Elevation Church

Elevation Church is a Baptist multi-site church pastored by Steven Furtick, based in Charlotte, affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Weekly church attendance was 25,317 people in 2018. Elevation has 20 locations.
History.
The church began as a church plant of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, with Steven Furtick and seven other families from Christ Covenant Church in Shelby, North Carolina, relocated to Charlotte, meeting in Providence High School. On February 5, 2006, the first Sunday worship service, 121 people attended.By 2013, the church's regular attendance had grown to nearly 15,000 people weekly. According to a 2018 church census, it claimed a weekly attendance of 25,317 people and 16 campuses in different cities. By 2019, it had 18 locations across the southeastern United States and one campus in Toronto.
Outreach.
Since 2006, Elevation Church has given more than $10 million. In 2011, a partnership with Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx was established to give 100,000 hours and $750,000 to serve Charlotte people in "The Orange Initiative." In 2012, the church completed The Orange Initiative with over 102,000 hours served.
In 2008, Elevation Church gave out $40,000 to members, in envelopes filled with $5, $20, even $1,000, and told them to spend it kindly on others.
Since 2010, Elevation Church has hosted a week-long outreach called "Love Week." During the church's 2010 "Love Week," Elevation members packed more than 10,000 sandwiches for the homeless, helped single mothers get their cars serviced, donated blood, cleaned up parks and streets, built a soccer field for local ministries and renovated buildings. In 2011, Elevation and over 25 other local churches served more than 34,000 hours in a single week. In 2012, Elevation partnered with 31 other churches to serve 62 outreach organizations for a total of 50,340 hours around the city of Charlotte, N.C. Elevation also partnered with Presbyterian Hospital-Matthews to help fund enhancements and expansion at a local free clinic.
In 2012, Elevation Church launched an initiative calling for members to mentor children for the 2012–2013 school year, with over 1,600 responding. The school outreach program was criticized in local LGBT media.
Controversies.
Elevation Church has been criticized over its practice of selecting volunteers who wish to be baptized to do so during so-called "spontaneous baptism" services. In response to the initial coverage, Elevation released a statement, which reads in part: "We are confident that those who attend Elevation Church know and understand our mission and vision for reaching people for Jesus Christ. As attendees, they are provided, through weekly teachings, biblical context for everything we do and practice, such as baptism, giving, serving and inviting friends to church."
Pastor Steven Furtick does have known associations with pastors like T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen, both commonly referenced figures in relation to Prosperity theology.