Robert Holmes "Rob" Bell Jr. (born August 23, 1970) is an American author, speaker and former pastor. Bell was the founder of Mars Hill Bible Church located in Grandville, Michigan, which he pastored until 2012. Under his leadership Mars Hill was one of the fastest-growing churches in America. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Love Wins and the writer and narrator of a series of spiritual short films called NOOMA. In 2011, Time named Bell on its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. He has since become a freelance writer and speaker appearing on various talk shows and national speaking tours on topics related to spirituality and leadership. He also hosts a popular podcast called,\'The Robcast.\' In 2018, a documentary about Bell called The Heretic was released.\n', '

Bell is the son of U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who was appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan.\n', '

After graduating from high school, Bell attended Wheaton College in Illinois. While at Wheaton, he roomed with Ian Eskelin of All Star United. With friends Dave Houk, Brian Erickson, Steve Huber and Chris Fall, he formed the indie rock band, "_ton bundle", which was reminiscent of bands such as R.E.M. and Talking Heads. During this time _ton bundle wrote the song "Velvet Elvis", based upon the same Velvet Elvis painting that he used in his first book, Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith. Wheaton College was also where Bell met his wife, Kristen. The band _ton bundle started to gain some local fame and was even asked to perform at large events, but when Bell was struck with viral meningitis these plans fell through.\n', "

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