Rick Joyner
Rick Joyner (born 1949) is an American public speaker and author who founded MorningStar Ministries with his wife Julie in 1985. He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, and later led MorningStar Publications in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the mid-1990s he was involved in plans to build a biblical theme park linked to the Heritage USA project.
MorningStar hosts conferences for Christians from around the world. In 1997 the ministry moved its headquarters to Wilkes County, North Carolina. In 2004 MorningStar bought part of the Heritage USA complex and renamed it Heritage International Ministries Conference Center; the site also houses the Kingdom Business Association.
Christ's Mandate for Missions merged with MorningStar Missions in 2009. Joyner is a leader in the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement and promoted the idea of a Fivefold ministry after his 1989 book The Harvest. He served as an advisor to Aglow International in the 1990s and founded the Oak Initiative, a nonprofit aimed at mobilizing Christians on public issues.
In 1998 MorningStar Ministries reported about $7 million in income and was denied a religious property tax exemption for certain properties; the ministry appealed. MorningStar Fellowship Church also filed a lawsuit against York County, South Carolina, over an unfinished hotel project started by Jim Bakker; the hotel was never completed.
Joyner has supported revivalist Todd Bentley, whose healing claims drew media attention; he later helped oversee Bentley’s restoration after Bentley’s 2008 divorce. Joyner has been linked to the Knights of Malta and the Seven Mountains of Influence doctrine, promoting Christian influence in seven areas of society, and he has promoted Lance Wallnau’s teachings on this topic.
In March 2021 Joyner urged Christians to prepare for potential civil conflict, arguing the 2020 election was stolen. In 2013 he and his daughter Anna Jane appeared in the Showtime documentary Years of Living Dangerously about climate change; Anna Jane advocates climate action and tried to persuade her father to change his views.
Joyner and Julie have five children: Anna Jane, Aaryn, Amber, Ben, and Sam, and all of them disagree with his political views.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:45 (CET).