Jentezen Franklin

Jentezen Franklin (born July 21, 1962) is an American pastor, author and television personality. He is the senior pastor of Free Chapel Worship Center, a multi-site church based in Gainesville, Georgia and author of New York Times best sellers, Right People, Right Place, Right Plan and Fasting. His ministry extends internationally through the televised broadcast, Kingdom Connection, which is seen on television networks such as TBN and The Church Channel.^[1]

Personal life

Jentezen Franklin is one of five children born to Billy and Katie Franklin in Wilson, North Carolina. His father died in 1991, and his mother remains actively involved in Franklin's church, Free Chapel. His mother is one of twenty-seven children in the Stone family of Wilson, North Carolina. He has two older brothers, Doyle and Richie, and two younger sisters, Jennifer and Jill. Early in his career, Franklin traveled as an evangelistic team with his elder brother, Richie, who died December 1, 2012. Franklin and his wife, Cherise, married in September 1987, and they have five children: Courteney, Caressa, Caroline, Connar, and Drake.^[2]

Franklin studied tenor saxophone under Frank Mayes at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in his hometown of Wilson, North Carolina. Franklin, along with his brother, Richie, played in the college jazz band. He left college after his brother graduated and pursued the ministry under the guidance of his father. He eventually became an evangelist in the Church of God.

Ministry

On his way to a musical career as a saxophone player, Franklin became an evangelist. After Roy Wellborn, senior pastor of Free Chapel, died in 1989, Franklin was formally installed as pastor of Free Chapel, which at the time was a small congregation of 300 people. In 2004, the church moved to its current location, which has a 3,000 seat auditorium.^[3] It is one of the largest churches in Georgia, and one of the largest (if not the largest) in the Congregational Holiness Church.

Congregations on two coasts

In 2007, Franklin opened the second Free Chapel Church in Irvine, California. On August 5, 2007, the church held its first service with about 163 members in attendance. It has since grown almost as rapidly as the Gainesville location.^[3]

After preaching two sermons in Gainesville Sunday mornings Franklin, his family and staff members fly to Southern California, where he preaches an evening service. They return to Gainesville later in the week.^[3]

He has since opened additional satellite campuses in Suwanee, Georgia and Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Forward Conference

Forward is an annual student conference hosted by Franklin's church since 2004. It is held every year in both Atlanta, Georgia and Irvine, California.

Published works

• Fasting: (Volume I) Private Discipline That Brings Public Reward (2004)
• Fasting: (Volume II) Opening A Door To God's Promises (2005)
• The Amazing Discernment of Women: Learning to Understand Your Spiritual Intuition And God's Plan for It (2006)
• Right People, Right Place, Right Plan (2007) (publisher's page)
• Right People, Right Place, Right Plan Devotional: 30 Days of Discerning the Voice of God (2008) (publisher's page)
• Fasting: Opening the door to a deeper, more intimate, more powerful relationship with God (2008)
• Fasting Journal: Your Personal 21-Day Guide to a Successful Fast (2008)
• Believe That You Can (2008)
• Fear Fighters: How to Live with Confidence in a World Driven by Fear (2009)
• The Fasting Edge: Recover your passion. Recapture your dream. Restore your joy. (2011)
• The Spirit of Python: Exposing Satan's Plan to Squeeze the Life Out of You (2013)

See also

• Pentecostalism
• Glossolalia
• Fasting
• Faith healing

References

External links

• JentezenFranklin.org Jentezen Franklin Media Ministries
• Free Chapel Senior Pastor
• Free Chapel OC (Orange County) Senior Pastor
• Free Chapel Gwinnett Senior Pastor
• Forward Conference Forward Conference