{{Short description|American pastor (born 1967)}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox writer | name = Craig Groeschel | image = Craig Groeschel.png | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|12|2}} | birth_place = Houston, Texas | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Minister, author, speaker | nationality = American | period = | subject = Leadership<br />Christian growth | movement = | notableworks = | signature = | website = {{URL|CraigGroeschel.com}} | imagesize = | influences = | influenced = }} '''Craig Groeschel''' (born December 2, 1967) is the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church, an American evangelical multi-site church with locations in 12 U.S. states.
==Early life and education == Groeschel grew up in southern Oklahoma, attending Ardmore High School. After high school, he attended Oklahoma City University on a tennis scholarship and was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He earned a bachelor's degree in Marketing. He met his wife Amy at OCU and the two married in 1991. That same year, Groeschel entered the ministry as an associate pastor in the United Methodist Church. He attended Phillips Theological Seminary, which is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and earned a Master of Divinity degree. He was an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City at the time of the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing.<ref>Emily M. Bernstein, [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/24/us/terror-in-oklahoma-the-displaced-its-building-is-shattered-but-church-survives.html?pagewanted=1 "Terror in Oklahoma: The Displaced; Its Building Is Shattered, But Church Survives"], ''The New York Times'', April 24, 1995.</ref><ref>Julie DelCour, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?no=subj&articleid=517872&archive=yes "Public Chapel to Open At Site of OC Church"], ''Tulsa World'', June 22, 1995.</ref>
==Pastoral career== In 1996, Groeschel and a handful of people started Life Covenant Church in a two-car garage. He later told ''Business Week'' that he started the process by performing market research of non-churchgoers and designed his church in response to what he learned about people's preconceptions about boring church experiences.<ref>William C. Symonds, [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2005-05-22/earthly-empires "Earthly Empires: How evangelical churches are borrowing from the business playbook], ''BusinessWeek'', May 22, 2005.</ref> Groeschel's approach was successful and attendance grew rapidly, eventually resulting in Life.Church becoming one of the largest Protestant churches in the United States with 46 physical Life.Church locations as of 2025.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.life.church/locations | title=Life.Church Locations }}</ref> Groeschel began using videos to deliver some of his sermons beginning in 2001, discovering that the videos were popular with churchgoers.<ref>Cathy Lynn Grossman, [https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-12-17-1Amultichurches17_VA1_N.htm "Pastors debate video's pros, cons"], ''USA Today'', December 16, 2009.</ref><ref>Bill Sherman, [http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?no=subj&articleid=040821_Re_A12_Messa60502&archive=yes "Message in the medium"], ''Tulsa World'', August 21, 2004.</ref> In 2006, he set up a website called ''Mysecret.tv'' as a place for people to confess anonymously on the Internet.<ref>Neela Bannerjee, [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/01/us/01confession.html "Intimate Confessions Pour Out on Church's Web Site"], ''The New York Times'', September 1, 2006.</ref><ref>[https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/7526/thousands-of-evangelical-christians-confessing-on-line "Thousands of evangelical Christians confessing on-line"], Catholic News Agency, September 4, 2006.</ref> Groeschel also began delivering services to the Second Life virtual world on Easter Sunday 2007.<ref>Stephanie Simon, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-08-na-virtual8-story.html "It's Easter; shall we gather at the desktops?"], ''Los Angeles Times'', April 8, 2007.</ref>
Life.Church's YouVersion Bible app, developed by the church's technology team, achieved 1 billion downloads as of November 2025.<ref>[https://religionnews.com/2021/11/19/gutenberg-meet-gruenewald-app-builders-youversion-puts-bible-in-half-billion-phones/ Gutenberg, meet Gruenewald. App builder's YouVersion puts Bible in half-billion phones.] (Religious News Service, 11/19/2021)</ref> Life.Church also makes available free resource libraries and software platforms to other churches.
==Workplace culture and allegations== In April 2026, The Roys Report published an investigation documenting accounts from more than a dozen former Life.Church staff members describing a toxic workplace culture. According to the reporting, employees reported being required to divulge extensive personal information during hiring interviews, with sensitive details later being used against them in the workplace. Former employees described the environment as involving excessive criticism for minor missteps, expected vulnerability in personal matters, and terminations of employees for offenses while leadership faced no similar accountability.<ref>Ann Marie Shambaugh, [https://roysreport.com/former-staff-life-church-toxic-work-culture-alleged-assault-by-groeschel/ "Former staff at Life.Church describe toxic work culture and an alleged assault by Pastor Craig Groeschel"], ''The Roys Report'', April 23, 2026.</ref>
In February 2022, multiple witnesses reported observing Groeschel putting a male employee in a chokehold in the Life.Church headquarters. A staff member who arrived shortly after reported the employee required medical attention and suffered a bruised esophagus. Life.Church stated the incident "was intended as a brief, lighthearted interaction" that "didn't land the way (Groeschel) meant it to," while a former personal assistant to Groeschel stated that the affected employee had expressed alarm about the incident. The former assistant noted that, based on Groeschel's demonstrated patterns regarding loyalty, anger, and control, the assault could have involved intentions beyond "male bonding."<ref>Shambaugh, 2026.</ref> An Edmond Police Department records request found no police report filed regarding the incident. Former staff stated that employees had been terminated for significantly less serious conduct.
Life.Church stated it does not use non-disclosure agreements but uses separation agreements for employees receiving severance beyond legal requirements. However, former staff members documented that separation agreements contained restrictive language prohibiting statements that could "disparage or reflect adversely on the church," and reported instances of employees forfeiting severance packages rather than signing such agreements.<ref>Shambaugh, 2026.</ref>
==Personal life== Groeschel is married to Amy and has six children and seven grandchildren. They live in Edmond, Oklahoma, a suburb of Oklahoma City, where Life.Church is based.<ref>{{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.life.church/who-we-are/ | contribution = Leadership Team | url = http://www.life.church/ | title = Life Church | accessdate = February 20, 2010}}.</ref>
== Business== Groeschel served on the Board of Directors of Gulfport Energy Corporation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gulfportenergy.com/about/board-of-directors |title= Gulfport Energy Board of Directors |access-date= 2016-08-12}}</ref> Groeschel's 2016 compensation was a grant of 3,824 equity shares on June 10, 2016 <ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/gpor/insiders?pid=99282061 |title= MarketWatch |access-date= 2016-08-12}}</ref> with a value of $125,006.56<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/gpor/historical |title= Nasdaq Gulfport Energy Corporation Common Stock Historical Stock Prices |access-date= 2016-08-12}}</ref> at close of business that day. On December 15, 2017, Groeschel sold 7,059 shares of Gulfport Energy stock for $85,837<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://wallmine.com/people/11298/craig-groeschel|title=Craig Groeschel Net Worth|date=2019-07-20|website=wallmine|access-date=2020-12-04}}</ref> according to SEC filings. In November 2019, Gulfport Energy announced Groeschel's resignation from the board.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oklahoman.com/article/5647472/gulfport-announces-layoffs-board-resignations-monday|title=Gulfport announces layoffs, board resignations Monday|last=Money|first=Jack|date=2019-11-19|website=The Oklahoman|access-date=2020-12-04}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Bibliography == *''Chazown: A Different Way to See Your Life'' (2006) {{ISBN|1-59052-547-7}} *''Confessions of a Pastor'' (2006) {{ISBN|1-59052-720-8}} *''Going All the Way: Preparing for a Marriage That Goes the Distance'' (2007) {{ISBN|1-59052-938-3}} *''It – How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It'' (2008) {{ISBN|0-310-28682-4}} *''The Christian Atheist: Believing in God but Living as if He Doesn't Exist'' (2010) {{ISBN|0-310-32789-X}} *''Dare To Drop The Pose'' (2010) {{ISBN|978-1601423146}} *''Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working'' (2011) {{ISBN|0-310-32790-3}} *''Love, Sex, and Happily Ever After'' (2011) {{ISBN|978-1601423696}} *''Soul Detox: Clean Living in a Contaminated World'' (2012) {{ISBN|0-310-33368-7}} *''Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are'' (2013) {{ISBN|0-310-33371-7}} *''Fight: Winning the Battles that Matter Most'' (2013) {{ISBN|0-310-33374-1}} * ''From this Day Forward: Five Commitments To Fail-Proof Your Marriage'' (2014) {{ISBN|978-0-310-33748-5}} * ''#Struggles: Following Jesus in a Selfie-centered World'' (2015) {{ISBN|978-0-310-34293-9}} *''Divine Direction: 7 decisions that will change your life'' (2017) {{ISBN|978-0-310-34283-0}} *''Hope in the Dark : Believing God is good when life is not'' (2018) {{ISBN|978-0-310-34295-3}} *''Dangerous Prayers: Because Following Jesus Was Never Meant To Be Safe'' (2020) {{ISBN|0-310-34312-7}} *''Winning The War In Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life'' (2021) {{ISBN|978-0-310-36272-2}} *''Lead Like It Matters: 7 Leadership Principles For A Church That Lasts'' (2022) {{ISBN|0-310-36283-0}} *''The Power to Change: Mastering the Habits That Matter Most'' (2023) {{ISBN|978-0-310-36277-7}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}} *[https://www.craiggroeschel.com/ Craig Groeschel web site]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Groeschel, Craig}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:Oklahoma City University alumni Category:Clergy from Houston Category:People from Edmond, Oklahoma Category:21st-century American Methodist ministers Category:American United Methodist clergy Category:Oklahoma City Stars men's tennis players