Edwin Barry "Ed" Young (born March 16, 1961) is the founding and senior pastor of Fellowship Church.

Early life

Born in Canton, North Carolina, Young is the oldest son of Homer Edwin Young, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church Houston in Houston, Texas. He attended and played basketball at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, where he received a basketball scholarship. After his sophomore year, he transferred to Houston Baptist University where he received his bachelor's degree followed by a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

Early Ministry Work

After his studies, he returned to Houston, Texas to work at Second Baptist Church Houston as an associate pastor.

Fellowship Church

In February 1989, Young began Fellowship Church out of a rented office complex before moving to an arts center. In 1996, Fellowship Church moved into Irving's MacArthur High School to accommodate five weekend services and a weekly attendance of 5,000. Fellowship Church opened its first permanent facility on a 141-acre (0.57 sq km) property in Grapevine, Texas in 1998. In 2003, Fellowship Church opened its first two satellite locations in Plano and Fort Worth, TX. A third satellite campus launched two years later in Dallas, TX. Between the four locations, weekly attendance was over 20,000. In May 2006, Fellowship Church opened a satellite campus in South Miami, FL; North Port Florida in 2017. In August 2018, Journey Church in Norman, OK became Fellowship Church Norman. In 2008, Fellowship Church hosted its first summer camp and retreat center in Hawkins, TX at Allaso Ranch.

Outreach

When the country of Haiti was struck by an earthquake in 2010, Fellowship Church and C3 Global began proving relief and to date has provided almost 11 million meals. In partnership with C3 Global, FC hosts an annual retreat for Gold Star families with America's Mighty Warriors, with past guests Rick Perry, Glenn Beck, and Mike Huckabee. In 2016, Fellowship Church opened its first prison campus; God Behind Bars. It has since opened 2 more prison campuses. In 2017, Fellowship Church participated in relief recovery for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Television

Ed Young Television program was the first religious program of its kind to air on the E! Channel in 2010. Ed Young TV has also been seen on EdYoung.com, Roku, and Netflix.

Lifestyle

In 2010, Pastor Ed Young was criticized for his luxurious lifestyle, including the purchase of a Falcon 50 private jet, an annual housing allowance of $240,000 per year, and an annual salary of $1 million dollars.