Pastor and Co-founder of the Animation Studio Called BibleProject

Tim Mackie | Biography 2021

Has a Ph.D. degree in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Original : August 17, 2021

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Tim Mackie is a pastor and a co-founder of an animation studio called BibleProject, which creates videos on the Bible and Christianity.

Who is Tim Mackie?

Tim Mackie is a pastor, professor, writer, and podcaster. He began his teaching journey as a teaching pastor at local churches in Portland and later served as an adjunct professor at Western Seminary. In 2013, he co-founded an animation studio called BibleProject with his long-time friend Jonathan Collins. Mackie serves as the Chief Education Officer for BibleProject, which creates short animated videos about books and themes of the Bible. He is also a co-host of the BibleProject podcast. Mackie has also been serving as the creative writer for BibleProject. 

Early Life and Education

A native of Portland, Tim Mackie’s journey to the spiritual world started when he met a group of skateboarders who were creatively conveying the story of the Bible. As a teenager, he partook in a non-profit Christian ministry called Skatechurch in Portland. According to Mackie, he was captivated by the stories he heard about Jesus during his senior year of high school.

With his newfound faith, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and Theology from a non-denominational Christian university called Multnomah University. Then, to understand more about the language and culture of the Bible, he graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary, class of 2005. 

Mackie later pursued a Ph.D. degree in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He wrote his Ph.D. dissertation focusing on a Greek version of the Hebrew Bible called Septuagint, and ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts called the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Teaching Career

After completing his studies, Mackie started serving as a teaching pastor at Blackhawk Church in Madison, Wisconsin. He then taught at Door of Hope church in Portland. Later, he became an adjunct professor at Western Seminary.

In an interview with a website called Patheos in October 2020, Mackie shared that his mentors and teachers taught him about the language and culture of the Bible. He said that he eventually got surprised by the message of the Hebrew Bible. 

In addition, he described the Hebrew Bible as, “Its [Hebrew Bible] diagnosis of human nature, it’s exploration of the mystery of God’s purposes in the world, and of our collective need for God to do through us what we can’t seem to do for ourselves, it just keeps blowing my mind!” He added, “And, most significantly for me as a Christian, the Hebrew Bible continually illuminates who Jesus was and is, and why I should follow him.”  

In the interview, he also said that he helped people to understand the language and culture of the Bible as a teaching pastor, he. He elaborated, “My Life’s joy is inviting people to discover all of this and more in their Bibles. Helping people overcome the language and cultural gap that separates us from the biblical world, and then giving them tools to track with what’s actually going on in the Bible.” 

BibleProject

In August 2013, Mackie and his college friend Jonathan Collins started an animation studio called BibleProject to create videos with an aim to simplify the complex themes of the Bible and make those videos accessible to people. In 2014, the duo created their first two videos, combining Mackie’s biblical knowledge and Collins’ visual storytelling skills. They later put the videos online for free. Eventually, they started producing more and more short-form animated videos that explored the books and themes of the Bible. 

BibleProject has its official YouTube channel that has over 2.79 million subscribers as of August 2021. The organization also has made its videos available on its website, The Bible App, Vimeo, and more platforms.

According to the official website of the organization, they “inspire the next generation to explore the Bible through the mediums in which they have been raised, visual storytelling and technology.” 

Podcast

In October 2015, Mackie and Collins launched the BibleProject podcast, in which the pair have deeper theological conversations about the Bible. They also talk about the biblical theology behind each animated video and series they create. 

In August 2017, Mackie also started hosting a podcast called Exploring My Strange Bible, produced by BibleProject. In the podcast, he brought together his lectures, sermons, and classroom teachings from the previous ten years to relate the scriptures and the history of the Bible to audiences. The last episode of the podcast was aired in April 2019.

Personal Life

Mackie is married to Jessica, and they have two sons, Roman and August. They reside in Portland, Oregon.

Did You Know?

Mackie is yet to feature on a Wikipedia page,