Josiah Anthony, lead pastor of Cross Timbers Church in Argyle, resigned after having “emotional affairs” with female members of the church’s staff, the church’s interim lead pastor told The Dallas Morning News this week.
The Denton County church, which has about 5,000 members according to Anthony’s LinkedIn page, announced during a service Sunday that Anthony had resigned. According to a video recording of the service on the Cross Timbers YouTube page, church elder John Chalk told congregants that some of Anthony’s “decisions and actions were inappropriate and hurtful to current and former members of the [Cross Timbers] family and staff.”
Chalk then announced that Byron Copeland, formerly the church’s executive pastor, would serve as Cross Timbers’ interim lead pastor.
Anthony has not responded to multiple calls and emails this week from The News seeking comment.
Copeland told The News that several church elders started investigating past relationships Anthony had with female staffers about a month ago. Copeland said church elders told him Anthony admitted to “some past unprofessional, low-boundary relationships over the years.” The relationships, which Copeland described as “emotional affairs,” were neither physical nor sexual in nature, he said.
The News reached out to Cross Timbers by phone and email asking for comment, and received an emailed statement signed by the Cross Timbers leadership team on Monday. “We would like to emphasize that the inappropriate, and hurtful actions of Josiah does not include any children, physical or sexual interactions or any illegal activity to our knowledge,” they wrote to The News.
The News later asked Cross Timbers if Anthony was lead pastor at the church when the “emotional affairs” happened and if the women involved reported to him directly or indirectly. In response, the church sent another statement signed by its leadership team on Tuesday that said the “emotional affairs” did occur while Anthony was lead pastor and that the women involved were not reporting directly to him.
Anthony joined Cross Timbers’ staff in 2014, according to his LinkedIn page, and became the church’s lead pastor in 2022.
The News spoke on Monday to both Byron Copeland and his wife, Rachelle, who said she and her husband were sharing more information about the leadership changes at Cross Timbers because “the truth sets people free.” She added: “Why do we need to be silent when people just want to hear the truth?”
Copeland joined Cross Timbers in 2023 after previously working at Gateway Church for almost 20 years.
Anthony’s departure is the latest in a string of resignations that have rocked North Texas churches in recent months. These include Tony Evans stepping down in June as senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church “due to sin” for a period of “healing and restoration” and Gateway Church founder and senior pastor Robert Morris resigning that post the same month after an Oklahoma woman accused him of molesting her for several years as a child.
Several people who described themselves as congregants at Cross Timbers shared their reactions to Anthony’s resignation in comments on a Facebook post by the church on Tuesday.
“Our hearts are hurting! 21+ years we’ve been members! We know our church is strong and we WILL get through this!” wrote Kristin Minassian.
“It’s definitely tugging at my heart strings,” wrote Rachael King. “I have been very sad over it — as this was the first church that I really felt connected with when we started 9 years ago.”
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
