Joshua Harris (pastor)


Joshua Eugene Harris is an American author and former pastor. Harris' book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, in which he laid out his ideas concerning a Biblically-based Christian approach to dating and relationships helped shape purity culture for many Christian millennials. Harris was lead pastor of Covenant Life Church, the founding church of Sovereign Grace Ministries, in Gaithersburg, Maryland from 2004 until 2015. In 2018, Harris disavowed I Kissed Dating Goodbye and discontinued its publication. The following year, Harris announced that he was separating from his wife, had "undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus" and was not a Christian.

Biography

Harris is the first of seven children born to Gregg and Sono Harris, pioneers in the Christian homeschooling movement. He is of Japanese descent on his mother's side. His brothers, twins Alex and Brett, lead the youth movement The Rebelution. Rebelution is a neologism defined by its creators as "a teenage rebellion against low expectations." Harris published New Attitude, a magazine aimed at fellow homeschoolers, from 1994 to 1997. He received no formal seminary or theological training. Harris married Shannon Hendrickson in 1998. In 2019 she began going under the name Shannon Bonne. The pair have had three children.
Harris's first book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, was published in 1997 and has sold 1.2 million copies worldwide. Subsequent books by Harris include , in part describing his engagement to his eventual wife, Shannon; Not Even a Hint: Guarding Your Heart Against Lust, released in 2003 and renamed Sex Is Not the Problem in 2005; and Stop Dating the Church!: Fall in Love with the Family of God. Harris' book Dug Down Deep shared his journey towards a love for theology and highlighted his passion for what he called "humble orthodoxy".
In 1997, Harris moved from Oregon to Gaithersburg, Maryland to be a pastoral intern. There, "C. J. Mahaney, a charismatic Calvinist and founding pastor of megachurch Covenant Life Church, took Harris under his wing and groomed him to take over the church." Harris was lead pastor of Covenant Life Church from 2004 until 2015. Harris assumed the role of senior pastor at Covenant Life Church at the age of 30. In January 2015, he resigned from that role due to a desire to broaden his views and connect to other parts of Christianity. "Harris said the isolation of Covenant Life, and of a small cluster of churches of which it was a part, may have fed leadership mistakes, including the decision of pastors — himself among them — to handle a child sexual abuse case internally instead of going to police."
Harris started Sovereign Grace Ministries' New Attitude Conference for Christian singles in 1999, with inspiration and guidance from Louie Giglio, founder of Passion Conferences. From 1999 until 2011 he continued frequently to organize and lead this conference, although in 2009 it was renamed "Next." The primary focus of New Attitude was to equip young Christians with what organizers believe is the biblical truth of the gospel, and to stress the importance of the church in the lives of all Christians.
In 2016, Harris stated that he was reconsidering the content of I Kissed Dating Goodbye and apologized to people who said that they had been hurt by its teachings. In 2018, Harris disavowed I Kissed Dating Goodbye and discontinued its publication. His publishers agreed that I Kissed Dating Goodbye and two other follow-up books would not be reprinted once the current stock was depleted. Harris appeared in a documentary film called I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye, where he spoke to people who were critical of the book.
In July 2019, Harris announced that he and his wife, Shannon Bonne, were separating due to "significant changes have taken place in both of us". Later that month, Harris announced that he no longer considered himself a Christian. Following Harris's loss of faith, the producers of the documentary about Harris announced they would be halting the distribution of the film.

Books