Life Surge Wealth Conferences Draw Large Audiences, Promise Wealth Building Tools
The events are run by a for-profit company, not a ministry.
Thousands of Christians are attending Life Surge events across the country, drawn in by its featured Christian speakers and musical artists, such as Priscilla Shirer, Tim Tebow, and Chris Tomlin.
Website screenshot via @LifeSurge
Besides faith leaders, attendees may be drawn by a well-known lineup of TV personalities, including Robert Herjavec from Shark Tank and Marcus Lemonis from The Profit.
Life Surge is a Christian wealth conference headquartered in Palmetto, Fla. It is not a ministry, but a for-profit limited liability company.
It advertises itself as an event where attendees can “learn why and how to create and multiply financial resources for kingdom impact.”
The conference has grown substantially since 2021 when it first held events in 2 cities. In 2024, it has grown to include over 30 cities.
According to its website, the average event sells at least 5,000 tickets, and over 80% of its events sell out.
Tickets vary in price. For the upcoming conference on August 3 in Cincinnati, Ohio, tickets range from $37 to $497.
Tour sponsorships are offered from $15,000 for a program sponsor to $50,000 for a presenting sponsor. Event sponsorships range from $2,500 to $15,000. Potential sponsors are told that about 41% of attendees have household income of over $100,000, that 62% are between ages 35 and 54, and 45% of them have earned at least a bachelor’s degree.
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While Life Surge claims to teach those attending “the whys and hows to grow resources and leverage them for kingdom impact,” one attendee’s review suggested the practical teaching was minimal.
About the conference he attended at Church on the Rock in St. Peters, Missouri, in August 2023, Adam S. said he did not “believe the intent of the conference was [to] teach financial principles” but instead to draw attendees in as a “sales funnel” for other classes and products related to stock options trading and real estate investing.
“While wealth-building concepts were discussed, I did not feel as if the event really equipped the audience to actually apply these,” Adam wrote. “Instead, they pointed the crowd to their classes that allegedly do this.”
The classes were offered for an extra price of $97, according to Adam.
Other Better Business Bureau entries showed complaints that were resolved with refunds of extra money paid for follow-up classes after Life Surge.
Life Surge was founded by Joe Johnson, who calls himself a serial entrepreneur. According to his website, Johnson founded Welfont, a company designed to help nonprofit companies with their real estate needs.
His biography says he is a “diehard Jesus follower [and] a devoted husband and father of six mostly teenage children.”
Johnson started Life Surge as a way to help people integrate their faith and their professional pursuits.
“Another guiding philosophy I would say is we talk about this as an organization, but as individuals, that there’s the biblical commandment to be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth, but we use that in a business setting that we want to be fruitful as individuals — and we’re always multiplying,” Johnson told The Startup Magazine.
Life Surge did not respond to multiple emails requesting more information about the purpose of the conferences, its growth, and its benefits to those who attend. Nor did it reply to a phone message before time of publication.
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