in Ohio. He taught at Miami Christian College and Trinity College, both in Miami, Florida; Union University in Cincinnati, Ohio; Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana; University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio; and Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio.