2026 Edition · Top 25
Bobby Chandler
Founder & Lead Pastor · Authentic Church · Hickory, NC, United States
Bobby Chandler reaches 1.87M followers on personal accounts across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook, ranking #14 on REACHRIGHT's 2026 Pastor Influence 100. The largest single audience is Instagram, at 834K followers.
Score Breakdown
Personal accounts only · data collected August 15, 2026 · methodology
Platform Presence
What counts
Four platforms are scored: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Only accounts the pastor operates count here. Church-branded accounts are scored separately in the Church Influence 100.
About Bobby Chandler
Bobby Chandler is founder and lead pastor of Authentic Church, based in Hickory, North Carolina. He started the ministry in 2012 as an outreach effort in Shreveport, Louisiana, years before it became the congregation now based in Hickory.
In 2018, Chandler and his wife, Christy, moved their family of five to Matthews, North Carolina, and launched Authentic Church out of their backyard before relocating the church plant to Hickory. Since that 2018 relaunch, the church has grown from a small home gathering into a congregation with an online following spanning multiple countries.
Chandler's total index reach of 1,865,942 runs mostly through short-form video: Instagram carries 834,000 followers and TikTok another 782,300, while his YouTube channel, smaller at 150,000 subscribers, grew 21 percent this year.
The Church Behind the Platform
Founder & Lead Pastor
Authentic Church
Hickory, NC, United States
Authentic Church is not ranked in the 2026 Church Influence 100. The two indexes measure different things: one scores church-branded accounts, this one scores the pastor's own.
A personal following is a trust account. People follow a name, hear a voice, and decide what to believe about the church behind it. That is a weight to carry well, not a scoreboard to win.
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Bobby Chandler: Quick Answers
Who is Bobby Chandler?
Bobby Chandler is founder and lead pastor of Authentic Church, based in Hickory, North Carolina. He started the ministry in 2012 as an outreach effort in Shreveport, Louisiana, years before it became the congregation now based in Hickory.
How many followers does Bobby Chandler have?
As of June 2026, Bobby Chandler reaches 1.87M followers across personal accounts: 150K YouTube subscribers, 834K Instagram followers, 782K TikTok followers, 99.6K Facebook followers. These figures count accounts the pastor operates, not the church's official accounts.
What church does Bobby Chandler pastor?
Bobby Chandler serves as Founder & Lead Pastor of Authentic Church in Hickory, NC.
Is Bobby Chandler still the pastor of Authentic Church?
At the June 2026 data collection, Authentic Church listed Bobby Chandler as Founder & Lead Pastor. We report leadership exactly as each church publishes it, and the index is rebuilt every year. Check the church's own site for the current staff listing.
Where does Bobby Chandler rank among the most influential pastors online?
Bobby Chandler ranks #14 on the 2026 REACHRIGHT Pastor Influence 100 with an Influence Score of 73.8 out of 100, scored on audience reach (50 percent), growth velocity (30 percent), and platform breadth (20 percent).
How fast is Bobby Chandler's audience growing?
The YouTube channel Bobby Chandler runs grew 21 percent in the twelve months before June 2026, reaching 150K subscribers. That measured growth scores 70.6 out of 100 on the velocity pillar, which is 30 percent of the Influence Score.
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