John Pavlovitz

John Pavlovitz (born June 1, 1969) is an American former youth pastor and author, known for his social and political writings from a liberal Christian perspective.[1][2]

John Pavlovitz
Born (1969-06-01) June 1, 1969
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of the Arts (Philadelphia)
Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Notable workStuff That Needs to Be Said
A Bigger Table
Hope and Other Super Powers
SpouseJennifer
Children2
Websitejohnpavlovitz.com

Early life and education

Pavlovitz was born in Syracuse, New York, to a middle-class family of Italian and Russian descent,[3] and was raised as a member of the Catholic Church.[1][2] He studied graphic design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.[1][4]

Ministry

After college, Pavlovitz joined a Methodist church, where he married his wife Jennifer.[1][5] He attended Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary and became a youth minister at the church.[6] Pavlovitz later worked for nearly a decade as youth pastor, in a program serving several hundred students[4] at the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, a "megachurch"[4] in Charlotte, North Carolina before being fired. In 2022, he launched Empathetic People Network, a private paid social media network for "kind humans".[7]

Writing

Pavlovitz began a blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said in 2012,[8] and was fired from a Raleigh, North Carolina, church in 2013 in response to "provocative" articles he had posted.[4][1][9] He later became a youth minister at North Raleigh Community Church.[1]

His blog has gained a large following[10] and media attention for articles he has written on the subjects of acceptance of homosexuality ("If I Have Gay Children", 2014),[1][11][9][2] attitudes about rape ("To Brock Turner's Father, from Another Father", 2016),[1][2][12][13] the presidential candidacy of Hillary Clinton ("Thank You, Hillary", 2016),[14] and the character of Donald Trump ("It's time we stopped calling Donald Trump a Christian", 2017).[15][16][17]

In 2017, Westminster John Knox Press published his first book A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community,[6] which describes what he sees as the four foundations of the Christian church, and argues for creating a more inclusive society and church community.[2][18][19] His second book Hope and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto offers advice for individuals seeking to counter "the highly partisan cultural climate", and was published by Simon & Schuster in November 2018.[20]

Personal life

Pavlovitz and his wife, Jennifer, have two children.[21]

In October 2021, Pavlovitz underwent surgery to have a noncancerous pituitary tumor removed from the base of his brain.[22]

References
  1. Abrams, Amanda. "How Raleigh's John Pavlovitz Went from Fired Megachurch Pastor to Rising Star of the Religious Left". Indy Week. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  2. "John Pavlovitz, digital pastor of the resistance, pitches a bigger Christian tent". Religion News Service. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  3. "I'm Italian and Russian". Twitter. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  4. Prentice, George. "John Pavlovitz". Boise Weekly. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  5. "John Pavlovitz". The Good Men Project. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  6. "John Pavlovitz: Bringing people to the table with honest talk about tough topics". Faith and Leadership. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  7. Pavlovitz, John. "Empathetic People Network". Empathetic People Network. Mighty Networks. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  8. "2012 - Page 15 of 15 - john pavlovitz". john pavlovitz. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  9. Stevens, Heidi. "Just in time for Thanksgiving, instructions on building a bigger, more inclusive table". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  10. "'This is nothing like the faith I entered into': Ex-megachurch pastor explains his path away from conservatism". Raw Story. November 22, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  11. "Stuff That Needs to Be Said". OutSmart Magazine. January 10, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  12. "You Have to Read This Father's Powerful Response to Brock Turner's Dad". Cosmopolitan. June 7, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  13. Kurtz, Jason. "Pastor to Stanford swimmer's father: 'Brock is not the victim'". CNN. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  14. "North Carolina Christian pastor writes piercing open letter to Hillary Clinton". Daily Kos. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  15. "North Carolina pastor: 'It's time we stopped calling Donald Trump a Christian'". News Observer. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  16. "Why This Pastor Is Telling People to Stop Calling Donald Trump a Christian". The Christian Post. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  17. "Trump Rips Into ESPN as Pastor John Pavlovitz Says He Agrees With Jemele Hill's White Supremacist Claims". The Christian Post. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  18. Houle, Zachary (September 9, 2017). "A Review of John Pavlovitz's "A Bigger Table"". Zachary Houle. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  19. "A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community". The Presbyterian Outlook. March 22, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  20. "Nonfiction Book Review: Hope and Other Superpowers: A Life-Affirming, Love-Defending, Butt-Kicking, World-Saving Manifesto by John Pavlovitz. Simon & Schuster, $20 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-5011-7965-5". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  21. "John Pavlovitz". Yes Very Happy. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  22. Pavlovitz, John (October 16, 2021). "Things You Think When You Think You're Dying". john pavlovitz. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
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