PHOENIX -- Tommy Barnett has inspired grass-roots evangelism like no other church leader in America, according to a report by Charisma News Service.
Not only have Barnett's ideas radically changed how charismatic churches and ministers do their work, his efforts have inspired thousands and are credited for the birth of multiple large Christian organizations. A profile on Barnett will be featured in the March issue of Charisma magazine.
Pastor of the 15,000-strong Phoenix First Assembly of God in Arizona, Barnett, and men he has trained, lead three of the largest churches in the Assemblies of God denomination.
"I think Barnett is one of the most inspirational men I have ever known," T.D. Jakes, pastor of the 28,000-member Potter's House church in Dallas, told Charisma. "He has -- by his presence, his preaching and his persona -- the ability to motivate others to reach for their dreams."
Barnett's annual pastors school, which started 25 years ago, has become a bonafide phenomenon, drawing 14,000 people a year. One of the school's biggest fans is Ted Haggard, pastor of 9,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.
"I go to megachurch pastors schools all the time -- I'm a pastors school junkie," Haggard said, "and Tommy Barnett's is the only one I've ever been to -- in all my life -- where they talk about love. All the others talk about systems and programs and structures, but only Tommy's school, exclusively, coaches people on how to love one another."
At least four major ministries were born at Phoenix First: the National Association for Marriage Enrichment, a kind of Promise Keepers for couples; the Master's Commission; the Dream Center; and a professional athletes conference. Each still operates from or has close ties with the church, but Barnett makes no effort to exert a strong hand over them.
"We have a philosophy," Barnett, 65, said. "Whatever God gives us, we give it away because that makes us work harder to come up with something new. It keeps us on the cutting edge instead of sticking to the same old stuff."
