Elevation Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Steven Furtick (Founder and Lead Pastor)

Founded Unknown

Denomination Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) — loosely affiliated

Service Times Saturday 5:00 PM; Sunday 9:30 AM, 11:30 AM (varies by campus; 20 locations)

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.elevationchurch.org

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

Furtick's 2014 sermon 'Sound of the Building' contained explicitly modalist statements ('God was schizophrenic') widely criticized as sub-Trinitarian. Red per rubric concern.

Disqualifier

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

Elevation publishes Statement of Faith affirming Scripture; practical use tends toward proof-texting topical preaching.

Disqualifier

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

No robust men's discipleship culture found.

WARNING!

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

Evangelical sola fide affirmed in SOF; prosperity-adjacent application undermines clarity.

Disqualifier

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Elevation male-only lead pastor; wider egalitarian trends among staff — verify.

Verify

Caution

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Furtick-centered celebrity-pastor model with minimal external accountability; SBC-affiliation is loose at best.

WARNING!

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Topical/motivational vision-casting style — red per rubric (therapeutic/felt-needs).

Disqualifier

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Large-scale attractional model; Great Commission framing present but mixed with entertainment/brand priorities.

Caution

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Brand-heavy, entertainment-focused; avoids overt DEI/CRT but participates in attractional evangelical-industrial complex.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

SBC-affiliated 'loosely' per source; Elevation operates effectively as independent megachurch — red per rubric for minimal accountability.

WARNING!

Assessment

Elevation Church is a megachurch (17,000+ weekly attendance, 20 campuses) led by Steven Furtick. SBC-affiliated but operates independently with minimal denominational accountability. Furtick is controversial: prosperity-adjacent theology, celebrity pastor model, modalist-leaning statements on the Trinity (2014 controversy), heavy emphasis on vision-casting over expository preaching. Topical/motivational preaching style. No men's discipleship emphasis found. Address in data (1 Elevation Way, Matthews) is correct for HQ. Massive online presence. Theologically, this is a YELLOW-to-RED church depending on the rubric — entertainment-driven worship, weak on doctrinal precision, personality cult around Furtick.

#sbc#charlotte#north-carolina#megachurch#batch-21-enriched#needs-review

MOOP Engagement Tracker

How this church was personally verified by the MOOP directory team:

✓ Researched church website

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Downgraded from yellow to red based on documented modalism-leaning statements (2014 controversy), prosperity-adjacent theology, and rubric's black-tier disqualifier territory for Trinity concerns. [2026-05-19] Auto-flagged BLACK: Steven Furtick (Elevation) — prosperity-adjacent / TD-Jakes modalism detected in pastor field. MOOP disqualifier.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Live source elevationchurch.org

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.