Rick Rood has served as a hospital chaplain with Healthcare Chaplains Ministry Association since 1996. He served two hospitals in Dallas, TX until 2019, when Rick and Li Lin moved to Seattle WA, where he is serving as chaplain at a hospital in that city. In the past he served as the director of publications for Probe Ministries, in a ministry with International Students, Inc., as an Associate Professor for Field Education with Dallas Theological Seminary, and as pastor of a church in the Seattle area.  Rick received his B.A. degree in history from Seattle Pacific University in 1972, his Th.M. in Old Testament from Dallas Seminary in 1976, and he also completed work toward the PhD in theology from Dallas Seminary (all but dissertation). As a professor with ACTS International, Rick is teaching theological, biblical and counseling courses with the ACTS Institutes. Rick cared for his wife Polly during her twenty-year journey with a neurodegenerative illness until her home-going in 2003.  Rick wrote about that journey in his book, Our Story . . . His Story: One Couple's Encounter with the Grace of God in the Crucible of Affliction (Xulon Press). They have two adult children -- Jeff and Jill.   Rick also wrote A Day in the Life of a Chaplain: Bringing Grace and Hope to Hurting People (Resource Publications), and “Is There Hope for Those Who Have Never Heard of Christ? An Historical and Theological Inquiry (Bible.org).”

Rick and his wife Li Lin were married October 20, 2012. Li Lin served for many years as secretary at a church in Taipei until moving to the U.S. after marrying Rick. They now reside in the Seattle area.