Get to know the Top Pastors in America and Famous Pastors in America. It is without doubt that the Top Pastors in USA have greatly contributed in fighting evil and winning more souls into the kingdom of God. For about 6 centuries now, the office of a pastor has been acknowledged by everyone. It is only out of ignorance that a person can question the importance of a pastor. Pastors are like shepherds who have been entrusted with flocks of sheep to cater for. The pastor is responsible for maintaining his congregants on the right track that is pleasing to God. Being called into the pastoral office is a divine gift from God as we can read from Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28. Not everyone is called or qualified to be a pastor. However, being a pastor is not a reward but God’s unmerited gift to man.
Since the beginning of the church of Christ, God has always sent leaders to guide his children. Hence, the authority or importance of a pastor is an unquestionable one. They play a vital role in helping to gather in God’s harvest. Thus, we owe them respect and obedience as long as they remain in God’s service. America just like Africa happens to be one of the homes for great pastors who have shook the world with their Biblical messages. The United States Of America has also been a training home for most of the popular pastors who are presently preaching across the world. It is without doubt that America has greatly influenced the spread of the gospel across the globe.
List Of Top Pastors in America
Choosing Criteria of Top Pastors
We’ll base our choosing criteria on the number of lives impacted in order to come up with a list of top pastors in America. We’ll point out those men and women who did not only limit the spread of the gospel in America but stretched out to positively impact the whole world through the gospel. Although the list is quite long, we’ll talk just about the most prominent pastors. But you must note here that we do not intend to say that the other pastors are by any means less important. For everyone has his/her own portion to work in the kingdom of God. And only God can approve and not men. We are simply trying to appreciate the efforts of certain men and women who consecrated their lives to serving God. And as Apostle Peter wrote, such people will definitely be rewarded. Below are the top pastors in America:
Billy Graham
Billy Graham is one of the famous pastors in America who is widely known for his efforts in preaching the gospel across the world. He is a Baptist evangelist whose passion is to take the gospel to all the corners of the world. Pastor Billy is also popularly known for his philanthropic and humanitarian works.
Billy Graham Biography
Billy Graham was born on the 7th of November, 1918 on a dairy farm near Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born to William Franklin Billy Graham Senior and Morrow Coffee Graham. William Franklin was a well established businessman and farmer. Billy Graham was the eldest son of the family with two younger sisters and a brother. In 1934 when Billy Graham was 16 years, he attended a series of revival programs in Charlotte which were hosted by an evangelist in the person of Mordecai Fowler Ham. These revival meetings changed his personality and he decided to give his life to Christ.
In 1936, Billy Graham graduated from Sharon High School and enrolled at Bob Jones College. However, he did not last long at Bob Jones College since he left just after a few months. In 1937, Billy Graham attended the Florida Bible Institute from where he graduated with a bachelor in theology. His graduation took place in the year 1940. Worth noting is that he was previously baptized in the year 1938 by Reverend Cecil Underwood in Silver Lake. It was still Rev Underwood who ordained him together with other pastors as a southern baptist minister in the St John’s River Association. In 1940, Billy Graham enrolled into the Wheathon College, Illinoise. It was in this collage that he graduated in 1943 with a bachelor degree in anthropology.
Billy’s Accomplishments
Billy Graham is an American Southern Evangelist who derives his joy from the spread of the gospel. He is well known for preaching the gospel in different countries and different continents. Billy is considered to be one of the leading preachers of the christian faith whose major works were accomplished around the 1900s. He was greatly inspired by an evangelist during his young ages that he decided to consecrate his whole life to serving God by spreading the Christian faith. Billy was baptized twice during his lifetime and after graduating from the seminary, he started spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. He accomplish this task through revival meetings and crusades. His christian approach has been appreciated by many people around the world. However, some people found what to speak against in his christian approach. You’ve certainly heard the saying that whatever you do, people will have something to say.
Billy Graham successfully established a christian ministry through which he booted the growth of the gospel. He also contributed to the expansion of his community through various means of communication. Billy significantly contributed to the Civil Right Movement and Lausanne Movement. Billy Graham featured on the Gallup Organization’s list of most admired men and women. He staggered there 57 times and is regarded by his contemporaries as a genuine, non-judgmental, tolerant, and hard working man who enjoys seeing people succeed. His devotion to the gospel and way of living life in peace and harmony made him a religious icon to follow.
Career
Billy Graham briefly served as the first pastor of the First Baptist Church in Western Springs, Illinois. His service to this church went from 1943 to 1944. He further served as the president of the Northwestern Bible College in Minneapolis, Minnesotan. He served as president of this Bible College from 1948 to 1952. Billy was invited 1949 by a group called Christ for Greater Los Angeles to preach at their L.A. revival. So many people came for this revival which was very intense. Most who were there enjoyed the revival which had an extension of 5 more weeks. America’s cultural climate after World War II was put under the threat of communism. Billy went out preaching against it and making evangelism a non-threatening approach to overcoming all the fears and instabilities which were brought due to the war.
Joel Osteen
Joel Osteen is one of the famous pastors in America or better still one of the top pastors in America. He is a preacher and televangelist of the Christian faith who has greatly impacted many lives across America and the world at large. Also known as Joel Scott Osteen, he is one of those men who have consecrated their lives to serving God.
Joel Osteen Biography
Joel Scott Osteen was born on the 5th of march 1963 to John Osteen and Dolores in Houston, Texas. Osteen is one of the 5 children that God blessed this couple with. At the time that he was born, his father was one of the southern Baptist pastors who founded the Lakewood Church. Joel Osteen attended the Oral Robert University although he did not graduate. Records hold that he abandoned the university in 1981 to setup his father’s television agency. In this agency, he worked together with his father as the publishing supervisor. Both made the local Houston ministry show a success.
Joel Osteen’s accomplishments
Joel Osteen’s unquestionable oratory talent and trademark smile have won the hearts of over 8 million people around the world. He is a famous American preacher and televangelist who currently acts as the senior pastor of Lakewood Church. Most of his sermons are delivered in sports-arenas and sold out stadiums. This is because of the numerous people soliciting his teachings. Famous for the sermons entitled “Living in Victory”, “Living Life to Full Potential”, and “Seizing Destiny Moments”, Joel Osteen is definitely no ordinary preacher. He worked in the TV ministry till his father’s death. Most of his accomplishments have made it to the New York Times best sellers. He has reportedly sold 3 million copies around the world. Many evangelical teachers of the gospel condemn his prosperity preaching. But this has not affected the fact that he still leads one of the largest churches in America, Lakewood Church.
Career
In 1992, Joel Osteen was ordained as a minister by the Lakewood’s 6 member board. He succeeded his father as the pastor of Lakewood Church in 1999. Records hold that just a few weeks to his father’s death, he gave his first sermon in his life. Joel Osteen is married to co-pastor of Lakewood Church, Victoria Osteen. They got married in 1987. God has blessed their union with two children by the names Alexandra and Jonathan.
Joyce Meyer
We couldn’t afford to omit Joyce Meyer from our list of top pastors in America. She is a popular christian author and speaker who is highly solicited around the world. Many people call her Pauline Joyce Hutchinson Meyer. She has been into preaching for so many years today and it is without doubt that she has greatly impacted the lives of many people. Today, she’s believed to be one of the top pastors in USA.
Joyce Meyer Biography
Although popularly known as Joyce Meyer, she was named at birth as Pauline Joyce Hutchinson. She was born on the 4th of June 1943 in st Louis. While in her teenage ages, she was taken care of by her mother given that her father was a military personnel who served in the second world war. Sad to say but when his father returned from the war, he abused her sexually, verbally, and emotionally. This left her in great pains which could be sensed even during school hours. She developed a sense of insecurity and began living a lonely life of stress. However, she did not neglect her studies but persisted until her graduation from O’Fallen Technical High School in St Louis.
Upon graduating, Joyce went into a wedlock with a part-time car salesman but the marriage lasted only for 5 years. And in 1967, she got married to Dave Meyer. Although Meyer had an influential effect on Joyce, he later calmed down. Joyce Meyer says that while she was driving to work in 1976, she received a personal message from God. This left her with the desire and thirst to know God the more. This led her to developing a more intimate relationship with God. It was after the reception of the message from God that she became a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in St Louis. Her starting point at the ministry was to take the chair of a teacher at the local cafeteria for a morning class.
Joyce Meyer Career
Joyce Meyer became an active participant of the Life Christian Center which was one of the charismatic churches in Fenton. Soon she was appointed as the Church’s associate pastor. Her scriptural teachings were highly loved that the church became one of the most populated in the area. She was highly solicited in different places for her ability to demystify and better explain the scriptures. As this demand kept on increasing, she decided to start a daily 15-minutes radio broadcast on St Louis radio station. In 1985, Joyce Meyer resigned from being a associate pastor to start her ministry which has known an exponential growth since creation.
Bishop T.D. Jakes
Bishop T.D. Jakes is one of the most influential voices in America. Although he is of a Nigerian Origin, he was born in America. He was born on the 9th of June 1957 in South Charleston, West Virginia. His father is a businessman and entrepreneur by name Ernest while his mother is an educator by name Odith. Jakes was the youngest of three children to his parents and was popularly called as the “Bible boy” from a young age. He was officially ordained in the year 1979. In 1981, he got married to Serita Ann Jamison. It was at the age of 23 in 1980 that Jakes established the Temple Of Faith Church in Montgomery. In 1985, the Friends International Christian University awarded T.D. Jakes his B.A. degree in Biblical studies, his M.A. degree in Biblical studies later followed in 1990 while his D.Min. came in 1995.
He was ordained into the Bishopric in 1987 and later founder the Potter’s House. The Porter’s House is known as the American Megachurch. It has a total carrying capacity of 30,000 worshipers at a time. This such was applauded for by president Barack Obama of the USA.
Kenneth Max Copeland
Our list of top pastors in America can’t be complete without Kenneth Max Copeland. He is an American Author, preacher, and televangelist who is globally known for his messages on prosperity and abundance. Kenneth Copeland is the Founder, General Overseer, and Senior pastor of Kenneth Copeland Ministries. He has been preaching the gospel for so many years.
Benny Hinn
Although born in Israel, Benny Hinn is one of the top pastors in USA who has greatly impacted the lives of his congregants. He is an American author, televangelist, and influential speaker. Benny Hinn is famous for his crusade meetings which are usually characterized by faith healing. During his crusades which are mostly held in stadiums, many miracles and wonders are manifested.
