Jonathan Pate Falwell (born September 7, 1966) is the senior

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mounta ...

, and campus pastor at

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia ( Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Lib ...

Education

Falwell earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from

in 1987, his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in Religion from the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 1995, and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree in 2005 from the

Taft Law School Taft Law School is a private for-profit online law school in Santa Ana, California. It was founded in 1976 and operates through the Taft University System ( William Howard Taft University). The school offers Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Master of Laws ...

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...

Family

He is the son and successor of the late Reverend

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...

and the brother of former Liberty University President

Jerry Falwell Jr. Jerry Lamon Falwell Jr. (; born June 17, 1962) is an American attorney, former academic administrator, and prominent evangelical. Starting with his 2007 appointment upon the death of his father, televangelist and conservative activist Jerry Fal ...

His older sister, Jeannie, is a surgeon. During a 1974 family discussion about abortion as the 'national sin' of America, Jonathan asked his father why he did not do something about it, which was the start of his father's reading of other

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

writers such as

Francis Schaeffer Francis August Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife Edith Schaeffer, , a prolific autho ...

on the issue.

Career

As a young adult and minister in his father's church, Thomas Road Baptist Church, Jonathan invested in video processing technology and began overseeing the operations of the church ministry. He became the executive pastor of Thomas Road, and was named senior pastor after his father died in 2007. Since then the church has grown and its influence in the community has expanded. He has been voted by local publications as one of the most influential people in the city multiple times. He has led the church to start multiple campuses, and created a church network (Liberty Church Network) to help equip pastors and plant churches. Under his leadership the church plants thousands of churches each year through the Liberty Church Network as well as partnerships with The Timothy Initiative. In April 2021 the trustees of Liberty University named Falwell as the university's pastor. In June 2021 it was reported that they are considering naming him to the vacant post of university chancellor, which would "make Falwell one of the main stewards of the university and give him a role in hiring Liberty’s next president."

Personal life

Falwell and his wife, Shari, have four children: Jonathan Jr., Jessica, Natalie, and Nicholas. They reside in Lynchburg, Virginia.

References

External links

Archived personal webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falwell, Jonathan Pate 1966 births Living people 20th-century Baptists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States American Christian theologians American Christian writers American Christian Zionists American evangelicals American male non-fiction writers American television evangelists Baptists from Virginia Liberty University alumni Liberty University faculty Writers from Lynchburg, Virginia Southern Baptist ministers 21st-century American male writers