REACHRIGHT launches first Pastor Influence 100 ranking

REACHRIGHT has released the first annual Pastor Influence 100, a global ranking of pastors by personal social media reach. Brazil’s Bruno Leonardo leads the 2026 list, while Joel Osteen is the highest-ranked American at No. 3.

Why it matters: - The ranking spotlights how pastors now build audiences far beyond church walls through social platforms. - The list shows the center of digital religious influence is shifting toward Brazil, Nigeria and other parts of the global south. - REACHRIGHT says the index is designed to measure personal influence separately from church brand accounts.

What happened: - REACHRIGHT, a church marketing agency based in Round Rock, Texas, released the first annual Pastor Influence 100 on Aug. 20, 2026. - The index ranks pastors worldwide by the reach of their personal social media accounts. - Bruno Leonardo, bishop of Igreja Batista Avivamento Mundial in Brazil, ranks No. 1 with 90.4 million followers. - Jerry Eze of Streams of Joy International in Nigeria ranks No. 2 with 10.7 million followers. - Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston ranks No. 3 and is the highest-ranked American, with 37.6 million followers. - Osteen’s audience includes 30.3 million followers on Facebook.

The details: - REACHRIGHT evaluated a candidate pool of nearly 1,000 pastors worldwide. - The index scores pastors across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. - Only personal accounts count in the ranking. - Church brand accounts are excluded and appear instead in REACHRIGHT’s separate Church Influence 100. - Elevation Church ranks No. 1 among churches, while pastor Steven Furtick ranks No. 9 on the personal list. - Rankings use three factors: total reach across the four platforms, one-year growth and consistency of presence. - The scoring formula, eligibility rules and correction policy are published at the methodology page. - The index takes no payment for placement and accepts no submissions. - The full ranking, individual pastor profiles and methodology are available at the Pastor Influence 100 site.

Between the lines: - American pastors hold 44 of the 100 spots but account for only 38% of the list’s combined 348 million followers. - Texas has 11 of the 44 American pastors on the list, more than any other state. - Ten women made the top 100. - Michelle Corral of Breath of the Spirit Ministries ranks No. 6 and had a YouTube channel that grew 347% this year, among the fastest gains in the ranking. - Ten of the 20 fastest-growing channels began the year with fewer than 100,000 subscribers. - Thomas Costello, founder of REACHRIGHT and an executive pastor, said the index reflects real influence that is measurable and deserving of an “honest scoreboard.”

What’s next: - REACHRIGHT is positioning Pastor Influence 100 as an annual index alongside its Church Influence 100. - Future editions will likely continue tracking shifts in audience growth, platform mix and geographic influence.

The bottom line: - The first Pastor Influence 100 shows that pastoral influence is increasingly digital, global and concentrated outside the U.S.