The Most Influential Pastors, Ranked by Data
Not the most famous. Not the wealthiest. The 25 pastors whose churches reach the most people, measured across four platforms. Updated June 2026.
Steven Furtick of Elevation Church is the most influential pastor of 2026, measured by his church's combined digital reach of 28.97M followers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Bill Johnson (Bethel Church) and Craig Groeschel (Life.Church) rank second and third. Together, the top 25 pastors on this list lead churches reaching 116M people online. Rankings follow each church's Influence Score in the Church Influence 100, so a pastor's position reflects measured audience, not name recognition.
The Top 10
Each pastor is ranked by the measured digital reach of the church they lead.
#1 Steven Furtick
Elevation Church
28.97M
combined reach
#2 Bill Johnson
Bethel Church
14.21M
combined reach
#3 Craig Groeschel
Life.Church
4.12M
combined reach
#4 Josh Howerton
Lakepointe Church
1.54M
combined reach
#5 Kong Hee
City Harvest Church
2.48M
combined reach
#6 Phil and Lucinda Dooley
Hillsong Church
28.87M
combined reach
#7 Henry Seeley
The Belonging Co
889K
combined reach
#8 Paul Enenche
Dunamis International Gospel Centre
2.88M
combined reach
#9 Daniel Floyd
Gateway Church
2.21M
combined reach
P. Satish Kumar
Calvary Temple
2.35M
combined reach
The 25 Most Influential Pastors of 2026
Ranked by their church's Influence Score. Click any row for the church's full profile.
| Rank | Pastor | Reach |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steven Furtick Elevation Church | 28.97M |
| 2 | Bill Johnson Bethel Church | 14.21M |
| 3 | Craig Groeschel Life.Church | 4.12M |
| 4 | Josh Howerton Lakepointe Church | 1.54M |
| 5 | Kong Hee City Harvest Church | 2.48M |
| 6 | Phil and Lucinda Dooley Hillsong Church | 28.87M |
| 7 | Henry Seeley The Belonging Co | 889K |
| 8 | Paul Enenche Dunamis International Gospel Centre | 2.88M |
| 9 | Daniel Floyd Gateway Church | 2.21M |
| 10 | P. Satish Kumar Calvary Temple | 2.35M |
| 11 | José Luis Cinalli Iglesia de la Ciudad | 985K |
| 12 | Joby Martin The Church of Eleven22 | 503K |
| 13 | Jack Hibbs Calvary Chapel Chino Hills | 421K |
| 14 | Stephen Chandler Union Church | 1.77M |
| 15 | B. Jeremiah Emmanuel Ministries Hyderabad | 624K |
| 16 | Cash Luna Casa de Dios | 4.84M |
| 17 | Peter Tan-Chi Christ's Commission Fellowship | 4.65M |
| 18 | Guillermo Maldonado Ministerio Internacional El Rey Jesus | 897K |
| 19 | Dag Heward-Mills First Love Church (Lighthouse) | 371K |
| 20 | Ricardo Rodríguez Centro Mundial de Avivamiento | 3.36M |
| 21 | Nicholas Duncan-Williams Action Chapel International | 231K |
| 22 | Andrew Corson El Lugar de Su Presencia | 3.92M |
| 23 | Gary Hamrick Cornerstone Chapel | 662K |
| 24 | James Griffin Crosspoint City Church | 197K |
| 25 | Joel Osteen Lakewood Church | 3.67M |
The Most Influential Pastors in America
65 of the 99 ranked pastors lead American churches, and part of the global top 10 are American. Here is the US-only top 10, in index order.
How Pastor Influence Is Measured
Every "most influential pastors" list you have seen was assembled the same way: an editor made a list of names they recognized. This one works differently. A pastor's influence is measured by the church they lead, using each church's Influence Score from the Church Influence 100.
That score combines three measured pillars: reach (combined followers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook), velocity (1-year audience growth), and breadth (consistent presence across platforms). The data is collected from public platform counts each June and verified against each church's official accounts.
The result is a list nobody can buy their way onto and no editor can play favorites with. The full scoring formula, eligibility rules, and verification process are published on the methodology page.
The takeaway
12 of the top 25 pastors on this list lead churches outside the United States, a share that grows every year. Influence is no longer an American export. If you lead a church and want to know where your own digital reach stands, get your church's Influence Score or compare the churches themselves on the most influential churches in America.
Questions, Answered
Who is the most influential pastor in America?
Steven Furtick of Elevation Church (Matthews, NC) is the most influential pastor in America in the 2026 Church Influence 100. The church he leads reaches 28.97M combined followers across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, the largest measured digital reach of any church in the index. Bill Johnson (Bethel Church) and Craig Groeschel (Life.Church) rank second and third.
How do you measure a pastor’s influence?
This ranking measures each pastor by the church they lead. Every church in the Church Influence 100 is scored on measured reach (combined followers across four platforms), velocity (1-year growth), and breadth (presence across platforms). The pastor of the #1 church is the #1 pastor. No panels, no book sales, no fame points, and no net-worth estimates. Just the audience their church actually reaches.
Are these the pastors of the biggest churches by attendance?
Often, but not always. Attendance and digital influence are different measurements. Some churches fill 20,000 seats a weekend with a modest online audience, while others reach millions online from a single campus. This list measures digital reach. For the attendance view, see our ranking of the largest churches in America.
Who are the most famous megachurch pastors?
The most-recognized megachurch pastors in the 2026 data are Steven Furtick, Bill Johnson, Craig Groeschel, Josh Howerton, Kong Hee, each leading a church in the top five of the Church Influence 100. Fame and influence usually travel together at the very top of the list, then diverge quickly after it.
Why is a well-known TV preacher missing from this list?
Two common reasons. First, the index measures church-branded accounts, not a pastor’s personal channels, so a preacher with a huge personal following but a smaller church presence ranks lower than expected. Second, the Church Influence 100 has eligibility rules: it tracks local churches and church-branded networks, not standalone media ministries. The full rules are on the methodology page.
Influence like this gets built on purpose.
Every church on this list posts consistently, in formats people actually watch. That's not luck. That's a system. We run that system for churches every week: sermon clips, graphics, carousels, captions, posted for you.