MARY JO SHARP
Hard questions deserve more than easy answers.
Former atheist, Christian apologist, author, and speaker Mary Jo Sharp helps audiences explore questions of faith, doubt, and belief with intellectual honesty, relational warmth, and practical hope.
Available for keynotes, conferences, workshops, panels, leadership gatherings, and audience Q&A.
A thoughtful voice for complicated questions.
Mary Jo Sharp is a former atheist turned Christian apologist, author, speaker, and evangelism trainer who takes up difficult questions with intellectual depth and genuine care. Her journey from atheism to Christian belief was shaped by life in two very different cultures: the post-Christian Pacific Northwest and the evangelical Bible Belt. That experience gives her a distinctive ability to understand both skepticism toward Christianity and the questions believers sometimes feel unable to ask.
Through teaching, writing, and speaking, Mary Jo helps people examine questions of faith, doubt, and belief without avoiding their complexity. Her work has been featured in Christianity Today and presented at the Evangelical Theological Society and Evangelical Philosophical Society. She currently serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Search Ministries.
Former atheist turned Christian apologist
Author and contributor to more than 18 books and studies
Twelve years of university teaching
International speaker at churches, universities, and conferences
Conversations your audience is already having.
Mary Jo brings careful scholarship, personal experience, and relational warmth to the questions people are wrestling with about faith, doubt, belief, and Christian witness.
For General and Mixed-Belief Audiences
In a culture skeptical of certainty, meaningful conversations about faith require more than polished arguments. Mary Jo shows audiences how to listen beneath the surface, understand what people actually believe, and engage difficult questions without becoming defensive, dismissive, or manipulative.
Best for: General Christian audiences, outreach events, universities, and mixed-belief settings.
Formats: Keynote, breakout, workshop, or audience Q&A.
Drawing from her journey from atheism to Christian belief, Mary Jo explores the questions about goodness, truth, meaning, and human experience that challenged her assumptions. Her story offers a candid and accessible account of why she changed her mind without pretending that faith eliminated every question.
Best for: Mixed-belief audiences, universities, outreach events, and general conferences.
Formats: Keynote, moderated conversation, or audience Q&A.
Questioning God and scrutinizing belief don't have to end in walking away from faith. Drawing from her own experience of doubt prompted by church hypocrisy, Mary Jo offers a personal apologetic and practical ways to investigate the truth of Christianity without sliding into excessive skepticism or despair. This session explores how faith can be sustained in the midst of questions, and how to better understand the doubts of the people around you. (Based on her book Why I Still Believe.)
Best for: Churches, outreach events, women's events, universities and student gatherings, and general conferences.
Formats: Keynote, breakout, panel, or audience Q&A.
For Church and Ministry Leaders
What if apologetics is about more than having the right argument? Drawing from 1 Peter 3:15–17, Mary Jo explores how intellectual defense should shape Christian character, community, and witness. She helps leaders connect truth with humility and equip believers to answer with gentleness and respect.
Best for: Pastoral gatherings, ministry training, apologetics conferences, and leadership retreats.
Formats: Keynote, breakout, workshop, or panel.
At a time when stories of deconstruction are reshaping churches and families, leaders need more than quick answers. Drawing from her own experience of doubt prompted by church hypocrisy, Mary Jo offers a personal apologetic and a practical framework for creating church environments where difficult questions are welcomed and met with truth and compassion.
Best for: Churches, denominational gatherings, pastor conferences, and leadership retreats.
Formats: Keynote, breakout, panel, or audience Q&A.
Most churches have taught about evangelism, offered training, and encouraged people to share their faith. Yet many believers still feel hesitant or afraid of damaging relationships. Mary Jo examines why information alone rarely changes behavior and what helps a congregation move from knowing about evangelism to engaging people with confidence and care.
Best for: Pastor gatherings, denominational conferences, leadership retreats, and church staff training.
Formats: Keynote, workshop, breakout, or leadership roundtable.
Built for the room you’re leading.
Mary Jo adapts her content and approach to the purpose of the event, the needs of the audience, and the questions people bring with them.
Audience types
General conferences · Universities and student gatherings · Outreach events · Women’s events · Churches · Denominational conferences · Pastor gatherings · Leadership retreats · Ministry training · Apologetics conferences
Formats
Keynotes · Breakout sessions · Workshops · Leadership roundtables · Panels · Moderated conversations · Audience Q&A
See Mary Jo engage a room.
Mary Jo combines warmth and humor with an ability to make complex questions understandable.
Beyond the stage.
Mary Jo is the author of Why I Still Believe and Why Do You Believe That?, and has contributed to more than 18 books and studies addressing apologetics, doubt, belief, and and faith in culture. She also co-hosts the REACH Podcast and contributes to practical resources that help Christians think through life's biggest questions with clarity, conviction, and compassion.
Mary Jo serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Search Ministries, a national nonprofit that since 1977 has helped spiritually curious adults explore life and faith through real conversation without pressure. Her work reflects Search’s commitment to intellectual honesty, authentic relationships, and helping people take a next step toward God.
