“A Cool Pastor, And A Hot Church” says Charlotte Observer
Published: September 18, 2008
As his young flock streamed into the Providence High School auditorium one Sunday morning last month, the Rev. Steven Furtick went about his get-ready ritual in a camper parked outside.
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The 28-year-old lead pastor at Elevation Church anointed his lips and head with oil, knelt to pray with his entourage, and sang and danced to "What an Awesome God You Are," a gospel-rock song that was a new favorite on his iPod.
Then, along with crew members crowded into the tiny camper, the platinum blonde minister began jumping.
"It's a pretty intense room," said Larry Brey, Elevation's Connections Pastor and one of the jumpers. "It's where the pastor gets his game face on."
Part spiritual athlete, part rock star preacher, Furtick is the talk these days in Charlotte religious circles.
Some criticize: He's taking members from other churches. He's more performer than pastor. His young staff puts "Pastor Steven" on a pedestal.
Others salute him, even envy his success: They say he's innovative, connects with young people bored by old churchy ways, and brings souls to Jesus at a dizzying rate.
"They really are the major show in town for (those) 20 to 32," the Rev. David Chadwick said about Elevation. His church, Forest Hill, has lost some members to Elevation. "But, gosh, we're all on the same team."
Less than three years after launching Elevation, a pop culture-friendly church with an orthodox Christian message, the S.C.-born Furtick has powered it onto the Top 10 list of fastest-growing evangelical churches in America, as determined by Outreach magazine.
With more than 4,000 attendees at its seven services every Sunday, Furtick's church is also one of the youngest around, drawing new families as well as high schoolers and college-age kids. Increasingly, these young "Elevators" are bringing their curious parents.
"When we first started the church, we couldn't get people over 40 to stay around for anything," Furtick said. "They'd come and they'd go, ‘Is this the youth group? Where's the real church? Down the hall?'"
Last year, Furtick made headlines when his church doled out $40,000 to members, in envelopes filled with $5, $20, even $1,000, and told them to spend it kindly on others. Elevation made headlines again when members followed up by pledging $6.4 million to the church's capital campaign for worship space.
The church, which started in early 2006, has adopted a governance system that has Furtick answering - not to a group of lay members, as in many churches - but to a board of five out-of-town pastors he chose. These friends and mentors, who lead big churches like Elevation, set his salary, which Furtick won't divulge.
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“A Cool Pastor, And A Hot Church” says Charlotte Observer
Published: September 18, 2008
Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church is bringing in people by the thousands.
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