Steven Furtick

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Steven Furtick
Steven Furtick cropped.jpg
Furtick in 2019
Born
Steven Furtick

(1980-02-19) February 19, 1980 (age 41)
Moncks Corner, South Carolina, U.S.
Alma materNorth Greenville University
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
OccupationGospel preacher, pastor, songwriter
Years active2006-present
Spouse(s)
Holly Furtick
​
(m. 2002)​
Children3
Websitewww.stevenfurtick.com

Larry Stevens "Steven" Furtick Jr.[1] (born February 19, 1980) is an American Baptist evangelical Christian pastor and songwriter of Elevation Worship. He is the founder and senior pastor of Elevation Church, based in Charlotte.

Early life and education[]

Furtick was born and raised in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, and attended Berkeley High School.[2] 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.[3] Furtick received a Bachelor of Arts in communications from North Greenville University and a Master of Divinity from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.[4]

Ministry[]

After serving as music director at Christ Covenant Church in Shelby, North Carolina, he moved to Charlotte and started Elevation Church.[5] The church had their first service on February 5, 2006.

In 2007, he helped found the music group Elevation Worship as songwriters.[6]

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.[3]

Furtick speaks at events all over the world including the 2011 Global Leadership Summit hosted by Bill Hybels,[7] the C3 Conference 2012 hosted by Ed Young Jr.,[8] the Hillsong Conference 2012 hosted by Brian Houston,[9] and the Presence Conference in 2012 and 2013 hosted by Phil Pringle.[10] Furtick also participated in The Elephant Room 1 and The Elephant Room 2 hosted by James MacDonald.[11] Furtick was named to Oprah's SuperSoul100 list of visionaries and influential leaders in 2016.[12]

In 2012, in response to a need of 1,000 mentors for 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.[13]

Public image[]

Furtick is a New York Times best selling author.[14] He has been labeled a "one of a kind leader" who goes out of his way to donate mattresses, clothes, and furniture to families in need.[15]

In 2013, Furtick refused to answer questions about his salary, his tax-free housing allowance, and how much he makes from books and speaking fees, and how the church is governed.[16] 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.[17][18]

Bibliography[]

  • Furtick, Steven (2010). Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible. Multnomah Books. ISBN 978-1-60142-322-1.
  • Furtick, Steven (2012). Greater: Dream Bigger. Start Smaller. Ignite God's Vision for Your Life. Multnomah Books. ISBN 978-1-60142-325-2.
  • Furtick, Steven (2014). Crash The Chatterbox: Hearing God's Voice Above All Others. Multnomah Books. ISBN 978-1-60142-456-3.
  • Furtick, Steven (2016). (Un)Qualified: How God Uses Broken People to Do Big Things. Multnomah Books. ISBN 978-1601424594.
  • Furtick, Steven (2017). Seven-Mile Miracle: Journey into the Presence of God Through the Last Words of Jesus. Multnomah Books. ISBN 978-160142-922-3.

Awards and nominations[]

GMA Dove Awards[]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2017 "O Come to the Altar"
(credited as songwriter) 		Song of the Year Nominated
Worship Song of the Year Nominated
2018 "Do It Again"
(credited as songwriter) 		Worship Song of the Year Nominated
2020 "See a Victory"
(credited as songwriter) 		Song of the Year Nominated
"The Blessing (Live)"
(credited as songwriter) 		Worship Recorded Song of the Year Won
2021 "Graves into Gardens"
(credited as songwriter) 		Song of the Year Pending
"The Blessing"
(credited as songwriter) 		Pending
Himself Songwriter of the Year (Non-artist) Pending
"Never Lost"
(credited as songwriter) 		Contemporary Gospel Recorded Song of the Year Pending
"Tumbas A Jardines"
(credited as songwriter) 		Spanish Language Recorded Song of the Year Pending
"Graves into Gardens"
(credited as songwriter) 		Worship Recorded Song of the Year Pending
"Jireh"
(credited as songwriter) 		Pending
Graves into Gardens
(credited as producer) 		Worship Album of the Year Pending
Old Church Basement
(credited as producer) 		Pending
Living Color
(credited as producer) 		Children's Album of the Year Pending

Grammy Awards[]

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019 Hallelujah Here Below Best Contemporary Christian Music Album Nominated
2021 "The Blessing"
(credited as songwriter) 		Best Contemporary Christian Performance/Song Nominated

References[]

  1. ^ Funk, Tim (March 12, 2017). "Want to know more about Elevation's pastor? Here are 10 Furtick facts". WBTV. The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  2. ^ Rickey Ciapha Dennis Jr., Same town, different views, postandcourier.com, USA, February 4, 2018
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Funk, Tim. "A cool pastor, and a hot church." Archived September 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Charlotte Observer September 14, 2008: A1. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  4. ^ Elevation Church. "Pastor Steven Furtick". Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  5. ^ Jeff Schapiro, An Inside Look at a New Generation of Pastors: Steven Furtick, christianpost.com, USA, September 3, 2013
  6. ^ Tim Funk, Elevation Church’s music team – including Pastor Furtick – nominated for top Dove Awards, charlotteobserver.com, USA, August 11, 2017
  7. ^ City of Athens, TX. "Things to do: 2011 Global Leadership Summit". Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  8. ^ C3 Conference. "Speakers" Archived April 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  9. ^ Hillsong Conference. "Speakers". Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  10. ^ My C3 Church. "Presence 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  11. ^ The Elephant Room. "Conversations". Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  12. ^ "Meet the SuperSoul100: The World's Biggest Trailblazers in One Room". O Magazine. August 1, 2016. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
  13. ^ "Over 1,600 Elevation Church Volunteers Answer Call to Mentor Students". Christian Post, September 25, 2012. Accessed October 27, Elevation is the greatest church in America, raising people far from God to life in Christ. 2012.
  14. ^ "Elevation Church pastor sells books from pulpit". wcnc.com. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  15. ^ Funk, Tim (March 9, 2017). "2008 profile of Elevation's Steven Furtick: Cool pastor, hot church". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  16. ^ Watson, Stuart. "Pastor responds to critics of his $1.7M home" Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 28, 2013.
  17. ^ Watson, Stuart. "I-Team: How a pastor built a multi-million dollar home" Archived October 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  18. ^ Wilson, Jen. "Elevation Church pastor's home draws scrutiny" Archived October 25, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 23, 2013.

External links[]

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