Floyd Schneider: Writing from a Life of War, Ministry, Teaching, and Story

If you’ve landed on this about me page, you’re probably wondering who I am and why my writing ranges from Bible and theology to culture, travel, and fiction. The short answer is simple: my life has never fit neatly into one category, and neither has my writing.

I served in Vietnam, where I received a Bronze Star and four Purple Hearts. After the war, I went on to study theology, earned graduate degrees, planted churches, taught in Bible colleges, and spent years living and traveling in Europe. Along the way, I became a husband, father, grandfather, teacher, missionary, and writer. These days, I live in Montana with my wife, Christine, where we are supposedly retired. That would be easier to believe if the phone stopped ringing.

What ties all of this together is not a career plan I mapped out decades ago. It is a long habit of paying attention: to the Bible, to people, to culture, to suffering, to questions that don’t go away, and to the stories that shape a life. Writing became one of the natural ways to make sense of all that and pass something on.

How I got here

After Vietnam, I pursued theological education and earned both MDiv and ThM degrees. Christine and I then spent fifteen years living in Austria and challenging people to read the Bible for themselves. During that time, we traveled widely in Europe, including trips behind the Iron Curtain, teaching in underground churches, and time in Russia. In Austria, we helped start three Bible churches. After returning to the United States, we helped start two more.

Teaching also became a large part of my life. I taught in three Bible colleges, including Moody Bible Institute in Spokane, Washington. Later, at an age when many people are content to coast, I began a PhD in Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Liberty University. I finished it just before turning seventy. I loved the work.

None of those experiences stayed in one box. War shaped how I think about suffering, courage, and human frailty. The Bible shaped how I read it and talk with people about it. Cross-cultural life sharpened my interest in language, ideas, and the assumptions people carry without knowing it. Teaching forced me to become clearer. Writing let me bring all of that together.

What I write about now

I write for people who care about the Bible, theology, culture, lived experience, and story. Some readers come for biblical reflection. Some for questions about culture and communication. Some for books. Some are simply curious about what Christine and I are doing now.

That broad mix is intentional. At this stage of life, I am not trying to force everything into a narrow niche. I would rather write honestly out of the life God has given me than pretend my interests are smaller than they are. If readers find something here that helps them think more clearly, read the Bible more carefully, or simply enjoy a good story, then the writing has done its job.

A few things that have shaped my voice

My work has been shaped by military service, pastoral ministry, church planting, theological study, classroom teaching, and years of cross-cultural experience. It has also been shaped by marriage, family, loss, endurance, and the long discipline of staying with hard questions.

Christine and I have been married for decades, and together we have two sons, daughters-in-law, and nine grandchildren. We have written because life has given us a great deal to think about, and because story is one of the best ways to tell the truth without flattening it.

If you’d like to keep reading

If you want the best introduction to my work, start with the books. They will give you a better sense of my mind, concerns, and voice than any short biography can.

And if you’d like to keep up with what Christine and I are writing and doing, subscribe to the newsletter. It is the easiest way to stay in touch as we keep posting, publishing, and reflecting on the strange, good, demanding life we’ve been given.

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