Dr. John Avant was most recently Senior Pastor of First Baptist Concord in Knoxville, TN. He served there since March of 2013, a mega-church with 8,000 members. John has pastored churches in Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana. He was also the Vice President of Evangelism and Spiritual Awakening at the North American Mission Board. John has authored four books: The Passion Promise, Authentic Power, If God Were Real, and most recently he co-authored Revival Revived.

John became a follower of Jesus Christ at the age of 16. He earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and his M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southwestern Seminary. It was while earning his Ph.D. at Southwestern that he learned about spiritual awakening and revival. He has a deep love and compassion for people and believes that the only hope for our nation is to experience a mighty movement of God.

Byron Paulus, Executive Director and CEO of Life Action Ministries, said, “I am delighted that Dr. John Avant is joining our team. As a longtime revival ministry voice and influencer, he will be assuming the role of Director and President of the Life Action Division. This outreach group includes Life Action Church Events, Life Action Family Camp, and the Life Action Leadership Lodge. John’s extensive experience as a catalyst for revival, both domestically and internationally, has uniquely prepared him to assume visionary leadership for this area of our ministry. I am excited about the opportunities before us and thrilled to have John as a new divisional leader. Please join us in welcoming John and Donna Avant to the Life Action family.”