SPEAKER BIO

Pastor Larry Stockstill

Larry has devoted more than five decades to ministry, leadership, and developing the next generation of leaders. Raised in a ministry family, he began preaching at 16 and later spent two years as a missionary in West Africa before serving as an associate pastor at his father’s church. In 1983, he became Lead Pastor.

During his 28 years as pastor, Larry led his church to give more than $63 million to local and international missions and developed a small-group ministry that became a national model. Many of his associate pastors went on to plant churches, with three eventually growing to more than 85,000 in weekend attendance.

In 2001, Larry founded Surge, a church-planting movement built around mentoring, multiplication, and developing indigenous leaders. Surge has now planted over 30,000 mainly rural churches and is now led by his son Joel. Surge planted over 4,000 churches in 2025.

Larry is the author of The Cell Church, The Remnant, Model Man, and his newest book, Honor: The Secret to All Relationships, released on Amazon in 2026. His books focus on leadership, mentoring, relationships, integrity, and spiritual multiplication. More than 120,000 copies of The Remnant have been distributed free to pastors worldwide.

Following his 50th anniversary in ministry, Larry launched Pastors University, sharing “50 lessons from 50 years” of ministry and leadership with pastors and emerging leaders.

Larry and his wife, Melanie, recently celebrated 50 years of marriage. They have six children, 21 grandchildren, and live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His lifelong passion is to develop leaders, strengthen families, multiply churches, and leave a legacy that impacts generations.