Michael Youssef to Step Down as Pastor, Shift Focus to Leading the Way Ministry

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Radio minister and author Michael Youssef says he is stepping away from his Atlanta church to give full attention to his other endeavors.

In a video message to ministry partners late last week, Youssef announced he would soon step down as pastor of Atlanta’s the Church of the Apostles, which he founded in 1987 and has led ever since. Youssef said his son, Jonathan, would succeed him as the new pastor.

Youssef’s voice is known throughout the world thanks to his Leading the Way radio ministry.

“In the next six months, I will be passing the baton in the Church of the Apostles to my son, Jonathan, and I'm going to be at Leading the Way full time,” Youssef said in a video message while standing alongside his wife, Elizabeth. “I will be having an opportunity to travel throughout the country and get to meet some of you in person, as well as many opportunities to speak.”

Further, Youssef announced he would continue the Awake America campaign, which launched in 2020 as a national call for spiritual renewal in hopes of sparking a “Third Great Awakening.”

“We're continuing [the] Awake America campaign as well as our overseas crusades for evangelism. So I appreciate your prayers, and now we need your prayers more than ever – but thank you for your partnership. Both Elizabeth and I deeply appreciate what you have done in the past, what you will be doing in the future, as we focus a great deal of time on Awake America.”

Youssef is an Egyptian-born pastor, author, and broadcaster who immigrated to the United States after studying theology in Australia. He founded the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta and later launched Leading the Way, a global media ministry heard by millions in multiple languages. Over the decades, he has become a prominent evangelical voice known for his Gospel-centered preaching, cultural commentary, and worldwide evangelistic outreach.

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Photo Credit: ©Leading the Way

Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel. 

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