50 Most Famous American Pastors

Here is an article that discusses the most famous American pastors.

The United States of America has some of the wealthiest preachers in the world. Some of the most famous American pastors have a net worth estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now, when talking about the most popular pastors in America, there are some names we can all agree with. Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes and Joyce Meyer are some of the most famous American preachers.

In a moment, we are going to list the most famous American pastors.

Who Are the Most Famous American Pastors?

A few names we can give to answer that question include, Joel Osteen, Fulton J. Sheen, Andy Stanley, and Joyce Meyer. The list goes on as we have listed fifty American preachers in this guide.

Except to see more names of American pastors as you continue reading this article.

Also Read: 20 Richest Pastors in the World and Their Net worth 2024

Want to find out the most famous pastors in the United States, here is a list of the top 50.

1. Joyce Mayer

Born on June 4, 1943, Joyce Meyer is an American televangelist, author, and motivational speaker. She is the president of Joyce Meyer Ministries and has written several religious books.

Some of Meyer’s self-help religious books include The Penny: A Novel. Joyce’s television program Enjoying Everyday Life is viewed by millions of people all over the world.

2. Franklin Graham

American evangelist Franklin Graham was born on July 14, 1952. He is the son of Billy Graham, a popular American evangelist.

Franklin currently heads the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. The American evangelist has also produced Christian-themed films and docu-dramas.

3. Steven Furtick

Steven Furtick is one of the most famous American pastors. Furtick is the founder of the Elevation Church of Charlotte in North Carolina.
Pastor Steven Furtick is the author of Sun Stand Still and Crash the Chatterbox.

4. Shaun King

Born on May 29, 1977, Shaun King is the co-founder of Real Justice PAC. King is also a writer and civil rights activist who has shown great support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Besides that, Shaun King had previously launched the campaign Justice Together back in 2015 to tackle police brutality.

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5. Fulton J. Sheen

Fulton J. Sheen was a Catholic Bishop and a prominent TV and radio personality. Sheen was born on May 8, 1895, and died in 1979.
Most Americans can remember

Fulton during his time on the NBC radio show The Catholic Hour. Sheen also hosted TV shows such as Life Is Worth Living and The Bishop Fulton Sheen Show.

6. Andy Stanley

Born on May 16, 1958, Andy Stanley is an American pastor and the founder of the North Point Ministries. The American pastor has been the senior pastor of several churches.
As an author, Stanley has written several books including The New Rules for Love, Sex & Dating.

7. John Piper

American pastor John Piper is one of the most famous preachers in the country. Piper is the councillor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. The American theologian also taught biblical studies at Bethel University between 1974 and 1980.

8. T.D Jakes

Born on June 9, 1957, Thomas Dexter Jakes is an American bishop, filmmaker, and author.
Jakes is the bishop of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational megachurch in the U.S.

Bishop Jakes received the NAACP’s President Award in 2002 and was also among Oprah’s SuperSoul100 list of visionaries and influential leaders.

9. Francis Chan

American preacher Francis Chan is the founder of The Cornerstone Church and Eternity Bible College. Chan is a famous protestant preacher in the U.S.
Francis has peened several children’s books including Ronnie Wilson’s Gift and Halfway Herbert.

10. John F. MacArthur

John F. MacArthur is one of America’s finest pastors. MacArthur is widely recognized for the TV and radio program Grace to You.
John has been the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969.

11. Fred Phelps

Born on November 13, 1929, Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. was an American minister and former pastor of Westboro Baptist Church.

Before his death, Fred worked as a civil rights attorney.
Phelps died of natural causes at the age of 84 in 2014.

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12. John C. Maxwell

American pastor John C. Maxwell is one of the most famous preachers in the country. Maxwell is the author of several books and he primarily focuses on leadership.

Some of the books written by John Maxwell include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader.

13. Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen is one of the wealthiest preachers in the world. The American televangelist sermons are watched by millions around the world.

Osteen followed in his father’s footsteps and today, he is the senior pastor of Lakewood Church. Osteen’s wife is also a pastor at the Lakewood Church.

14. Victoria Osteen

American pastor, Victoria Osteen is the co-pastor at the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. Victoria is the wife of American pastor Joel Osteen.
She was born in 1961 and got married to Joel Osteen in 1987. Victoria and Joel Osteen have two children together.

15. Carl Lentz

Born on November 6, 1978, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Carl Lentz is an American pastor who is popularly known as a celebrity pastor.
Lentz is the spiritual advisor to celebrities like Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Kendall Jenner.

16. Paula White

American televangelist Paula White is the first female clergy to deliver the inauguration invocation of a United States president. White is the spiritual advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Paula was the former senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Centre, a non-denominational multicultural megachurch in Florida.

17. John Hagee

John Hagee is one of the most famous American pastors. Born on April 12, 1940, John Hagee is a televangelist and the founder of John Hagee Ministries.
The American pastor is also the founder of the Christian-Zionist organization Christian United for Israel.

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18. Adrian Rogers

Born on September 21, 1931, Adrian Rogers was an American conservative author and Southern Baptist pastor.

Rogers was the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. As a devoted Christian, Rogers served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

19. Timothy J. Keller

American pastor Timothy J. Keller is the chairman and co-founder of Redeemer City to City, a church planting organization that trains pastors.

Keller has written several books including the New York Times bestselling The Prodigal God: Recovering the Hearts of the Christian Faith, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, and The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Scepticism.

20. Eddie Long

Eddie Long was one of the most famous American pastors. Long was born on May 12, 1953, in Charlotte, North Carolina and he served as the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church before he died in 2017.

21. Mark Driscoll

American evangelical pastor Mark A. Driscoll is the senior pastor of the Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. Driscoll is also the founder of Mars Hill Church.

Long attended Washington State University where he graduated with a bachelor of arts. He later obtained a master’s of arts at Western Seminary.

22. Noel Jones

Jamaica minister Noel Jones is the senior pastor of the City of Refuge Church in Gardena, California.
Initially known as the Greater Bethany Community Church, the City of Refuge Church has over 17,000 members.

23. Ted Haggard

American evangelical pastor Ted Haggard is the founder of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Haggard was also the former pastor of New Life Church.
Ted was the president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 to 2106.

24. Paul Washer

Paul Washer is one of the most famous American pastors. Washer was born on September 11, 1961, and married to Rosario Washer.

As a devoted Christian, Washer served as a missionary in Peru for several years. He is the founder of the HeartCry Missionary Society to supports indigenous missionaries.

25. Charles R. Swindoll

American pastor Charles R. Swindoll is also an author, radio preacher, and educator.
Swindoll founded Insight for Living which airs a radio program on over two thousand radio stations in fifteen different languages.

26. Rob Bell

The next American pastor on our list is Rob Bell.
The former American pastor has written several books including the New York Times bestseller What is the Bible and Love Wins.

27. Barry Minkow

Born on March 22, 1966, Barry Minkow is a former American pastor, businessman, and felon.
The former pastor founded ZZZZ Best while he was still in high school. In 1987, ZZZZ Best collapsed, costing lenders and investors over $80 in one of the largest investment frauds.

28. Robert Jeffress

American pastor Robert James Jeffress Jr. was born on November 29, 1955. Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of the Dallas-based church First Baptist Church.

Jeffress is also a radio host, televangelist, author, and Fox News Contributor.

29. Jay Bakker

Born on December 18, 1975, James Charles “Jay” Bakker is an American pastor, speaker, and author. The American pastor is the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
Bakker is the co-founder of the Revolution Church which was established in 1994.

30. Bill Gothard

Bill Gothard is one of the most famous American pastors. The American preacher is the founder of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP).

In 2014, Bill Gothard stepped down from the Institute in Basic Life Principles after several accusations of sexual harassment and molestation.

31. Greg Laurie

American pastor Greg Laurie is the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship. Laurie is also associated with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
As an author, Greg Laurie has written several books and produced or written six films.

32. Louie Giglio

Born on June 30, 1958, Louie Giglio is an American pastor and the founder of the Passion Movement.
Goliath Must Fall and Not Forsaken are some of Louie’s books.

33. Alistair Begg

One of America’s finest pastors Alistair Beggg has been the senior pastor at Cleveland’s Parkside Church since 1983.
Begg’s program Truth For Life broadcasts his sermons on radios across the United States and North America.

34. Charles Stanley

American pastor Charles Stanley served as the senior pastor of First Baptist Church for almost 50 years. Charles is the founder and also the president of In Touch Ministries.

The American pastor also served two one-year terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

35. Jeremiah Wright

American pastor Jeremiah Wright is a pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Wright served as the pastor of the church for over 30 years.
During his time as pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, the membership grew to over 8,000 parishioners.

36. Jerry Falwell

Born on August 11, 1933, Jerry Falwell was an American pastor and televangelist. Falwell was the co-founder of the Moral Majority before he died in 2007.

Also Read: 107 Questions to ask your Pastor at Different Occasions

37. John Osteen

Born in 1921, John Osteen was an American televangelist and pastor. He is the father of famous American preacher Joel Osteen.
Upon his death in 1999, his son became the senior pastor of Lakewood Church.

38. Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel is one of the most famous American pastors. The American is the founder and senior pastor of Life Church.
Currently, his church can be found in 12 U.S. states.

39. James Lawson

American activist and university professor James Morris Lawson served as a mentor to the Nashville Student Movement and the Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 60s.
Because of his civil rights activism, Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt University back in 1969.

40. Tullian Tchividjian

Born on July 13, 1972, William Graham Tullian Tchividjian is an American pastor and author who has written several Christian books.
He was the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church from 2009 to 2015.

41. Jesse Duplantis

Duplantis is an American preacher from the Christian Evangelical Charismatic movement.
The American preacher is also the founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries. In 1999, Jesse Duplantis was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Oral Robert University.

42. Fred Shuttlesworth

Fred Shuttleworth was an American civil rights activist, one of the prominent African-Americans who fought against segregation. Shutlesworth was a co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

During the civil rights movement in the 60s, Shuttlesworth worked with Martin Luther King Jr.

43. Chuck Smith

Born on June 25, 1927, Charles Ward Smith was an American pastor and founder of the Calvary Chapel movement. Smith is considered one of the most influential figures in modern American Christianity.

44. Juanita Bynum

American pastor Juanita Bynum is one of the most famous pastors in the country. Bynum is also a gospel singer and author of The Threshing Floor and the No More Sheets series.

45. Edward Everett

Edward Everett was born in the late 18th century in Boston, Massachusetts. Everett was also a politician, educator, and diplomat.
Edward is considered one of the greatest orators of the American Civil War and the antebellum era.

46. Harold Camping

Harold was an American evangelist and Christian radio broadcaster. Camping served as president of Family Radio before he died in 2013.

47. John Ortberg

Ortberg is an American speaker, evangelical Christian author and the former senior pastor of Menior Church, an ECO Presbyterian.
As an author, John Ortberg has published several books such as When the Game is Over and Christianity Today.

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48. Robert H. Schuller

Robert Harold Schuller was an American pastor, Christian televangelist, and motivational speaker. Schuller was widely recognized for the weekly Hour of Power TV program back in the 1970s.

49. D. James Kennedy

Dennis James Kennedy was an American pastor and evangelist born in 1930 and died in 2007.
Before his death, Kennedy was the senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church from 1960. He also founded Evangelism Explosion International.

50. Lyman Beecher

Lyman Beecher completes our list of the most famous American pastors. Beecher was an American Presbyterian minister who lived during the 18th century.
The Presbyterian minister had about 13 children including Harriet, Charles, and Thomas K. Beecher.

Conclusion

We have listed the most famous American pastors, including those that are long dead. Some of the preachers on our list lived during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Now you know the most famous preachers in America and their contribution to Christianity.

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Reference

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50 Most Famous American Pastors

Who Are the Most Famous American Pastors?