Dr. Michael Youssef, the founding pastor of the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia, has announced that he is stepping down from his position at the church to pursue other ministry work.

In a personal message to ministry partners posted to YouTube, Youssef, along with his wife Elizabeth, shared that he would step fully into his leadership role at Leading The Way in six months–a decision that has been in the works for several years. 

"I will be passing the baton in the Church of the Apostles to my son Jonathan," the 77-year-old announced. "I will be having an opportunity to travel throughout the country and get to meet some of [the ministry's partners] in person, as well as many opportunities to speak. We're continuing on Awake America campaign as well as our overseas crusades for evangelism."

Youssef, a native Egyptian who lived in Lebanon, has led The Church of The Apostles for nearly 40 years—from its first meeting of 28 adults in 1987 to today, with a thriving congregation of more than 3,000 members, a statement from the ministry notes. 

The church was founded with the goal of "reaching the lost and equipping the saints," and it later became the launching pad for Leading The Way's global ministry, which now uses multiple media platforms to reach millions with Biblical teaching from Youssef..

Youseff says his 41-year-old son Jonathan has been preparing to pastor the thriving Apostles congregation. 

"Now that God has raised up my son Jonathan to lead The Church of The Apostles for its next stage of growth, I will be devoting my full attention to Leading The Way," said Youssef.

"I am deeply thankful to the Lord and know that the best is yet to come. I am also deeply grateful to The Church of The Apostles' leadership for inviting me to remain in the church as the 'Founding Rector Emeritus' — thus helping to ensure continuity," he continued.

Youssef says he has plans to "take as many people to heaven with me as possible," and part of that vision includes expanding Leading The Way's digital ministry, taking his nationwide AWAKE America prayer movement to new cities, launching the next wave of Finding True Peace evangelistic commercials, and hosting high-impact evangelistic events across the Middle East.

"We don't know how long the door is going to remain open to proclaim the Gospel in the places where we are ministering. So, I'm really putting my foot on the accelerator now. We would love to walk through those open doors as long as God keeps them open. Because if we go to sleep, we will have missed a great opportunity," Youssef declared. 

As CBN News reported, Leading The Way hosted one of its largest Gospel crusades in Egypt in 2023, where 17,000 worshipped God, and more than 7,800 people made a decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Youseef traveled to the country at the start of the Israel-Hamas war despite being warned to cancel the outreach due to mounting pressure in the Middle East. He made the decision to trust God. 

"God knew 12 months ago when this was planned that this (war) was going to happen," he explained. "This is not taking Him by surprise."

"Can you imagine an announcement made that the evangelist is not coming because he is concerned about the situation in the Middle East?" Youssef asked. "What kind of a God do I worship? I am going no matter what. And I knew that I could trust God, this was God's plan, and we want to be on His plan."

According to Leading the Way's website, the ministry is using "every available resource to advance the Gospel in places where the greatest need and opportunity exist," including reaching people in majority-Muslim countries. 

More than 260 million households have access to hear the Gospel through Leading the Way's biblical programming.

The evangelistic ministry shared the story of a young man named Ahmed. He recalled that as a Muslim growing up in Gaza, he hated Christians. But then he came across the programs on Leading the Way's KINGDOM SAT TV channel. According to the ministry, his spiritual eyes began to open, and he reached out to Youssef's team to learn more. 

"After comparing Jesus' teaching to the Islamic beliefs, I saw the beauty of Jesus Christ. I have decided to follow Him," Ahmed shared. "I am calling you because you are the only channel I can trust. Please help me grow in my faith."

Ahmed is just one of thousands who are surrendering their lives to Christ and being discipled by Leading The Way ministry teams.

Another person wrote into the ministry from Morocco stating, "I was a radical Muslim, and I believed in jihad and killing anyone who does not follow the laws of Islam. After watching The KINGDOM SAT...I wanted to tell you that I have decided to follow Jesus."

Yousseff is asking for prayers for the next season of his ministry to share the Gospel with the lost.

"We need your prayers more than ever," he said.