The Christian Post's top 10 news stories of 2024 (part 2)
2. Prominant megachurch pastors, ministries rocked by abuse scandals
From Gateway Church founder Robert Morris to Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship church in Dallas, multiple megachurch pastors from Texas were among many faced with sexual misconduct allegations or confessed to sin that rocked their ministries in 2024.
In June, Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, resigned as the megachurch's leader after 54-year-old grandmother Cindy Clemishire accused him of sexually abusing her over multiple years beginning when she was 12 in the 1980s before the founding of the church.
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The scandal shook the Christian community globally and led Morris Ministries to cancel "all future radio and television broadcasts." The church also commissioned an independent investigation that led to the removal of multiple elders. Morris' son, James Morris, who briefly led the church after his father's exit, left the church to start his own ministry.
In the wake of the upheaval, church leaders also pledged to join the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and undergo a forensic audit of their financials following the filing of a class action lawsuit alleging leaders misappropriated millions of dollars in tithes meant for global missions.
The lawsuit was filed by Gateway Church members Katherine Leach, Garry K. Leach, Mark Browder and Terri Browder. It names as defendants: Morris, Gateway Church, Tom Lane, a former executive pastor; founding elder Steve Dulin; and Kevin Grove, an executive global pastor and elder.
Also in June, the leader of the 11,000-member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship church in Dallas, pastor and author Tony Evans, stepped away from his pastoral duties for a season of restoration "due to sin."
Evans, 74, did not reveal his sin but stated that he did not commit any crimes, which led to much speculation.
"You. No matter who you are. No matter how long you've been in ministry. No matter how big or small the ministry is You are one decision away from stupid," church planter and lead pastor of Hope Church in Georgia, JC Groves, said. "One decision away from ruining it all. Don't be a statistic. Tony Evans news absolutely breaks my heart."
The International House of Prayer Kansas City's Forerunner Church held its final service on May 19, months after cutting ties with founder Mike Bickle amid sex abuse allegations and seeing even more confessions and leaders departing from the ministry in 2024.
The final service, streamed on YouTube, featured about 1,000 worshipers. The church's closure followed a statement from the ministry to The Christian Post in April that it would shutter some aspects, including their school of ministry.
Earlier in the year, Bickle confessed to engaging in "consensual sexual contact" with a woman connected to the 24/7 prayer ministry in addition to a previously confessed relationship with a primary Jane Doe who alleged she was his kept woman for several years, according to an independent investigation report released to the public.
In February, noted attorney and Billy Graham's grandson, Boz Tchividjian, called for the International House of Prayer Kansas City to be shuttered permanently after a third woman alleged she was groomed and sexually abused by the 24/7 prayer ministry's founder in the 1980s when she was just 14.
In August, founding pastors of Cross Timbers Church in Argyle, Texas, Brian Hackney and his wife, Jamie, both resigned three weeks after the church's Lead Pastor Josiah Anthony resigned over sexual messaging with women and other inappropriate behavior. The church's executive pastor, Byron Copeland, also resigned.
That same month, MorningStar Ministries leader Chris Reed resigned from all his leadership roles with the organization, including his job as senior pastor of MorningStar Fellowship Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina, citing, among other things, the sexual abuse of minors by a former volunteer and police officer.
A lawsuit filed against MorningStar Ministries would later accuse founder Rick Joyner, along with several top officials of the organization and multiple other staff members, of gross negligence for allegedly engaging in the cover-up of multiple incidences of sexual abuse in the ministry.
Pastor T.D. Jakes of The Potter's House megachurch in Dallas filed a defamation lawsuit in late November against former-pastor-turned-registered sex offender Duane Youngblood, who alleged he was sexually assaulted by Jakes when he was a teenager some 40 years ago.
Jakes filed the lawsuit only days after suffering "a slight health incident" while preaching.
Jakes, 67, filed the lawsuit against the 58-year-old Youngblood, who claimed in interviews with internet personality Larry Reid on his "Larry Reid Live" show on Oct. 28 and Nov. 3 that Jakes assaulted him when he was about 18 or 19 years old.
Youngblood claimed to Reid that he had been talking with Jakes for about two hours at the home of an older adult clergywoman, where he was staying during a local church revival approximately 40 years ago when Jakes tried to kiss him.
Jakes' lawsuit calls the allegations "a carefully planned effort by a convicted criminal, and those acting in concert with him, to rewrite history in order to deflect blame and accountability for his own reprehensible and criminal conduct and to publicly smear a renowned and eminently respected religious leader in a blatant and explicit attempt to extort him for millions of dollars."
Televangelist and Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Apollo Quiboloy surrendered to authorities in the Philippines in September after a contentious two-week standoff with police. He has been charged with human trafficking and the sexual abuse of children and has pleaded not guilty as more alleged victims have come forward.
Quiboloy is also on the FBI's Most Wanted list for similar charges in the United States. An indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2021 charged Quiboloy and two of his top administrators with trafficking young women and girls in the U.S. who were coerced into having sex with him under threats of "eternal damnation."
Leonardo Blair contributed to this report.
