You don’t have to look far to find a non-denominational megachurch these days with multiple campuses and an expansive digital presence. At each church’s head is a celebrity pastor known worldwide for their large congregations, videos, podcasts and more. Personally, I was soured on the megachurch idea when the leader of the church I attended became greedy, dysfunctional and split the church. But I follow one particular “mega pastor”: Louie Giglio. What draws me to his sermons online is one word: passion.
Passion isn’t just what Giglio feels about His Savior, though his love for the Lord is powerful and palpable. Passion is what he hopes to instill into the hearts and minds of those seeking to know the Lord in a more intimate way. And his goal is that we would be raising a generation of believers who go out into the world and share the beauty of the gospel.
He is probably best known for the Passion Conference that he began in 1997. For more than 10 years prior, after he’d finished seminary, he and his wife had been leading a Bible study on Baylor University’s campus. The study grew to attract roughly 10 percent of Baylor’s population, so Giglio knew there was a hunger among young people to connect with the gospel and Spirit-led worship.
How Are Passion Conferences Unique?
Louie Giglio and his wife left Texas for Atlanta in 1995, and on the flight home, he believes God gave him a vision to start Passion Conferences for students aged 18-25. They joined North Point Church in Atlanta, the home of Andy Stanley’s ministry (another megachurch) rather than starting their own. Instead Giglio would bring together students from around the country to meet together in arenas to hear Bible teaching from pastors and teachers, and contemporary Christian artists who lead worship.
According to the Passion website, “From its start in 1995, the Passion movement has had a singular mission—calling students from campuses across the nation and around the world to live for what matters most. For us, what matters most is the name and renown of Jesus. We believe in this generation and are watching God use them to change the climate of faith around the globe.”
The first conference in 1997 attracted 2,000 students. Now the event averages 50,000 attendees. Giglio subsequently founded SixStepsRecords,signing musicians like David Crowder who were “Passion players.” Ten years into these annual events, students began a justice movement in conjunction with Passion and have given over $18 million to 70 partner organizations around the world.
What Church Does Louie Giglio Pastor?
Whereas it would seem that a large-scale conference would grow out of an established church, the opposite happened in Atlanta.
Passion City Church was founded by Louie and Shelley Giglio in 2009, 12 years after their first conference. The church’s guiding principles are: “Passion City Church remains a place where the gospel is central and Jesus is always the lead story. We are a Jesus church and want to gather in worship and scatter to shine His light and love throughout the city and beyond.”
What Was The Indescribable Tour?
Another set of events that Giglio is known for began in 2005. That year Louie Giglio teamed up with musician Chris Tomlin for a nationwide tour called “Indescribable” after Tomlin’s song of the same name. With a huge video projection of images from outer space, Giglio’s message was “Looking out into the far reaches of the universe, we find a seemingly infinite expanse of mystery and wonder, intricately fashioned by a God of unfathomable size and power… the God who knows every star by name also knows yours, and mine.” It is an incredibly powerful message, and a portion of his presentation is worth a watch.”
Giglio also teamed with Tomlin during the latter’s “How Great is Our God” Tour in 2007, again based on Tomlin’s song by that name. At a point in the concert, Giglio would preach about the immensity of space once again, but brought his message down to the people. He would say that the same God who made all of these wonders, made us “fearfully and wonderfully” and knows everything about us. The climax of his presentation was his sharing that he met with a molecular biologist who showed him an image of laminin in the human body (the cell adhesion molecule that holds us all together). The cell’s design is that of a cross, and when shown to the concert-goers, would elicit shouts of awe and praise.
What Personal Mental Health Experience Did Louie Giglio Experience and Write About?
Louie Giglio was very vocal about his struggle with anxiety and depression that was born out of stress years ago.He claimed that it so overtook his ability to function for months that he nearly had a nervous breakdown. He wrote a book about the experience entitled, Goliath Must Fall. In a Guideposts interview, he stated that “The beauty in the book is that we’re not David in the story of David and Goliath . . . Jesus is David in the story of David and Goliath and He takes down the giants on our behalf and so we just learn to walk in what He’s already done for us.”
Best Books by Louie Giglio
1. Goliath Must Fall: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants
2. Putting an X Through Anxiety
3. Don’t Give the Enemy A Seat at Your Table
5. Never Too Far: Come Back from Defeat and Disappointment to Purpose and Power
6. The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life
7. Passion: The Bright Light of Glory
8. I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God
9. Seeing God as a Perfect Father
10. How Great Is Our God: 100 Indescribable Devotions About God and Science for Kids
10 Great Quotes by Louie Giglio
1. “God is always seeking you. Every sunset. Every clear blue sky. Each ocean wave. The starry hosts of night. He blankets each new day with the invitation, ‘I am here.’” — Wired: For a Life of Worship Leader's Guide)
2. “God is greater. Period.” — “When it Feels Like Life is Crushing You”)
3. “The Son of suffering, triumphant in resurrection, is working in your story right now. And He is working on it, and He is in it.” — “When if Feels Like Life is Crushing You”
4. “But to mean it when I say that I want my life to count for His glory is to drive a stake through the heart of self—a painful and determined dying to me that must be a part of every day I live.” — I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God
5. “Simply by our proximity to Jesus, we can bring hope and life to people and places trapped in discouragement and despair.” — Indescribable: Encountering the Glory of God in the Beauty of the Universe
6. “If they see everything they do as a reflection of the character of God, and if they see every opportunity they have as an opportunity to glorify God and to magnify God, then I think we've reset the parameters for the worship discussion.” — (“Where is God?”)
7. “Yet, Jesus is selfless in the way He gives His life away for you. So if your gaze is on Him, you will "treat others as He is treating you.” — PASSION: The Bright Light of Glory
8. “Worship is when we give God His breath back.” — PASSION: The Bright Light of Glory
9. “God doesn’t leave the scene when times get tough. He doesn’t evacuate under pressure.” — “Where is God?”
10. “. . . when the Devil is whispering lies in your ear, you need to know Jesus is there with you in the midst of the temptation and pressure. He’s there to rescue you when necessary, to protect you at all costs, and to fill your cups to over-flowing.” — “How to Recognize and Defeat 5 Lies the Enemy Wants You to Believe”
Whenever I listen to a sermon by Louie Giglio, I come away with such a sense of the immensity of God’s will, and yet His incredible love and purpose for each of our lives. I feel more in touch with my Father, and understand even more how I can never worship enough or praise Him enough for all that He has done for me.
Photo Credit: © Getty Images/Rick Diamond/Staff
Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
How Did the Apostle Paul Die?
Who are the Nicolaitans in Revelation?
Who Was Deborah in the Bible?
Who Was Moses in the Bible?
King Solomon's Story in the Bible
Who Was Lot's Wife in the Bible?
Who Was Jezebel in the Bible?
Who Was the Prodigal Son?
