Trinity Bible Church in Dallas is the latest area church to announce the removal of its lead pastor.
In a Thursday statement posted to its website, the church announced it was removing lead pastor Steven J. Lawson due to an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman.
The church did not elaborate on the nature of that relationship, and declined to comment Friday. Lawson did not immediately respond to email and phone inquiries seeking comment.
According to the church’s statement, Lawson came forward about his relationship by telling the church’s elders, and the church will no longer be paying him. The church also emphasized that “we are ALL sinners.”
Lawson, 73, became the teaching pastor at Trinity Bible Church in 2018, the same year the church was founded. Before that, he spent over 40 years as a pastor at churches in Arkansas and Alabama. He has been an influential advocate for Reformed theology, which adheres to Calvinist doctrines about God’s sovereignty and the inerrancy of the Bible.
He has written over 30 books and served as the dean of doctor of ministry studies at The Master’s Seminary, founded by John MacArthur, and as a board member at Ligonier Ministries, founded by R.C. Sproul, according to biographical material on the church’s website and his nonprofit’s website, some of which has been taken down since Lawson’s removal.
Lawson also founded OnePassion Ministries, a Dallas-based nonprofit that reported over $1.4 million in revenue in 2020 and $1.7 million in 2021.
That organization has changed its homepage to a statement saying that Lawson resigned from all of his responsibilities at OnePassion due to what it also called an “inappropriate relationship.”
“Steve has confessed and regrets the damage he has caused to his family, the church, the reputation of OnePassion Ministries and most of all Jesus Christ,” according to the statement. OnePassion Ministries did not immediately respond to email and phone requests for comment.
Lawson’s removal follows a string of pastor departures in the D-FW area. Since June, at least five other churches have announced one or more pastors are leaving. Some churches have cited an undisclosed “moral failure” as the reason for a leader’s departure. Other pastors have left under allegations of child sexual assault, sending sexual messages to female employees, and, in the case of Southlake pastor Robert Morris, the abuse of a 12-year-old child.
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
