Ed Young (Fellowship Church)

Ed Young (Edwin Barry Young, born 16 March 1961) is the founding and senior pastor of Fellowship Church. With four campuses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and two in Miami, Florida, Fellowship is one of the most attended churches in North America and was listed as the 3rd Most Influential Church in America according to a 2007 survey.

Young is the oldest son of Homer Edwin Young, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church Houston in Houston, Texas. He played basketball at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida before receiving his bachelor’s degree from Houston Baptist University and his Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Pastor

Young attended Florida State University on a basketball scholarship. Upon graduating college, he worked at his father's church as an associate pastor at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas – at the time one of the largest churches in America.

In February 1990, Young began a new church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with a core group of 150 members. Since that time, Fellowship Church has grown to an average weekly attendance of over 20,000 people.

In 2003, the church began expanding beyond its central campus by building smaller campuses that receive a live feed from the main campus in Grapevine Texas. Today, there are seven Fellowship Church locations throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and Miami, Florida.

Fellowship Church

Fellowship Church first began in a rented office complex, then moved to an arts center and then meeting in a public high school in Irving, Texas, Fellowship Church moved to its current 141-acre (0.57 km²) campus in Grapevine, Texas in the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
In 2003 Fellowship Church opened two satellite locations in the Plano and Fort Worth areas, with a third satellite opening in downtown Dallas just two years later. Fellowship Churchlaunched it satellite campus in South Miami opened in May 2006, in the Summer of 2012 they added another location in midtown Miami. In October 2012, Fellowship Church announced that it had purchased Friend Church in Columbia, SC, which would then become converted into a Fellowship Church satellite campus.

Television

Ed Young Television program was the first religious program of its kind to air on the E! Channel in 2010. Ed Young TV now streams live 24/7 on Edyoung.com.

Books

Christian Living Books:

• Sexperiment -7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse, 2011 (A New York Times Best Seller)
• The Marriage Mirror – Reflecting God in Your Marriage, 2008
• Beauty Full – Becoming More Than Just Pretty, 2007
• Outrageous, Contagious Joy – Because Happiness is Just a Cheap Imitation, 2007
• In the Zone – How to Live in the Sweet Spot of God’s Success, 2007
• You! The Journey to the Center of Your Worth, 2005
• Kid CEO – How to Keep Your Children From Running Your Life, 2004
• Rating Your Dating While Waiting For Mating, 2004
• Know Fear – Facing Life’s Six Most Common Phobias, 2003
• The Creative Marriage – The Art of Keeping Your Love Alive, 2002
• Fatal Distractions – Overcoming Obstacles That Mess Up Our Lives, 1997

Leadership Books:

• The Creative Leader – Unleashing the Power of Your Creative Potential, 2006
• High Definition Living – Bringing Clarity to Your Life’s Mission, 2003
• Can We Do That? 24 Innovative Practices That Will Change the Way You Do Church, 2002

Media and Controversy

In February 2010, Brett Shipp of Dallas local news channel WFAA ran an investigative story that reported Young is living a much more lavish lifestyle than his church members and the public knew. Such allegations include owning and vacationing in an $8 million Falcon 50 airplane, a $1 million salary, a $240,000 per year parsonage allowance, a $1.5 million home, and many companies selling his sermons for profit (which the church watchdog group Trinity Foundation of Dallas believe should belong to the church and be available for free). Young addressed the story the following weekend at Fellowship Church, confirming most of the allegations although contending some minor discrepancies.

In 2008, Young’s “7 Days of Sex Challenge,” which he issued to the married couples of Fellowship, attracted the attention of the worldwide media. In 2009, Young attracted national media attention on ABC’s Nightline (September 24, 2009) when he debated the topic of adultery with AshleyMadison.com founder Noel Biderman on the ABC special, "Born to Cheat?" Sexperiment Bed-In To promote the new book and share the message beyond the walls of the church, Ed and Lisa Young also took part in a 24 hour "bed-in" on the roof of Fellowship Church. The bed-in, which included Skype interviews with several of the Young's friends and leaders around the world, attracted local, national, and international print and television media, including:

• KXAS-TV
• Dr. Drew

Fashion

Ed Young is considered a trend setter in the field of fashion for ministers and regularly gives advice on his website pastorfashion.com

Bibliography

• Sexperiment ISBN 978-0-446-58272-8
• Beauty Full ISBN 978-1-934146-46-0
• The Marriage Mirror ISBN 978-1-934146-83-5
• Outrageous, Contagious Joy ISBN 978-0-425-21185-4
• The Creative Leader ISBN 978-0-8054-3177-3
• The Creative Marriage ISBN 978-0-9725813-0-1
• You! ISBN 978-1-58229-446-9
• Kid CEO ISBN 978-0-446-69177-2
• In the Zone ISBN 978-0-9725813-8-7
• Know Fear ISBN 978-0-8054-2572-7
• Rating Your Dating While Waiting For Mating ISBN 978-0-9725813-1-8
• High Definition Living ISBN 978-1-58229-290-8
• Can We Do That? ISBN 978-1-58229-238-0

External links

• Ed Young Television
• Ed Young on Twitter
• Ed Young on Facebook