Bobby Ross Jr.

Bobby Ross Jr. got his first newspaper byline as a 16-year-old high school sophomore in 1984.

Suffice it to say that he loved seeing his name in print.

Three decades later, he still can’t shake his passion for journalism: He has spent 22 years as a full-time reporter and editor with secular and religious media ranging from The Associated Press to The Christian Chronicle.

A Church of Christ preacher’s son with a journalism degree from Oklahoma Christian University, Bobby has reported from 46 states and 10 countries.

His first major experience as a religion writer came in 1999 when he covered Pope John Paul II’s visit to St. Louis for The Oklahoman. After that, he became religion editor of Oklahoma’s largest newspaper.

Bobby later served as a religion and enterprise writer for AP in Nashville and Dallas, twice winning recognition as a national finalist for the Religion Newswriters Association’s Supple Religion Writer of the Year Award.

He left AP in 2005 to become managing editor of The Christian Chronicle, an international news publication for Churches of Christ. He covers national news and writes the Inside Story column for the Chronicle, a perennial winner in the “Best of the Christian Press” contest sponsored by the Associated Church Press. In 2012, he was named a finalist for the RNA’s Magazine News Report of the Year Award.

Bobby also writes freelance stories for Christianity Today and other media. He is a past board member of the Oklahoma Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and serves as a judge for SPJ’s prestigious national Sigma Delta Chi Awards.

He and his wife, Tamie, live in Oklahoma City with their three children, Brady, Keaton and Kendall. They are active members of the Edmond Church of Christ.

To learn more about Bobby, read his introductory post for GetReligion.

Photo: Bobby interviews NBC’s Lester Holt on faith and journalism at the “Today” studios in New York.