Biography of Steven Furtick

Steven Furtick is a gifted, charismatic, and popular speaker and has blitzed the internet, bookstores, and music stores with his sermons, books, and other products.

Larry Stevens Furtick Jr. (born February 19, 1980) is an American Baptist evangelical Christian pastor, author, and composer of Elevation Worship. He is the founder and senior pastor of Elevation Church, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The church reached number seven in Outreach Magazine’s 2022 list of the largest participating churches. Elevation boasts a membership of 26,000 people.

Furtick was born and raised in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, and attended Berkeley High School. At the age of 16, after reading the book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, he felt called to pastor a church in a major city. He studied at North Greenville University in communication and earned a Bachelor of Arts, then he studied at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a Master of Divinity.

He and his wife Holly live in the Charlotte area with their two sons, Elijah and Graham, and daughter, Abbey.

In 2004, Furtick served as worship leader at Christ Covenant Church in Shelby, North Carolina, a Baptist Church. In 2006, he moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and founded Elevation Church with seven families and his own. The church had their first service on February 5, 2006.

In 2007, he helped found the music group Elevation Worship as a songwriter and since has been nominated for GMA Dove and Grammy Awards, winning a Grammy for their album, Old Church Basement.

In 2007, he made headlines when his church gave $40,000 to members in envelopes with $5, $20, and even $1,000, telling them to spend it kindly on others.

Furtick speaks at events all over the world including the 2011 Global Leadership Summit hosted by Bill Hybels, the C3 Conference 2012 hosted by Ed Young Jr., the Hillsong Conference 2012 hosted by Brian Houston, and the Presence Conference in 2012 and 2013 hosted by Phil Pringle. Furtick also participated in The Elephant Room 1 and The Elephant Room 2 hosted by James MacDonald. Furtick was named to Oprah's SuperSoul100 list of visionaries and influential leaders in 2016.

In 2012, in response to a need of mentorship for 1,000 students in area schools, Furtick launched an outreach program at Elevation Church called the M1 Initiative. Furtick said, "We have always said we want to be a blessing to our city and support our leaders with a volunteer force they can count on." More than 1,600 members responded and committed to mentoring a child for the 2012–2013 school year.

Furtick has committed to donating 12 percent of Elevation Church's giving to support outreach efforts nationally and globally.

Furtick is a New York Times best selling author. He has also participated in various philanthropic campaigns, donating clothes and furniture to families in need.

In 2013, Furtick has declined to answer questions regarding his salary, his tax-free housing allowance, and how much he makes from books and speaking fees, and how the church is governed. Elevation has stated that Furtick is generous to the church with the money he receives from writing books—that he arranges for the church to purchase his books directly from the publisher, allowing Elevation to receive the author's discount and keep the money from sales. They have also reported that the publisher pays the church to produce marketing materials to promote Furtick's books. Elevation has confirmed that Furtick's salary is set by a Board of Overseers composed of other megachurch pastors, who vote on his salary based on a compensation study conducted by an outside firm, and that Furtick does not vote on his own salary.

On October 2, 2020, Trinity Broadcasting Network began airing programming from Furtick, replacing the Kenneth Copeland ministries program "Believer's Voice of Victory".

10 Things You Should Know about Steven Furtick

1. Steven Furtick started Elevation Church with just eight families. They met in a senior center, and Furtick used a small closet to pray between services.

2. Steven Furtick has a close relationship with Oneness Pentecostal pastor and influencer Bishop T. D. Jakes (pastor of The Potter’s House, a megachurch in the Dallas, Texas, area). At a revival, Furtick introduced Jakes, saying, “I want you to stand up on your feet right now, and let’s welcome to the stage, the Greatest Preacher of Our Time—Bishop T.D. Jakes. Come on, let’s show him some embarrassing love.”

3. When asked if his church is “all about the numbers,” Furtick described himself as a “numbers” guy who believes every number tells a story. He went on to say, “It’s unacceptable to me as a pastor that we would stop growing when the Lord wants to add to our number daily those who are being saved. And in order for that to happen, we need to track every scrap of statistical data at our disposal.”

4. The book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala inspired Furtick to become a pastor.

5. Steven Furtick takes his “Elevation worship” on the road, with tickets starting at around $40 up to around $300.

6. Furtick is largely mum about his finances, but according to Market Realist, he purchased a house and land for 1.7 million dollars in 2013. Steven Furtick’s 2023 net worth is estimated to be $60 million.

7. Furtick teaches modalism, a doctrine that holds the Persons of the Trinity exist in different modes, not distinct and coexisting. Specifically, he has described God as changing forms.

8. Furtick associates with and holds forums with Word of Faith teachers and New Apostolic Reformation teachers.

9. Elevation Church is said to partner with over 400 outreach ministries each year.

10. Furtick is a 2022 Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer (Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Old Church Basement) and a New York Times bestselling author.