Steven Furtick and Elevation Church: Emotionally Manipulating Baptisms

When I lived in Southern California I would visit various churches, the one I’d attend the most was a young, hip[ster], evangelical “mega Church [1].” 

I recall sitting in services where they would have “altar-calls,” inviting the congregants to “commit their life to Christ” by publicly displaying their commitment and getting baptized then and there. The energy in the room was palpable. Music blasting, congregants clapping, pastors crying, and those baptized celebrating.

I couldn’t help but think during all of this, Is this the Holy Spirit or is this emotional manipulation?

Having worked in and with a couple megachurches, I know and understand the “laser-like” focus we have on numbers and enticing others into a commitment to Jesus our tradition. Steven Furtick’s church in Charlotte, NC is a perfect example of this laser-like obsession with numbers.

Let me explain as best I can…

Megachurches they’re really not Churches so much as they are businesses or markets. The people are not people so much as they are entities. The service is not “worship” so much as it’s entertainment. On any given Sunday, everything is planned down to a T. T-Shirts are ordered, set lists are planned, professional lighting is coordinated, powerpoint slides are designed, hashtag campaigns are created, volunteer’s are strategically placed, the list goes on…

It is commonly known by pastors that there is a thin line between emotional manipulation and a movement of the Holy Spirit. But being a part from the Church and years separated from being this person, an evangelical pastor, I’ve come to realize there is not a thin line. If you’re questioning whether or not something is an emotional manipulation or a movement of God, it’s fair to say it’s an emotional manipulation.

Getting these numbers is not a mistake, it usually driven by a marketing plan. Elevation Church openly documents their process on their website sunstandstill.org/baptismkit:

To be clear, in case you read over it, the first 15 people to respond to the altar call are pretending to respond to the altar call. They’re deceiving others into believing they are not the first or only one to respond so that the ice of uncomfortability is shattered.

The document then goes on to encourage leaders to “Have them take out their phones and tweet “#follow” that they are being baptized today!!” This guide goes on to explain the “genius” of their marketing plan saying, “…We created a hash tag on Twitter and tweeted individual stories. We had a crawl on our iMag screens of live twitter feed to build excitement during the Worship Experiences.”

This is wrong in so many ways I simply don’t have enough time to cover it… But I think James Duncan brings up a necessary question asking,

“How many people will look back at that special moment and regret that they were merely a pit-stop project for a pastor who needed to boost his baptism balance sheet?” – James Duncan

We’re manipulating innocent bystanders into believing the emotions they’re feeling are of GOD. When in actuality the emotions their feeling were simply engineered for the purpose of a larger scheme, usually money. This is why Steven Furtick purchasing a 1.6 million dollar home raises questions.

Elevation Church has responded to WCNC, who have also highlighted this story, stating:

“We are confident that those who attend Elevation Church know and understand our mission and vision for reaching people for Jesus Christ. As attendees, they are provided, through weekly teachings, biblical context for everything we do and practice, such as baptism, giving, serving and inviting friends to church.:”

[1] Rather not name this church at this time.