Certain churches thrive on celebrity culture. We see that after the fall of Robert Morris, Gateway Church turned to celebrity pastors to fill the vacancy and stem the reported loss of membership. And so they turned to Max Lucado to lend his credibility to their cause. This is far more common in charismatic megachurch culture than it is in a more Reformed and complementarian tradition. It is seldom to come across a church that trades in celebrity to boost its influence as much as Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
Nashville is already a prestigious city in Evangelicalism, with few others able to compete on the same level. But the level of celebrity influence at Immanuel Church would include Ray Ortlund, Gavin Ortlund, Russell Moore, and Sam Allberry.
Ray Ortlund, the father of Gavin Ortlund might be the most harmless of the quartet. He is listed as a “Pastor to Pastors” in the leadership section of their church website. What sort of wisdom does a man who finds Liz Cheney to be an inspirational politician have to offer pastors? Perhaps his son Gavin Ortlund will answer. Gavin Ortlund is a softspoken millennial who left a pastorate in California to become a full time YouTuber, not an easy feat. Gavin Ortlund’s channel size is not large enough to become a day job but combined with his impressive 421 paid subscribers on his Patreon is perhaps enough to support a full time income with tiers ranging from $2-100. Gavin Ortlund is the theologian in residence at Immanuel Church, despite his liberal theology which includes theistic evolution, a local flood, and the inability to call universalism a heresy.
Ortlund has recently undergone a high level of scrutiny due to being featured in Megan Basham’s book. Megan Basham believes he is a rising star in Big Eva, a shorthand for the Evangelical Industrial Complex. Part of her reasoning was that Gavin Ortlund is an inaugural fellow at the Tim Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics which is a grooming program of celebrity influencers. By strange coincidence, Immanuel Church has another Keller fellow in Sam Allberry, the associate pastor. Allberry is the only member of this quartet who is for certain receiving a paycheck from Immanuel Church. Allberry is the founder of Living Out a “gay Christian” organization that peddles Side B Theology in the UK. Their website even has an “inclusivity” evaluation for church leaders to assess how welcoming their church is to homosexuals. With his influence, Immanuel Church should pass the test for being welcoming.
And last but not least, Russell Moore, the editor-in-chief at Christianity Today. Russell Moore is perhaps the biggest sellout in Evangelicalism. Moore is listed as a “Minister In Residence” which is a distinction from pastor. Christianity Today has been an apostate outlet for several years, and Russell Moore has contributed to this trajectory while leading the organization. Russell Moore is famous for being a force driving the Southern Baptist Convention’s liberal drift which included a host of unfounded slander on his way out. But Russell Moore, in addition to championing Southern Baptist feminism also championed illegal aliens, homosexuals, Branch Covidianism where he took Zuck-bucks, and is currently engaged in a curriculum seeded with dark money alongside David French and Curtis Chang.
Moore is one of the most villainous figures in Evangelicalism today, with Francis Collins perhaps being the only more malevolent influence due to the suffering his tenure as head of the National Institutes of Health inflicted on the nation and world.
For a church to have Russell Moore as a leader is a sign to mark and avoid, but they have also Ray Ortlund, Gavin Ortlund, and Sam Allberry. Yikes.
As a side note, Barnabas Piper, the son of John Piper, is also an associate pastor there. Whereas he is most famous for familiarity and his unfortunate and highly publicized divorce, on the surface there is no reason to expand the quartet to a quintet. But he is worth mentioning given that a church that seeks celebrity influence happens to have the son of one a famous pastor who runs one of the largest online ministries on staff.
Immanuel Church is a wretched hive of Big Eva scum and villainy, perhaps the most brazenly corrupt church in the United States in both quantity and treachery.
3 Responses
Is A Texas Megachurch Going Woke?
A possible plot to turn “Gateway” into “Gayway”
Max Lucado choice for interim pastor very ill-advised. Deliberate or incompetence or.?
https://www.currentrevolt.com/p/woke-lucado-at-gateway
Ray Ortlund Jr, the senior pastor, ferociously denounced Christians who support Trump in 2019. I don’t know whether this was one shot that he fired or whether he has made a habit of doing this regularly like Russell Moore and David French.
The other Ortlund son, Dane, who is famous for writing the Meek and Lowly book, got written up in Christianity Today for firing a church worker who had been an employee in good standing for many years and even berating an elder for helping her carry away her stuff, leading to the elder feeling the need to leave the church. One reason not to go to a woke church is because woke evangelicals are mean as rattlesnakes. You will not enjoy the experience. Ask the people who have had to deal with David Platt, JD Greear, Matt Chandler, Scott Sauls and Tullian T.
Having Sam Alberry is a pastor is just reprehensible. I am not saying that it is impossible that the man is really a Christian but his fruit is not good. More importantly we have to learn from the mistakes of others. The disaster of worldwide scandal that came about from the Roman Catholic Church ordaining homosexuals on condition that they give their Boy Scouts’ honor promise that they would practice chastity and keep quiet about their inclinations should be an object lesson to us all. The Christian ministry exists to promote the health of the broader church and not to provide fulfillment for the aspirations of individuals.