Ryan Burge — Book a Speaking Event

Speaker Request for Ryan Burge

Are you interested in Ryan Burge speaking at your event? Complete this form with as much detail as possible and I will get back to you.

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Some Information about Ryan

Ryan P. Burge is one of the leading voices on religion and politics in the United States. He is a Professor of Practice at Washington University in St. Louis's John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, and previously served as an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University.

He was also the pastor of First Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, Illinois, where he served for seventeen years. His approach to speaking and writing is part social science, part pastoral insight — roughly two-thirds data and one-third lived experience.

When asked questions about American religion, Ryan's answers are grounded in rigorous social-scientific research, but shaped by his years in ministry. Though not ordained, his background as a lay pastor and his undergraduate studies in religion and philosophy inform his understanding of faith as both a personal and communal force.

This blend of academic expertise and real-world pastoral experience allows him to speak with both intellectual clarity and empathetic insight — drawing on thousands of hours of data analysis and decades of engagement with congregations across the country.