Edwin Barry “Ed” Young Jr. (born March 16, 1961) is an American pastor, author, and conference speaker. He is the founding senior pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, one of the largest megachurches in the United States.
Known for bold, prop-driven sermons and a string of New York Times bestselling books, Young has built a ministry that reaches tens of thousands of people weekly across multiple campuses and online.
He is also the eldest son of Dr. Ed Young Sr. (Homer Edwin Young), the longtime senior pastor of Second Baptist Church Houston. The two men lead entirely separate churches and ministries.
Ed Young Jr. at a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Edwin Barry Young Jr. |
| Born | March 16, 1961 — Canton, North Carolina, USA |
| Age | 65 (as of 2026) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Lisa Young (married 1980s; 40+ years) |
| Children | LeeBeth Young (d. 2021), EJ Young, Landra Young Hughes, Laurie Young Kelly |
| Parents | Homer Edwin Young (Ed Young Sr.) and Jo Beth Landrum Young |
| Siblings | Ben Young, Cliff Young |
| Education | |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate | Florida State University (attended); Houston Baptist University (B.A.) |
| Graduate | M.Div., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas |
| Ministry | |
|---|---|
| Title | Founding Senior Pastor |
| Church | Fellowship Church, Grapevine, Texas |
| Founded | 1989 (launched publicly February 1990) |
| Denomination | Non-denominational evangelical |
| Website | fellowshipchurch.com |
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Books | 12+ including multiple NYT Bestsellers |
| Net Worth | Estimated $11–15 million |
| Other ministries | C3 Global, C3 Conference, Ed Young Television, Fellowship Live |
Early Life and Family Background
Ed Young Jr. was born on March 16, 1961, in Canton, North Carolina. He grew up as the eldest of three boys in a household shaped entirely by faith and ministry.
His father, Homer Edwin Young — widely known as Ed Young Sr. — would go on to pastor Second Baptist Church in Houston, one of the largest Southern Baptist congregations in the country.
Growing up with that as your backdrop means church was not a Sunday activity. It was the air you breathed.
Young spent his formative years in Houston, Texas, after his father settled into ministry there. He has described his upbringing as faith-rich but grounded.
His two brothers, Ben Young and Cliff Young, both went into ministry as well. Ben would eventually become senior pastor at Second Baptist after their father stepped down in 2024, while Cliff serves as the church’s global worship pastor. Ministry, for the Young family, runs in the blood.
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Education
Young attended Florida State University in Tallahassee on a basketball scholarship. He was a capable player and the sport clearly shaped his competitive, high-energy personality — qualities that still show up in his preaching style.
During his freshman year, something shifted. He felt a pull toward ministry that he could not ignore. After his sophomore year, he transferred to Houston Baptist University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree.
He went on to pursue a Master of Divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
That theological grounding became the backbone of everything he would build at Fellowship Church, even as his preaching style moved far from the traditional seminary mold.
Founding Fellowship Church
Young launched Fellowship Church in 1989, and the doors officially opened to the public in February 1990. The first gatherings happened in a rented office complex. Not exactly a grand beginning. But the church grew fast — faster than any rented office park could hold.
The congregation relocated to an arts center, then to MacArthur High School in Irving in 1996 to handle the growing crowds.
By 1998, the church had moved into a permanent facility in Grapevine, Texas, on a 141-acre property. That building, and that campus, became the launchpad for everything that followed.
By 2003, Fellowship Church had opened its first satellite locations in Fort Worth and Plano. Growth continued steadily.
The church added a campus in South Miami, Florida in 2006, and in North Port, Florida in 2017. By the time Fellowship Church passed the 30,000 weekly attendance mark, it had established itself as one of the most-attended evangelical churches in America.
Ministry Growth and Global Outreach
Young built Fellowship Church around one core idea: the Bible is relevant to real life. His sermons consistently tackled subjects that other pastors often avoided from the pulpit — marriage, sex, money, doubt, parenting. The topics were accessible. The production values were high. And the style was anything but conventional.
Beyond the local church, Young founded C3 Global, a network that trains and equips pastors around the world. The annual C3 Conference (Creative Church Conference) draws thousands of ministry leaders and has become one of the leading pastor-training events in evangelical circles.
Young has said the conference has equipped well over a million pastors and leaders globally. Relief efforts connected to C3 have reportedly provided more than 11 million meals to those in need.
His international footprint also includes Ed Young Television, a televised broadcast ministry, and Fellowship Live, the church’s online campus. Long before online church became standard, Fellowship was streaming services to a global audience.
Rise to Prominence
Young was not the kind of pastor who rose slowly. His combination of biblical directness, creative stagecraft, and an almost uncomfortable willingness to talk about things like sex and money made him a figure people talked about — sometimes admiringly, sometimes critically.
His 2012 New York Times bestseller Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse, co-written with Lisa, came with a live stunt that made national headlines.
Young and Lisa actually spent 24 hours on a bed on the roof of Fellowship Church, publicly demonstrating their sermon series on marriage and intimacy.
News vans showed up. Late-night hosts mentioned it. The stunt was either brilliant contextual ministry or a cringe-worthy PR move, depending on who you asked. Either way, it worked — the book sold.
Young has hosted celebrity guests at Fellowship Church over the years, including NFL stars Troy Aikman and Tony Romo, Ryan Tannehill, Willie and Korie Robertson of Duck Dynasty, Rev Run, and Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The church’s reach extended well beyond the typical Sunday church crowd.
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The Ferrari Sermon
In 2011, Young drove a Ferrari onto the Fellowship Church stage during a sermon series called RPM: Relationships, Passion, Marriage.
The illustration was theological: just as a Ferrari is made valuable by its maker’s design, human beings carry value because they are made in the image of God. Lose sight of that, he argued, and you lose your understanding of why marriage matters.
The clip went viral. It has been shared and reshared for years, often without the theological context that surrounded it. Some called it a creative, disarming way to reach a culture obsessed with status and materialism.
Others said it was precisely the wrong symbol to use from a Christian pulpit. The debate about the Ferrari is really a debate about Young’s entire ministry approach — whether spectacle serves the Gospel or distracts from it.
Books and Publications
Young is a prolific author. His books span marriage, parenting, doubt, creativity, and grief. Several have hit bestseller lists, including the New York Times and Amazon charts.
| Title | Theme | Notable |
|---|---|---|
| Sexperiment: 7 Days to Lasting Intimacy with Your Spouse | Marriage | NYT Bestseller (2012) |
| The Marriage Mirror | Marriage | With Lisa Young |
| Outrageous, Contagious Joy | Faith & joy | Popular conference resource |
| The Table | Family & community | |
| Who Are They? | Identity & relationships | |
| Fifty Shades of They | Relationships | |
| Kid CEO | Parenting | |
| High Definition Living | Christian living | |
| The Creative Marriage | Marriage | |
| A Path Through Pain | Grief & loss | Co-written with Lisa after LeeBeth’s death (2023) |
A Path Through Pain (2023) stands apart from the rest. It came directly from the grief of losing their daughter LeeBeth in January 2021.
Rather than writing a theological treatise on suffering, Young and Lisa wrote from inside the pain. The book has been described by readers as one of the most honest Christian grief resources available.
Personal Life
Marriage to Lisa Young
Ed Young Jr. has been married to Lisa Young for more than four decades. Lisa is not simply a pastor’s wife who smiles from the front row.
She co-pastors Fellowship Church alongside Ed, speaks at conferences, and has co-authored several of his books. Her focus as a speaker and teacher is on helping women understand their worth and identity in Christ.
The Youngs are regularly cited as one of the most visible pastoral couples in American evangelicalism. Their willingness to talk publicly about their own marriage — including its challenges — has made them a reference point for couples in their congregation and far beyond it.
Children and the Loss of LeeBeth
Ed and Lisa have four children: EJ Young, Landra Young Hughes, Laurie Young Kelly, and their firstborn, LeeBeth Young, who died on January 19, 2021, at age 34.
LeeBeth worked on staff at Fellowship Church and was known as a gifted speaker in her own right. What the public did not know, and what her parents later chose to share openly, was that LeeBeth had been battling anxiety and depression for years.
She had begun self-medicating with alcohol and Adderall. On January 19, 2021, she died after a seizure related to alcohol withdrawal, with her family present.
Ed Young announced the loss on social media, describing LeeBeth as “our precious and cherished daughter” and affirming that because of her faith in Christ, “she is now healed and whole in His presence.”
He did not share the cause of death at the time. It was only later, in interviews and in the pages of A Path Through Pain, that the fuller story came out.
The Youngs made a deliberate choice to speak about LeeBeth’s addiction publicly. They have been clear: addiction is not a moral failure.
LeeBeth’s faith, they have said, never wavered, even in her hardest seasons. Their openness has brought measurable comfort to families dealing with similar struggles inside and outside church walls.
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Theology and Ministry Philosophy
Young describes his approach to ministry as creative, relevant, and unapologetically biblical. He is not a verse-by-verse expository preacher in the classical sense.
His sermons are built around life topics — sex, marriage, money, doubt, pain — and he works backward from a relevant issue to biblical truth. Critics see this as shallow. Supporters say it is exactly how you reach people who would never sit through a traditional sermon.
He operates from an evangelical, broadly Protestant theological framework. Fellowship Church is non-denominational today, though Young was raised in and trained within the Southern Baptist tradition.
The church’s statement of beliefs reflects mainstream evangelical Christianity: Scripture as authoritative, salvation through Christ alone, believer’s baptism, and a high view of marriage and family.
Young has invested heavily in church creativity — arguing that a God who invented color, story, music, and imagination expects His Church to reflect that creativity, not retreat into gray walls and monotone delivery. The C3 Conference was built entirely around that conviction.
Criticism and Controversies
Young has attracted persistent criticism on two fronts: his ministry style and his finances.
On style, his detractors — including some Reformed pastors and theologians — argue that his approach prioritizes entertainment over theological depth.
The Ferrari, the rooftop bed, a Rolls-Royce used in another sermon illustration — these stunts have been described by critics as more spectacle than Scripture.
Young has consistently defended the approach, saying the goal is always to use a hook that opens a door to the Gospel.
On finances, a 2010 investigation by Dallas-Fort Worth’s WFAA News 8 reported that Young earned a salary of roughly $1 million per year, plus a $240,000 annual housing allowance, and traveled on a private jet that the church helped fund.
The investigation also noted that Young and his attorney had created several for-profit companies to sell his sermons, books, and teaching materials separately from the nonprofit church.
Watchdog groups raised questions about whether the arrangement adequately separated church resources from personal profit.
Fellowship Church responded that all compensation arrangements go through an independent compensation committee and full board disclosure.
In 2024, a filmmaker seeking answers about Young’s housing allowance was arrested for criminal trespass on church property, reigniting public questions about financial transparency.
The church called his behavior disruptive; the filmmaker maintained he was asking legitimate questions that deserved answers.
Young is not alone among high-profile American pastors in facing scrutiny over compensation and lifestyle. Pastors like Joel Osteen and others have faced similar questions.
The debate reflects a broader tension in American evangelicalism about wealth, success, and the pastor’s role as both shepherd and public figure.
Ed Young Jr. vs. Ed Young Sr. — Who Is Who?
This is one of the most Googled questions surrounding both men, and it deserves a straight answer.
Ed Young Jr. (Edwin Barry Young Jr., born 1961) is the pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. He is married to Lisa Young, his wife of 40+ years. He has not remarried. He is 65 years old as of 2026.
Ed Young Sr. (Homer Edwin Young, born August 11, 1936) is the former senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston. His full legal name is Homer Edwin Young — “Ed Young” is the name he goes by in ministry.
He was married to Jo Beth Landrum Young for decades until she died in 2017. In 2020, he remarried Lisa Milne, a program coordinator at Second Baptist.
Ed Young Sr. stepped down from the pulpit in 2024, handing leadership to his son Ben Young. He is 89 years old as of 2026 and, as of the time of writing, is still alive.
The confusion arises because both men go by “Ed Young” in public life, both are associated with large Texas churches, and both have a wife named Lisa.
The two Lisas are completely different people. Lisa Young (Jr.’s wife) has been married to Ed Young Jr. since the 1980s. Lisa Milne (Sr.’s wife) married Ed Young Sr. in 2020.
Ed Young Jr. Net Worth
Ed Young Jr.’s net worth is estimated at $11 to $15 million, based on publicly available reporting and typical earnings for pastors of megachurches with significant book, media, and speaking income.
This figure is an estimate — neither Young nor Fellowship Church discloses personal financial details publicly.
His income streams include his pastoral salary, book royalties across more than a dozen titles, speaking fees at conferences and events, and income from CreativePastors.com, a platform that sells sermon resources and teaching content.
The 2010 WFAA investigation pegged his church salary alone at approximately $1 million annually, though that figure is from 16 years ago and may not reflect current arrangements.
He is reported to own a 10,000-square-foot estate on Lake Grapevine in Texas, and has previously traveled on private aircraft. Whether those arrangements are personal or church-related has been a matter of public dispute.
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Is Pastor Ed Young Still Alive?
Yes. Ed Young Jr. is alive. He was born on March 16, 1961, and is 65 years old as of 2026. He continues to serve as founding senior pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas.
His father, Ed Young Sr. (Homer Edwin Young), is also alive as of the time of writing. He was born on August 11, 1936, and is 89 years old. He stepped down from active preaching at Second Baptist Church Houston in 2024.
Interesting Facts About Ed Young Jr.
- He played college basketball at Florida State University on a scholarship before transferring to Houston Baptist University to pursue ministry.
- He has a brother, Ben Young, who became senior pastor at Second Baptist Church Houston in 2024 after their father stepped down.
- In 2011, he drove a Ferrari onto the church stage as a sermon illustration — the clip has been viewed millions of times and is still shared today.
- He and Lisa spent 24 hours on a bed on the roof of Fellowship Church as a live sermon illustration for the launch of Sexperiment in 2012.
- Ed Young has hosted NFL quarterbacks, Duck Dynasty stars, and Navy SEALs as guest speakers at Fellowship Church.
- In 2024, a great white shark tagged by ocean researchers was named after his late daughter LeeBeth. The shark traveled farther west into the Gulf of Mexico than any previously tracked great white on record.
- Fellowship Church’s Grapevine campus sits on 141 acres, one of the largest church properties in Texas.
- He founded C3 Global, which has trained over a million pastors worldwide and supported relief efforts providing more than 11 million meals.
- His father Ed Young Sr. served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Ed Young Jr. eventually moved to a non-denominational framework for Fellowship Church.
- His pastoral peers include Rick Warren and Jentezen Franklin, with whom he has shared conference stages.
Timeline of Key Events
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1961 | Born March 16 in Canton, North Carolina |
| 1979–1981 | Attends Florida State University on a basketball scholarship |
| 1981–1983 | Transfers to Houston Baptist University; earns bachelor’s degree |
| 1983–1986 | Earns M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth |
| 1989 | Founds Fellowship Church |
| February 1990 | Fellowship Church opens to the public in a rented office complex |
| 1996 | Church moves to MacArthur High School in Irving to accommodate growth |
| 1998 | Fellowship Church opens permanent campus in Grapevine, Texas on 141 acres |
| 2003 | First satellite campuses open in Fort Worth and Plano |
| 2006 | Fellowship Church Miami campus opens in South Miami, Florida |
| 2010 | WFAA News 8 investigation into Fellowship Church finances airs |
| 2011 | Ferrari sermon during RPM series goes viral |
| 2012 | Sexperiment becomes a New York Times bestseller; rooftop bed stunt |
| 2017 | Fellowship Church Norman campus opens in Oklahoma |
| January 19, 2021 | Daughter LeeBeth Young dies at age 34 |
| 2023 | Publishes A Path Through Pain with Lisa Young |
| 2024 | Filmmaker arrested at Fellowship Church over financial transparency questions |
| 2026 | Continues as founding senior pastor of Fellowship Church; age 65 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Ed Young Jr.?
Ed Young Jr. was born on March 16, 1961, making him 65 years old as of 2026. He was born in Canton, North Carolina, and grew up in Houston, Texas.
Is Pastor Ed Young still alive?
Yes. Ed Young Jr. is alive and continues to serve as the founding senior pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. His father, Ed Young Sr. (Homer Edwin Young), is also alive as of 2026, at age 89.
Who is Ed Young Jr.’s wife?
Ed Young Jr.’s wife is Lisa Young. They have been married for more than four decades. Lisa co-pastors Fellowship Church, speaks at conferences, and has co-authored several of Ed’s books. She is not the same person as Lisa Milne, who married Ed Young Sr. in 2020.
Did Ed Young remarry?
No. Ed Young Jr. has not remarried. He and Lisa have been married for over 40 years. The “Ed Young remarries” search results refer to his father, Ed Young Sr. (Homer Edwin Young), who remarried Lisa Milne in 2020 after his first wife, Jo Beth, died in 2017.
Who is Lisa Milne and is she connected to Ed Young Jr.?
Lisa Milne is not connected to Ed Young Jr. She is the wife of Ed Young Sr. (Homer Edwin Young), Ed Young Jr.’s father. Lisa Milne was a program coordinator at Second Baptist Church Houston when she married Ed Young Sr. in 2020, three years after the death of his first wife, Jo Beth.
Who is Homer Edwin Young?
Homer Edwin Young is Ed Young Jr.’s father. He is better known publicly as Ed Young Sr. and served as senior pastor of Second Baptist Church Houston from 1978 to 2024. He also served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. His son, Ben Young, now leads Second Baptist. Homer Edwin Young was born on August 11, 1936, and is 89 years old as of 2026.
What is Ed Young Jr.’s net worth?
Ed Young Jr.’s net worth is estimated at $11 to $15 million, based on available reporting. His income includes his pastoral salary, book royalties, speaking fees, and income from sermon and ministry resources he sells through separate companies. A 2010 news investigation reported his church salary at approximately $1 million per year, though that figure is dated.
What is the Ed Young Jr. Ferrari story?
In 2011, Young drove a Ferrari onto the Fellowship Church stage during a sermon series called RPM: Relationships, Passion, Marriage. The illustration argued that just as a Ferrari’s value comes from its maker, human beings carry worth because they are made in the image of God. The clip went viral and remains one of the most-watched moments in megachurch sermon history — celebrated by some as creative ministry, criticized by others as misplaced symbolism.
What happened to Ed Young Jr.’s daughter?
LeeBeth Young, Ed and Lisa’s firstborn daughter, died on January 19, 2021, at age 34. She worked on staff at Fellowship Church and was privately battling anxiety, depression, and a dependency on alcohol and Adderall. She died after a seizure related to alcohol withdrawal, with her family present. Ed and Lisa later shared the full story publicly in interviews and in their 2023 book A Path Through Pain, stating that addiction is an illness — not a moral failure — and that LeeBeth’s faith never wavered.
What denomination is Ed Young Jr.?
Fellowship Church is non-denominational. Young was raised in and ordained through the Southern Baptist tradition, trained at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and early in ministry served at his father’s Second Baptist Church. Fellowship Church operates independently today, without formal Southern Baptist Convention affiliation.
What is Fellowship Church?
Fellowship Church is a non-denominational evangelical megachurch headquartered in Grapevine, Texas. Founded by Ed Young Jr. in 1989 and launched publicly in 1990, the church now operates across multiple campuses in Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma, with an online campus serving a global audience. Weekly attendance across all campuses exceeds 20,000 people.
