Chris Elrod
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Chris Elrod (born February 28, 1966) is the lead pastor and founder of Compass Point Church[1], a Christian community of faith in Lakeland, Florida. A pastor, speaker, blogger[2] and writer, Elrod is best known as a successful Christian comedian who toured extensively throughout North America from 1990 to 2000.
[edit] Biography
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and a graduate of East Texas Baptist University, Elrod also lived in West Monroe, Louisiana, Colorado Springs, Colorado and the suburbs of Orlando, Florida.
Getting his start as a Christian comedian during his college days, Elrod toured throughout the United States and Canada appearing at churches, comedy clubs, college campuses, Christian music festivals and television[3]. Represented by the Ambassador Speaker's Bureau[4], he averaged over 200 speaking engagements each year and shared the stage with such diverse Christian artists as Kathy Troccoli, The Newsboys and Larnelle Harris. He also spoke in hundreds of prisons throughout the U.S. as a platform artist for Operation Starting Line[5], a ministry outreach of Prison Fellowship.
After leaving a full-time speaking ministry in 2000 Elrod served as associate pastor in Southern Baptist Convention churches throughout Central Florida, including Dr. Al Mohler's home church, Southside Baptist Church[6]. In 2004 Elrod founded a Bible study in a north Lakeland apartment complex, which quickly grew into an official church plant for the Florida Baptist Convention. Today Compass Point Church attracts mainly young, artistic 20-somethings and is considered a portable church.
Over the last year Elrod has used his writing skills to create an online weblog[7] detailing his work as a church planter and pastor. His posts about the future of church planting and pastoral leadership have begun to attract a sizeable following from leaders within the emerging church and church planting movements. Recently, a quote from one of his blog postings about niche churches ended up in an Associated Press[8] article that was picked up by dozens of media outlets throughout North America, including The Washington Post, Forbes Magazine Online, Fox News[9] and dozens of newspapers[10].
[edit] Family
Chris and his wife Denise have no children and live in Lakeland, Florida.
