S11:E5 The Rise of Influencer Christianity

What happens when church leadership shifts from pulpits to platforms? In this episode, Dave Fitch and guest co-host Gino Curcuruto unpack Carl Trueman’s article, “Goodbye Big Eva, Hello Gig Eva,” exploring how evangelical culture has moved from the conference stage to the influencer feed, and what that means for the church.

Together, they trace the shift from “Big Eva” (celebrity pastors and large conferences) to “Gig Eva” (independent online influencers shaping faith outside accountability or community). The conversation wrestles with how this new ecosystem forms pastors, congregations, and the public imagination of what “church” even is and calls for a recovery of embodied, local, presence-based ministry.

🎙️ In This Episode:

• The difference between Big Eva and Gig Eva—and why both shape the church’s imagination
• How digital influence redefines leadership, authority, and credibility
• The danger of disembodied discipleship and social media “theology”
• Why pastors must resist measuring faithfulness by metrics or clicks
• How to reclaim embodied church in an age of platform-driven ministry

📌 Highlights:

• [00:07:00] “Big Eva” as the era of celebrity pastors and conference platforms
• [00:10:00] “Gig Eva” as the rise of influencers without local accountability
• [00:17:00] How online perception replaces real discipleship
• [00:24:00] The lure of success, self-promotion, and burnout in ministry
• [00:33:00] Embodied church as the faithful alternative to the gig economy

The future of the church isn’t in virality, it’s in presence. Faithful ministry grows from local soil, not from algorithms. The way forward is slow, small, and deeply relational.

📖 Resources Mentioned:

• “Goodbye Big Eva, Hello Gig Eva” by Carl Trueman (First Things)
• The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl R. Trueman
• Reckoning with Power: Why the Church Fails When It’s on the Wrong Side of Power by David Fitch
• The Strategically Small Church by Brandon O’Brien
• The Glass Church and The Church Must Grow or Perish by Gerardo Marti & Mark Mulder
• Table Philly Church
• Fitch’s Provocations (Substack)

What does it mean to lead faithfully when “success” is measured by followers, not fruit? How can your church move from digital performance to embodied presence?