JohnGray
Beginning as a singles pastor at New Birth Church in Georgia, Gray began developing his unique approach to preaching. His personal site describes his character as a bridge builder: "Using his charismatic persona, he uses comedy as a gateway to bring people together. John continues to defy description and labels by seamlessly integrating worship, laughter, preaching, exhortation, and encouragement into one experience." New Birth is where he met his wife Aventer, who was involved in the liturgical dance ministry. They would go on to marry and lead ministries at various churches over the years.
Perhaps one of the most popular ministers in the contemporary evangelical church community, John W. Gray III is an anomaly. Before all of the controversies and extravagant spending, Gray was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. His musically inclined parents separated at a young age so he spent most of his developmental years with his mother. At a young age he showed interest in theatre and music, but accepted the call to ministry in 1994.
Gray has been able to follow both his passion for the creative arts and ministry in a small span of time. He landed a position as the associate pastor of one of the largest congregations in the United States today: Lakewood Church in Houston, TX. Partnering with executive pastor Joel Osteen, Gray made an incredible impact on the culture. He won a short film competition, landed on Oprah's Soul Sunday, and co-hosted a short lived Fox daytime talk show called "The Preachers".
After serving for five years at Lakewood, Gray announced in 2018 that he was moving to Greenville, SC to pastor Redemption Church. This caused some controversy with those who saw his connection to Joel's ministry far more lucrative, but Gray decided nonetheless to change the name to Relentless Church to honor his intention with this new venture. By the fall of 2018, Gray had a successful docu-series called "The Book of John Gray", two popular books "I am number 8" and "Win from within", speaking engagements around the country, a non-profit dedicated to serving families in need, and a growing social media presence. Gray became highly visible for the first time in his life and the subsequent controversies came as no surprise to the public.
so what's up with this Lamborghini controversy?
In December of 2018, John Gray and his wife Aventer Gray celebrated 8 years of marriage. To celebrate the momentous occasion they hosted a luxurious vow renewal ceremony and a dressed in dapper outfits for the night. As a young pastor with a vibrant online community, Gray posted 3 separate sets of photos and one video. Below are the photos and the captions.
At the end of the post, he included a video of his wife screaming in celebration of his gift. A brand new car!
The video has since been deleted, but the photos have been captured from the video by a Twitter user. Here is the car she was reacting to:
The Lamborghini Urus was released in 2018 and boasts Italian craftsmanship under the status as "the first Super Sport Utility Vehicle in the world". The starting cost for the car is $207,326 and the social media audience was quick to check the price tag. In the past, Gray has been caught with expensive shoes and other luxury items but none have garnered the extent of backlash like the Urus.