Louie Giglio
Louie Giglio (pronounced GIG-leo; born June 30, 1958) is the American pastor of Passion City Church, located in Atlanta, Georgia. The founder of the Passion Movement, he is an author and public speaker.
Louie Giglio | |
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![]() Louie Giglio is the Founder of The Passion Movement and Global Pastor of Passion City Church | |
Born | June 30, 1958 |
Education | Georgia State University Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary—Master of Divinity Baylor University |
Occupation | Pastor Author Speaker |
Organization | Passion City Church Passion Conferences sixstepsrecords |
Notable work | Not Forsaken Goliath Must Fall Indescribable: 100 Devotions About God & Science The Comeback The Air I Breathe I am Not But I Know I Am Waiting Here for You |
Home town | Atlanta, Georgia |
Spouse(s) | Shelley Giglio |
Biography
Giglio was born in Atlanta on June 30, 1958.[1] He grew up in the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna and graduated from Campbell High School. He later graduated from Georgia State University and earned a Master of Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.[2] Later he went to Grace Theological Seminary to pursue a Doctor of Ministry degree.[3] After finishing seminary, Giglio and his wife Shelley, whom he married in 1986, began a weekly Bible study called Choice at Baylor University where he was doing graduate studies. After several years, over 10% of the Baylor student body was attending the weekly gathering, and Giglio's heart for the significance of the "university moment" was set.[4][5]
In 1995, Giglio decided to move from their home in Waco, Texas, to Atlanta, Georgia, because of his father's failing health,[3] although his father died from a brain infection and a heart attack prior to their arrival in Atlanta. Around that time, during a flight from Texas to Georgia, Louie was inspired to start a national gathering of college students, which would later become Passion Conferences.[5] The first Passion Conference was held in 1997 in Austin, Texas, with about 2,000 university students in attendance.[6] Since then, Passion continues to host annual gatherings in the United States and around the world for college students.[6] Until the founding of Passion City Church, Giglio was a longtime member of North Point Community Church.
Giglio is the national-bestselling[7] author of Not Forsaken, Goliath Must Fall, Indescribable: 100 Devotions about God & Science,The Air I Breathe: Worship as a Way of Life and I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story Of God. Giglio's latest release, Not Forsaken, debuted at number 3 on the Publishers Weekly Trade Paper Frontlist[8], and ranked number 6 on the May 2019 Religion Nonfiction bestsellers list.[9] His previous trade release, Goliath Must Fall, made the Publishers Weekly bestseller list in May 2017 [10] and was #31 in the list of the top 100 bestselling Christian books of 2017.[11] His talks "Indescribable" and "How Great Is Our God" have been viewed by churches and individuals around the world. The "Laminin" clip from his message "How Great Is Our God" has been viewed over 3 million times on YouTube.[12]
Statements
On January 11, 2013, Giglio withdrew from the second Obama inauguration at which he due to deliver a benediction after it became known in a sermon he delivered in the 1990s he urged Christians to oppose the "aggressive agenda" of the gay rights movement. He described homosexuality as a "sin in the eyes of God, and it is sin in the word of God".[13]
In a conversation about racism with Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy and rapper Lecrae in June 2020, Giglio suggested that Americans replace the phrase "white privilege" with "white blessing". He said that the "blessing of slavery" had built up the framework for the world that white people live in. Giglio issued an apology on Twitter for his comments.[14]
Passion Conferences
Since 1995, the Passion Movement has hosted close to a million university students at events ranging from the first Passion Conference in Austin, Texas, in January 1997 which 2,000 people attended to "OneDay 2000", a gathering of 40,000 students for prayer and worship outside Memphis, Tennessee, to the seventeen-city Passion World Tour of 2008.[15] Passion has hosted local campus events at leading universities in The U.S., as well as larger regional and national events in cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.
Notably, in January 2017, more than 55,000 students gathered for Passion 2017 in Atlanta's Georgia Dome for one of the largest Jesus-focused events in its history,[16] and one of the last events to be held in the Georgia Dome prior to its November 2017 implosion.[17] Each year, Passion Conference attendees are encouraged to give generously toward Christian outreach around the world: raising $785,000 to build a Syrian Hospital in 2016[18] and sponsoring 7,000 at-risk children through Compassion International in 2017.[19]
As a part of the Passion movement, Giglio also founded sixstepsrecords, a record company that works in partnership with Sparrow Records and is a subsidiary of Passion Conferences. This label is home to artists Crowder, Sean Curran[20], Kristian Stanfill, and Passion.[21] In 2008, Giglio, with the help of Chris Tomlin, founded megachurch Passion City Church, a branch of Passion Conferences, in Atlanta, GA.[22] Passion City Church would later expand to Cumberland, Georgia[23] and Washington, D.C. in 2017.[24]
Writings
- Giglio, Louie (2003). The Air I Breathe: [worship as a way of life]. Sisters, OR: Multnomah. ISBN 9781590526705. OCLC 71826079.
- ——— (2005). I Am Not But I Know I Am: Welcome to the Story of God. Sisters, OR: Multnomah. ISBN 9781590522752. OCLC 57531626.
- ——— (2006). Wired: For a Life of Worship; Journey: 30 day worship. Sisters, OR: Multnomah. ISBN 9781590525838. OCLC 62084261. - a version of The Air I Breathe
- ———; Redman, Matt (2011). Indescribable: encountering the glory of God in the beauty of the universe. Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook. ISBN 9780781406031. OCLC 759519752.
- ———; Moore, Beth; Caine, Christine; Piper, John; Smith, Judah; Chan, Francis (2014). Passion: the bright light of glory. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 9780529110114. OCLC 871177000.
- ——— (2015). The Comeback: it's not too late and you're never too far. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 9780718097134. OCLC 962835105.
- ——— (2017). Goliath Must Fall: Winning the Battle Against Your Giants. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 9780718088866. OCLC 962835106.[25]
- ——— (2017). Indescribable: 100 Devotions About God & Science. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 9780718086107. OCLC 979564065.
- ——— (2019). Not Forsaken: Finding Freedom as Sons & Daughters of a Perfect Father. Nashville, TN: B&H Books. ISBN 9781535956956. OCLC 1081385221.[26]
- ——— (2019). How Great Is Our God: 100 Indescribable Devotions About God and Science. Nashville, TN: Tommy Nelson. ISBN 9781400217212. OCLC 1104859319.[27]
References
- "Louie Giglio Artist Profile". NewsReleaseTuesday. Retrieved January 24, 2013.
- "Louie Giglio Books and Ministry". Christ Notes. 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2008.
- Givens, Joshua. (August 13, 2008) Associated Content. Louie Giglio - A Brief Biography on the Renowned Christian Author and Speaker.
- Farias, Andree. (April 25, 2005) Christianity Today. A Passion for the Christ - Thousands of college students attend Passion worship conferences annually. We talked to the guy behind it all, Louie Giglio, a former campus pastor with a heart on fire for God.
- "Louie Giglio: The Heart Behind the Passion". CBN.com - The Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- "Louie Giglio Q&A: Millennials May Be Leaving the Church But They're Walking Toward Christ (Part 1)". Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- "May Religion Bestsellers: Louie Giglio Breaks Top Four; 'The Broken Road' Takes #1". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- "Bestselling author and Passion movement founder Louie Giglio's new book "Not Forsaken" hits No. 3 on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list". B&H Publishing. 2019-05-20. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
- "May Religion Bestsellers: The Rational Bible is Back; Richard Paul Evans Tops". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
- "May Religion Bestsellers: Louie Giglio Breaks Top Four". Publishers Weekly. 8 June 2017.
- "ECPA Bestsellers 2017 Books". Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). Retrieved 28 February 2018.
- Video on YouTube
- Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (January 10, 2013). "Minister Backs Out of Speech at Inaugural". The New York Times. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- Morris, Seren (June 16, 2020). "Atlanta Megachurch Pastor Wants to Use the Phrase 'White Blessings' Instead of 'White Privilege'". Newsweek.
- Hansen, Collin. (March 23, 2007) Christianity Today. Passion Takes It Higher - The most influential annual gathering of young evangelicals plans to go global.
- "About – Louie Giglio". www.louiegiglio.com. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- Martin, Jill. "Georgia Dome imploded after 25 years of use". CNN. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- "Students at Christian conference raise $785,000 to build Syrian hospital". USA TODAY College. 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- "Passion Students Sponsor Every Compassion Child in Four Countries". News & Reporting. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
- "News: Passion Drops Empowering "Step Into The Light" Featuring Sean Curran | Freeccm.com". Retrieved 2019-06-13.
- Geil, Mark. (November 17, 2008) Christianity Today. What's in a Label?: sixstepsrecords - Learn how a tiny homespun record label focused solely on worship became one of the most successful in the music business today, fueled by music from the likes of Chris Tomlin and David Crowder.
- "Chris Tomlin leaving Austin Stone!!! – john saddington". john saddington. May 11, 2008. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- "Passion City Church approved for Cumberland expansion". ajc. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- "D.C." Passion City Church. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
- "Goliath Must Fall". Archived from the original on February 4, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
- "Bestselling author and Passion founder Louie Giglio Releases new book "Not Forsaken," More Passion resources to come this year". B&H Publishing. 2019-02-05. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
- "Louie Giglio's new children's devotional hopes to bridge the divide between God and science". Christian Post. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
External links
- Passion City Church
- 268generation - Web site for Passion Conferences
- sixstepsrecords - Home of Crowder, Sean Curran, Kristian Stanfill, and Passion.
- louiegiglio.com - Louie Giglio official website