Andy Stanley to step down as head of North Point Community Church next year
Megachurch Pastor Andy Stanley has announced that he will step down as lead pastor of Georgia-based North Point Community Church next year.
In a message to his church on Sunday, Stanley, 68, said he plans to step down as senior pastor of North Point Ministries in January and as lead pastor of North Point Community Church in June, around his 69th birthday.
North Point Ministries is the multisite church network based in the Atlanta area, while North Point Community Church is its campus in Alpharetta, Georgia.
Stanley said he chose to transition out of his roles, and that a major reason was “to be able to say ‘yes’ to my grandchildren without having to check my schedule.”
“So, it’s both a professional thing, an organizational thing, and, obviously, these decisions are personal,” Stanley said, noting that he was also thinking of the “health” of his church network.
Although he is stepping down from both roles, he will remain a church elder and will still preach periodically, saying this is his family's church.
"The best thing for this next iteration of what we are going to do together requires a younger leader who can project a vision further out than I could because of my age and season of life," Stanley said. "I am not trying to be the hero. I am not trying to be a martyr. I just believe in what we do, and this is one of the reasons I am confident this is the right time."
The board of elders nominated Pastor Joel Thomas, executive director of North Point Ministries, to succeed Stanley, pending a congregational vote that is open from Sunday through Friday, Oct. 30.
"Joel is absolutely the right person," Stanley said.
Thomas previously served as lead pastor of North Point Community Church from 2011 to 2015, when he moved to Arizona to become senior pastor of Mission Community Church, a role he held until 2021.
Stanley said that while North Point does not keep a traditional membership list, eligible voters must be at least 18 years old and, over the past 18 months, have taken part in a small group, volunteered on a church team, given financially at least four times or consistently checked in a child.
The ballot asks voters to approve or reject Thomas as senior pastor of North Point Ministries, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Voters must provide their full name and email address. Results will be announced Nov. 1. Stanley said about 50,000 people would receive an email or letter with a link to the online ballot.
"Joel began his ministry career as the first intern of North Point Ministries in 1998, then served in college, singles, and married adult ministries before becoming Lead Pastor of North Point Community Church in 2011," an online announcement reads. "In 2015, Joel and his family moved to Arizona, where he served as Senior Pastor of Mission Community Church for nearly seven years. In 2021, he returned to the Atlanta area to rejoin North Point Ministries and lead Buckhead Church, where he served for five years. During this time his responsibilities expanded to include serving as Executive Director of North Point Ministries."
The son of the late Southern Baptist pastor and author Charles Stanley, Andy Stanley founded North Point Community Church in 1995. It has grown to eight local campuses and hundreds of global partner churches.
In 2023, Stanley’s church drew backlash for hosting the Unconditional Conference, a two-day gathering for Christian parents of LGBT-identified children that some argued departed from biblical teaching on sexual ethics.
Stanley defended the conference as beneficial to LGBT-identified minors in the Church who are struggling with an “immutable” characteristic, and said his church affirms the biblical definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Stanley’s theological views have at times drawn controversy. In April 2018, for example, he preached a sermon calling on Christians to "unhitch" their faith from the Old Testament.
In that sermon, Stanley preached on Acts 15, which describes how the early Church decided that Gentile converts did not need to strictly observe Jewish law to become Christians.
"[First century] Church leaders unhitched the Church from the worldview, value system, and regulations of the Jewish scriptures," said Stanley. "Peter, James, Paul elected to unhitch the Christian faith from their Jewish scriptures, and my friends, we must as well."
Wesley Hill, then of Trinity School for Ministry, was among the critics, writing that the sermon “can really only be described as an elaborate and educated flirtation with the old Christian heresy of Marcionism — the belief that the Old Testament is not authoritative in matters of Christian doctrine and morals.”
Months after the sermon, Stanley told Michael Brown on Brown’s podcast that he considered the Old Testament divinely inspired and that his remarks were aimed at an audience turned off by biblical arguments.
"I told my kids growing up, if anyone ever asks you 'do you believe Adam and Eve are real people?' here is how you are to answer: do not say 'yes because the Bible says Adam and Eve were real people,'" he said.
"You say this: 'I believe Adam and Eve were historical characters because Jesus did. And when somebody predicts their own death and resurrection and pulls it off, I go with whatever they say.'"
