Brian Zahnd is the founder and senior pastor of Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. Brain became a Christian as a teenager through a dramatic encounter with Jesus during the height of the Jesus Movement. Almost immediately, he was holding Bible studies in high school, leading a coffeehouse ministry, and preaching in whatever church was crazy enough to let a long-haired Jesus freak into the pulpit.
He and his wife, Peri, founded Word of Life Church in 1981 with a handful a Jesus Movement young people in a broken-down church building. After seven years, the fledgling congregation outgrew their small building. In 1989, the church moved into a converted office building, where rapid growth necessitated three auditorium expansions in two years. In 1996, Word of Life Church constructed a 71,000 square foot ministry complex, with a 2,500 seat main auditorium. Expansions to the Word of Life Church campus include Solomon’s Porch Bookstore & Coffee Shop, the Upper Room (a 24/7 prayer and worship chapel), and the 1,000 seat Millennium Youth Center.
Now, with a thriving congregation and more than 4,000 in attendance each weekend, it is also noteworthy that Word of Life Church is among a unique group of American churches that are located in counties with populations of just 100,000 or less. Word of Life Church celebrated its 25th Anniversary in November of 2006.
Brian’s vision for Word of Life Church, under the banner of The King and His Kingdom, is for Word of Life Church to be an authentic expression of the Kingdom of Jesus in the 21st Century. He is known for his thought-provoking, intelligent, challenging style of preaching and teaching. Brian also travels extensively, ministering in churches and pastors’ conferences across America and around the world.
His messages are broadcast on The Word of Life television program in the United States and Russia. In addition, Brian’s blog, brianzahnd.com offers a diverse menu of interesting and provocative insights about the King and His Kingdom.
Brian was born in Savannah, Missouri, and grew up in a strong, traditional Christian family. He is the eldest son of Judge Glen Zahnd; his mother, Linda, is a well respected retired educator. The Zahnds have three sons and a daughter-in-law, who are all actively involved in ministry and church life. Sometimes the Zahnds have a cat or two. Brian Zahnd may possibly be one of the biggest Bob Dylan fans in the world (hint: he had 870 Dylan songs on his iPod at last count). In their spare time, Brian and Peri enjoy hiking and climbing in the mountains, and leading tours of Israel.