Imagine leading a church with tens of thousands of followers that grew from 12 people in your living room.
That supposition is a reality for 40-year-old Chris Galanos, the pastor and founder of Experience Life in Lubbock, Texas.
Galanos is the youngest megachurch pastor in the country. He founded the Church in his living room in 2007.
Experience Life’s original intention was for 10,000 people to commit their lives to Jesus Christ in ten years.
To complete that vision, Galanos and his ilk knew they had to transition from a “megachurch” model, which they called an addiction model, to a “multiplication” model.
Quick Info:
| 40 |
| $1.5 Million |
| American |
| Pastor |
| Emilie Galanos |
| 2 |
| February 7, 1982 |
| Lubbock, Texas, United States |
| 2007 – Present |
1. How Many People Are in Experience Life?
Experience Life has seen a huge amount of success that started gradually through its first decade and has since skyrocketed.
Though they planned 10,000 people committing to Christ in 10 years, they reached the goal in 8 years, which Galanos believed the Lord asked them to pray for 1,000,000 people to become disciples of Jesus in the next ten years.
To that end, Experience Life is now a network of churches that meet all over West Texas, in 24 states across the United States, and in 25 countries.
The Church has catalyzed Disciple-Making Movements in the United States and overseas. These Disciple-Making Movements run concurrently to Galanos’s multiplication model.
2. Has There Been Any Controversy About Experience Life?
The number of people that have heard about the Church and its journey is increasing every day, and though many are reaching out to join them in their vision, an equal amount is wary of them for the same reasons.
The Church has been the subject of some controversy around its tactics for multiplication, such as the inexplicable closure of a donated church in Plains, Texas.
Many others think that the Church is a scam because Galanos talks so often about growing and expanding rather than beliefs and scripture.
Though the way he talks can be explained by the fact that Galanos has a background in Computer Science, so it makes sense why he might see the Church from a technical standpoint, this still hasn’t quelled his detractors.
3. Where Is Chris Galanos From?
Pastor Chris Galanos was born on February 7, 1982, in Lubbock, Texas, United States.
Not much is known about Galanos’s childhood and early life except that he was remarkable from a young age.
The future pastor became a Microsoft Certified Professional at 15 and a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer at 16.
Going off of the previous subheadings point. Galanos’s technical way of looking at things stems from a love and understanding of technology that can be seen from an early age.
Because of his love for technology, Galanos saw expanding his Church in multiplication models than any loftier language.
4. Where Did Chris Galanos Study?
Looking at Chris Galanos’s educational history, one can see how his interests have shifted and changed throughout his career.
After high school, Galanos went to Texas Tech University for his undergraduate education, where he studied for three years from 2000 to 2003 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
Sometime between his undergraduate and graduate education, Galanos changed his heart about where he wanted his future to go and shifted focus to theology and prayer.
This decision would reflect the rest of his life so far and become a major turning point in his life.
Following University, he went to the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for his graduate education, where he studied for two years from 2004 to 2006 and graduated with a Master of Divinity in Biblical Languages.
5. Where Has Chris Galanos Worked?
Galanos started working professionally while in High School. For three months in 1998, he was a Technica Support for HubNet. He followed that up by being a Network Administrator/Programmer in CleanWeb for four years, from August 1998 to August 2001.
Galanos worked in various tech roles while still in college. He was a Programmer at Healthsmart for a year, from August 2001 to August 2002.
After Healthsmart, he worked as an IT Director at Fastpay Payroll Services for a year, from August 2002 to August 2003.
After he left his previous job, which coincided with his undergraduate graduation, Galanos shifted his focus and began working as an Associate College Pastor at Indiana Avenue Baptist Church for two years, from August 2003 to August 2005.
Then, Galanos worked as a Student Worship Leader at McKinney Memorial Bible Church for another two years, from September 2005 to February 2007.
Finally, his experiences in the realm of pastoring and worship leading led him to become a Lead Pastor at Experience Life in March 2007, a position he still holds.
6. Who Is Chris Galanos’s Wife?
Chris Galanos is married to Emilie Galanos, and they have two children, daughters, together.
Emilie is very private on the interwebs. She has privatized her Instagram, and her Twitter was only active until 2013.
She also does not appear on her husband’s Instagram (The last time he posted her was on February 15, 2019, as Valentine’s Day post). Chris mostly posts prayers and his daughters.
Poring through her old Tweets, one can see that Emilie is just as much of a believer as her husband, and before she stopped using Twitter, she would share anything related to Experience Life.
Despite being inactive on social media, there are no indications that she has separated from Chris or is not in his life.
7. What Does Chris Galanos’s Wife Do?
As mentioned above, Emilie Galanos has been very private about her affairs in the past decade as Experience Life has become more successful.
However, a real estate agent in the Lubbock area called Emilie Galanos could be the same as the titular Emilie, but there is no way to verify this.
As any account concerning this, Emilie Galanos doesn’t have a picture; it’s anyone’s guess if they are one and the same.
The real estate agent, Emilie Galanos, works all over the Texas area where Experience Life is based and where Chris Galanos.
The reason why Emilie Galanos has privatized her account could be so that she and her business would not be victim to any of the controversies that her husband and his Church could potentially face.
Emilie and Chirs have been married for sixteen years and have two children together called McKinley, who is fourteen, and Charis, who is twelve.
8. How Much Is Chris Galanos Worth?
Pastor Chris Galanos, the founder of Experience Life, has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million as of 2022.
Galanos has earned a lot of wealth from his Church, which is growing at staggering levels.
Galanos is seen as the face of Experience Life, which is why the Church’s growth can be seen as a successful growth in the pastor’s skills.
Galanos’s income comes from the various members who have joined his Church and the events and outreach programs he participates in.
The media and other outlets have also brought him in to talk about the Church, and this added fame has increased his net worth too.
It’s hard to believe that the Church, which started in his living room in April 2007, currently has thousands of members.
9. How Successful Is Experience Life?
Now, meeting all over West Texas and abroad, Experience Life is seeing unprecedented success, and so is Galanos. His influence is steadily growing, and only the future knows how powerful he will become.
As of the writing of this article, the Church has trained 4,542 leaders, started 638 groups and opened 101 churches in 24 states and 25 countries.
Such growth is unprecedented, and the Church has been open for barely more than a decade.
10. Has Chris Galanos Done Anything Else?
Chris Galanos has written a book called “From Megachurch to Multiplication” about how Experience Life became one of the fastest-growing churches in America.
The book talks at length about what he means for a Megachurch, which works through an addition model to move to work through a multiplication model.
On his website, Galanos has talked more at length about his book and his method.
Since the release of his book, Galanos has received many requests from various pastors, Christian leaders, and missionaries to supplement their incomes, as he describes in the book.
Due to high demand, Galanos has created a website to offer courses and coaching to help Christian leaders to supplement their income.