Jonathan Falwell among guests at Empower Evangelism Conference

Jonathan Falwell, senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., and successor to his father, the late Jerry Falwell, will be among the preachers and speakers at the 2009 Empower Evangelism Conference Feb. 16-18 at First Baptist Church of Euless.

The theme for the 2009 conference is “Empowered: The Holy Spirit in You,” based on Ephesians 1:13-14.

Falwell served at Thomas Road under his father from 1995 until the elder Falwell’s death in May 2007. He was called to be the pastor on June 3, 2007 by a unanimous vote of the church congregation. Falwell preaches at the main worship services each Sunday morning. TRBC averages more than 12,000 in attendance each Sunday and an additional 8,000 for its midweek services.

Falwell also serves as the executive vice president of spiritual affairs at Liberty University, which Jerry Falwell founded.

Before he joined the staff at Thomas Road, he was involved in numerous business ventures including, in 1990, starting one of Virginia’s largest video and film production companies that still thrives today. He is an accomplished photographer whose photographs have appeared in Time magazine, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, the Washington Post and other national and international magazines.

His preaching is carried on numerous national television outlets as well as through satellite and Internet delivery formats. Falwell has also appeared as a guest on numerous television and radio programs nationwide including Oprah (syndicated), CNN and the Fox News Network.

Falwell graduated from Liberty University in 1987. He earned his master of arts in religion from the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 1996 and a juris doctorate in 2005 from William Howard Taft University in Santa Ana, Calif.

Other speakers at the annual conference will include noted Christian apologist and author Lee Strobel; LifeWay Research President Ed Stetzer; longtime Florida pastor Jerry Vines; Will Graham, pastor and grandson of Billy Graham; longtime Texas pastor John Bisagno, and others.