Doors are closing, people are leaving, seats are emptying, and all because esteemed Texas Pastors are falling short of their calling. And for some strange reason, it’s a shockwave that has slammed the ecumenical scene nationally, all from one state.
Why are they all in the Lone Star State? What is going on with all these moral failures? Why all these Texas pastors?
These leaders get in the pulpit every Sunday and plan to minister to thousands. In their messages, scriptures resonate in the hearts and minds of churchgoers and those watching online. All people have their “thorns” that need to be pruned, that secret sin plaguing them for a long journey. It doesn’t make them hypocrites or liars; they’re normal. We all need help, guidance, and a generous helping of grace. Shame on anyone who holds a magnifying glass over someone else’s issues when they struggle privately and who keeps their drama out of sight.
But it’s different when a pastor does it, right?
Pastors trip and fall from time to time. They flub and slip into their private lives. Then, there are those instances when those sins come rushing out of the closet and make a public decrying that shuns thousands to millions. It’s then when people need to determine what their relationship with Jesus Christ is about–fellowship with God or man. It’s the latter who make quite a thud after the fall.
And this season in Texas, the amount of pastors falling from grace gives that Perseid meteor shower vibe. But why all of them together and why now?
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How the Mighty (Texas Pastors) Have Fallen
It’s cliche to note, but the South is the “Bible Belt,” North Texas is its large dinner plate cowboy belt buckle. In the four major counties of North Texas alone (home of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington), there are over 9,700 faith-based organizations open for business and ministry. The Catholic Church has seen its fair share of fallen ministers, and it’s heinous to read. There are evangelists nationwide who have been led by their druthers over dedication. Shameful.
But in North Texas, 2024 has been a reckoning of denominational church leaders. God did some spring cleaning this year and swept away hidden sin from church closets, regardless of how dusty those old transgressions were buried under the coats and suitcases. How they are coming with regularity is what is most appalling. Was the hub of the Church in the South that littered with preachers who needed to get their walk right with the Lord before they got left?
It’s no exaggeration. When a headline hits in North Texas, residents exclaim, “Another one? Really?!” Full disclosure: I have lived here all my life. I have worked for churches and ministers. And I can’t even believe the severity and locality of this news.
Meanwhile, deep in the heart of…, Texas pastors are resigning from their jobs because of “moral issues” faster than it takes a political argument to break out during Thanksgiving dinner.
Steve Lawson
Most recent to this list of fallen Texas pastors, is senior pastor of Trinity Bible Church, Steve Lawson. A pastor of over 35 years, Lawson, 73, admitted to elders about an “inappropriate relationship” and accepted his immediate termination. Although the church advises he is repentant, Lawson has not given any public statements.
Robert Morris
The pastor of the nationally regarded Gateway Church shocked his 40,000 members because of child sex abuse allegations with a 12-year-old girl when he was 21 in 1982. Since then, numerous pastors have left their positions, including Morris’ eldest son, and Morris, 62, hasn’t spoken publicly since he left the church.
Tony Evans
The founder of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, best-selling author, revered teacher, and community activist, stepped down from the church he founded for a still “unnamed sin.” Evans, 74, noted he “did not use righteous judgment in [his] actions,” which led to his surprising departure.
William Neil “Doc” Gallagher
While not among Texas pastors, popular Christian radio host, “The Money Doctor” Doc Gallagher, with millions of followers, was finally imprisoned for targeting elderly 170 listeners in a $31 million Ponzi scheme. For guilt of forgery, theft of property, and exploitation of the elderly, he was given three life terms.
Luke Cunningham
The former youth pastor at Church on the Rock and Turning Point in Lubbock was arrested and charged with two counts of sexual assault of a minor. Before Lubbock, Cunningham, 41, worked at Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas (outside Fort Worth), where he was fired following accusations of inappropriate conduct with a minor.
Whitney Foster
This story is unique among Texas pastors or any nationwide. He was sentenced to 35 years for stealing three churches in North Texas: First Christian Church in Lancaster, Canada Drive Christian Church in Dallas, and Church in Nineveh in Oak Cliff. He filed $800,000 of fraudulent deeds on these buildings for a place to put a congregation.
Tony Cammarota
Shortly after the esteemed Chuck Swindoll retired as lead pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Cammarota, 51, confessed to a “moral failure.” The admission came in an internal email, which later disqualified him of leading worshippers.
Scott Crenshaw
Saginaw, a suburb of Fort Worth, is home to Lake County Church. The former senior pastor, Crenshaw, was terminated for viewing alleged “inappropriate material,” that he says was an innocent Instagram search on his church computer. Following his relief of duty, it was discovered Crenshaw was terminated at another DFW church, New River Fellowship Church, in 2016 for the same thing.
Ronald Goines
At Koinonia Church in Arlington, Texas, the lead pastor heard local police had two warrants for his arrest. Goines, 51, stepped down as lead pastor and turned himself into authorities following a woman in the church “made an outcry” about indecent and sexual assault.
Terren Dames
The senior pastor at North Dallas Community Bible Fellowship, 52, called an undercover Plano police officer posing as a sex worker and offered $150. Part of a larger sting operation, Dames cited his “moral failure” and left his position without mentioning the official charges from the police.
Josiah Anthony
In the quiet community of Argyle, outside of Denton (home of the University of North Texas), Cross Timbers Church has been gutted with reports of infidelity. The claims began with lead pastor Anthony accused of “inappropriate and hurtful” actions toward church members and staff. Executive pastor Byron Copeland and founding pastor Brian Hackney resigned following Anthony’s departure.
Josh Howerton
One of the largest churches in DFW is Lakepointe Church in Rockwall. A senior pastor, Josh Howerton, was “canceled” but still has a job because of a perceived sexist joke he made about “how women should behave on their wedding night.”
“Just stand where he tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear and do what he tells you to do and you’re going to make him the happiest man in the world,” Josh Howerton said in February. And then the apology he wrote for the church was allegedly plagiarized.
Don’t Stop Believing
This is only one region of the country. It’s disheartening, to say the least. They used the cloak of God’s grace to gain selfish desires. Some sin is deemed much more despicable than others. However, it’s about the one that falls from grace that unites all these Texas pastors.
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
People are attracted to the holiness of Jesus. And despite the dark places some people go who have represented the Lord, there are tens of thousands who only welcome others to God’s light. An exodus is happening in North Texas; a pruning of mostly bad apples. We are all tempted in various ways. Even Jesus knew that which is why He modeled for us in prayer to do something about it.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
We don’t have to give in. We have the strength through Jesus to refuse that temptation and move closer to the throne of grace. A relationship with Jesus is real, which is why this list of Texas pastors doesn’t have to be so discouraging. We shouldn’t be connected to the pastor but to the shepherd. Our admiration may be for the person in the pulpit, but our adoration should be for the power of it.
These people need prayer, much like we all do. More importantly, they need healing. Their detours from the love of God should not deter ours. As revered as someone is among leaders of faith, no one is beyond the enemy’s reach–nor God’s.
So, why is it all happening in North Texas? Maybe it’s the heat.
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