Doug Fields has been a speaker, writer, thought-leader, and pastor to teenagers for over 30 years. After graduating Vanguard University, Doug received his MDiv from Fuller Theological Seminary. He served at South Coast Community Church (now Mariners Church), in Newport Beach, CA for 11 years before he moved to be the youth and teaching pastor for 18 years at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. with a growing demand for his speaking, writing and consulting, Doug left Saddleback in 2010. 

Doug is the author of 50+ books covering the genres of Marriage, Family, Parenting, Spiritual Growth, and Youth Ministry. Titles include: Getting Ready For Marriage, The Essential Jesus, 7 Ways To Be Her Hero, Married People: helping churches help marriages, and Should I Just SMASH My Kid's Phone. 

In the Youth Ministry space, Doug is most well known for the award-winning Purpose Driven Youth Ministry (PDYM) which is a youth ministry textbook used all over the world. PDYM has been translated in 20+ languages and Doug has personally taught PDYM in most states and in several countries. 




In the early 90's Doug founded the resource company Simply Youth Ministry, which he ran for several years, before selling to Group Publishing in 2006 in order to free him up to achieve wider, global impact. In the years following, Doug has played various roles in the youth ministry world including creating a Student Leadership Conference attracting teenage leaders from all around the world. 




Downloadyouthministry.com (DYM) is Doug's most recent venture that he started with best friends in 2012. In addition to resources, DYM hosts a weekly podcast (260+ episodes) where Doug and friends answer youth ministry-related questions from all over the world. The podcast audience is more of a youth ministry team/family and this medium is simply one of the ways that Doug continues to connect with youth workers. 




Doug and his wife, Cathy, have three adult children.