Sam and Norma Earp are native Californians, living and working in the Bay Area for over thirty years. They have been married for 34 years and have two children, Adam and Ashley. While Norma was raised in a Christian home, Sam became a Christian during his senior year of high school. Following his conversion, he accepted a ministry call.

He received his education at Ozark Christian College, graduating with a Bachelor in Sacred Literature. Following a short business career, Sam reentered college and received his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Santa Clara. He attended graduate school at Santa Clara University and was granted a Master of Arts in History. With a career change toward ministry, Sam matriculated at San Francisco Theological Seminary (a cohort seminary in the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley) and was granted his Master of Divinity equivalency and then his Doctorate.

His ministry experience for the first twenty-seven years was primarily in non-denominational churches, serving first as a Senior Pastor. The church had twenty attending members when he began and enjoyed attendance of eight hundred upon his completion of ministry. Following this, he was called to a Senior Associate role with a new church plant in San Jose, CA. Among his duties, he preached every Sunday in the early stages of the church, mentored new staff, and served as Pastor of Missions and Evangelism.

He functioned in these two roles for twenty-seven years, serving as Senior Pastor for fourteen years and as Senior Associate for thirteen years.

In 1998, the Lord initiated a new ministry arena for Sam and called him to a renewing ministry for large churches. Megachurches have attendant problems peculiar to their size and complexity. As a result, Senior Pastors experience difficult limitations of skill, personality and leadership. With an extensive background in large church ministry and theological education and training, Sam assists churches and leadership to transition to best practices, enabling them to recapture their vision and growth potential.

Sam was the founder and president of the National Association of Mission Pastors (NAMP) as well as serving in leadership for the California Association of Mission Pastors (CAMP). He currently serves as Lead Professor and Adjunct Professor for William Jessup University and Adjunct Professor for Western Theological Seminary. He has served as chaplain speaker for the San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants and other NFL and MLB teams. He also is frequently sought as a conference speaker and Bible study leader.

His passion is athletics and follows sports avidly. He coached collegiate basketball and has for the past ten years coached ASA Jr. Olympic women’s fast pitch softball. He also loves to garden.