By Jonathan Howe

As I mentioned previously, when we interviewed Brad Lomenick for the Rainer on Leadership podcast, we talked about his Young Influencer List and the reasons behind why he compiles such a list. Brad encouraged me to do the same—to find young influencers in our sphere and make our audience aware of how these young leaders are impacting others for Kingdom advancement. The qualifications are quite simple: under 40 and making a Kingdom difference.

Once again, the goal with this list is not to inflate the egos of those named, but to make you, the readers of ThomRainer.com, aware of the dozens and dozens of Christian leaders who are advancing the gospel in their respective spheres of influence. And while some pundits may sit back and claim Christianity is declining or dying, these leaders are clearly making a statement that it will not happen on their watch. They are passionate about Christ Jesus, His gospel, and taking it to the ends of the earth.

So without further adieu, here is this month’s young influencer list:

• Amy Whitfield (@acwhit) – Director of Communications at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC – In addition to her role at SEBTS, this week Amy was named as an assistant parliamentarian for the SBC Annual Meeting this summer. She became the first woman selected for that position in the modern era of the denomination. She also co-hosts the SBC This Week podcast.
• Johnnie Moore (@JohnnieM) – Author, President of The KAIROS Company, and International Spokesperson for the Museum of the Bible based in LA, NYC, and DC – Johnnie is a busy guy. A former senior vice president at Liberty University, he’s the author of several books including his latest entitled Defying ISIS.
• John Onwuchekwa (@jawno) – Lead Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, GA – A Baylor and DTS grad, John co-founded Blueprint Church in Atlanta before planting Cornerstone in 2015.
• Harvey Turner (@pastorharv) – Church planter and lead pastor at Living Stones Churches in Reno, NV – Harvey is the founding pastor at Living Stones Churches, a multi-site church with campuses all over the state of Nevada. He also serves as regional director of a large church planting network.
• BJ Thompson (@bj116) – Speaker and co-founder of Build a Better Us based in Olive Branch, MS – For three years he served with recording artist Lecrae at Reachlife and completed a three-year pastoral residency at Fellowship Memphis church, under Bryan Loritts. Over the past 10 years he has partnered with several churches and ministries to help develop marriages, form small groups, and train leaders globally.
• Elizabeth Hyndman (@edhyndman) – Editor for LifeWay Bible Studies and Social Media Strategist for LifeWay Women in Nashville, TN – Elizabeth edits many of the popular Bible studies produced by LifeWay and runs the social media accounts for one of our biggest in-house brands. She also blogs a bit on the side over at EDHyndman.com and CoffeeShoppers.net.

Please continue to pray for these individuals and their ministries. If you’d like to nominate a young influencer for consideration, let me know on Twitter: @Jonathan_Howe or in the comments section below. For previous young influencer lists, click here.