Tag Archives: megachurches

The Heritage Foundation is suggesting foul play: The historic sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Dallas, the church led by Pastor Robert Jeffress, caught fire on Friday night. The cause remains unknown, though the fire comes less than one week after an attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, of whom Jeffress has long been an impassioned supporter. First Baptist …

The Christian Post reports: Just over a week after former Executive Pastor Zachary King was charged with the rape and sexual abuse of a minor, LexCity Church in Lexington, Kentucky, has permanently shuttered because it wouldn’t be “financially viable” to continue. “Today we are writing a letter that no leadership team desires to write. Through thoughtful prayer and heartfelt tears, …

The Christian Post reports: Just two months before Gateway Church founder Robert Morris resigned over an explosive allegation of child sex abuse, the megachurch settled a lawsuit in which at least five Gateway Church pastors and a youth leader were accused of concealing the sexual assault of a minor by another member. The initial lawsuit was filed in Tarrant County …

The Christian Post reports: More than two years after former teaching pastor Bruxy Cavey [photo] resigned from one of Canada’s largest megachurches amid allegations of sexual misconduct, The Meeting House has temporarily paused operations because no insurance company wants to cover its abuse liability or employment practices liability insurance. “The historical incidents and allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse at …

The Christian Post reports: Robert Morris, founding pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, which attracts an estimated 100,000 worshipers weekly, has confessed to “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” more than 35 years ago while he was a young pastor after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her over multiple years beginning when she was 12. “When …

USA Today reports: Dr. Tony Evans, a well-known evangelical Texas pastor, has stepped down from leadership at his church. In a statement posted Sunday to the church’s website, Evans, the senior pastor at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, said he is stepping down due to an unnamed “sin.” “The foundation of our ministry has always been our commitment …

Megachurch Pastor Mario Murillo writes: Why am I waiting until June 1st to make one of the biggest announcements of my life? There is a clue to the answer to that question in this question: ‘Why do Mothers get only one day, but the LGBTQ agenda gets an entire month?’ That tells us everything about the condition of America. Here’s …

The Christian Post reports: In what at least one critic has dismissed as the Dunning Krueger Effect in action, Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, claims there is no such thing as mental illness. MacArthur, who is also the president of The Master’s College and Seminary, called mental illnesses “noble lies” while speaking during a …

The Christian Post reports: Pastor Gene Jacobs of Real Life Ministries Silver Valley, who was found dead in a mountainous area south of Pinehurst, Idaho, on Tuesday evening, died from an apparent “self-inflicted gunshot wound,” local police said as his church continues to mourn their loss. While the church noted that an investigation into the pastor’s passing was ongoing, a …

The Kansas City Star reports: The International House of Prayer-Kansas City, plagued for months by sexual abuse allegations against its founder Mike Bickle, plans to close its doors and open a new, smaller organization. The news, first reported by The Roys Report, an online Christian media outlet, was based on a leaked recording of a Monday staff meeting at IHOP …

The Christian Post reports: With the approval of her co-pastor husband, Reginald Steele of Kingdom Church in Phoenix, Arizona, Kelley Steele warned Christian women in her congregation to avoid withholding sex from their husbands because it’s unbiblical and they could push their husbands in the arms of “some trick, some ho, some homewrecker that will give him exactly what he …

The Christian Post reports: Former Hillsong Church leader Brian Houston claims his X account was hacked after the account tweeted the words “ladies and girls kissing,” drawing scrutiny from social media users. The post generated reactions among social media users who were voicing their opinions on the post, with some guessing that it could have been a query for an …

The Christian Post reports: With play-by-play announcers, color commentary, a referee, and a stage covered in AstroTurf, the Crossroads pulpit resembled Allegiant Stadium more than any church on Sunday morning as Senior Pastor Brian Tome and Pastor Alli Patterson sported football jerseys as they took the stage for the “pregame” coin flip. After Tome wins the flip, the referee asks, …

“Our shooter is identified by a driver’s license as Genesee Moreno 36 years old, Hispanic female. There are some discrepancies. We do have reports she used multiple aliases, including Jeffrey Escalante. So she has utilized both male and female names but through all of our investigation to this point, talking with individuals, interviews, documents, Houston Police Department reports, she has …

ABC News reports: “Free Palestine” was written on the gun belonging to a woman who opened fire at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. However, a motive behind the Sunday afternoon shooting has not been determined. Sources said investigators are feverishly going through the social media and writings …

CNN reports: The woman entered the church accompanied by a child who Houston Police Chief Troy Finner estimated to be between “4 to 5 years old.” “Once she entered, at some point she began to fire,” the chief said. Two off-duty officers were present: a 28-year-old Houston Police Department officer and a 38-year-old agent with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, …

NBC News reports: The Houston Police Department and Houston Fire Department are responding to reports of a shooting at pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in the city, officials said. Police responded to reports of a shooting at 3700 Southwest Freeway — the address of Lakewood Church — this afternoon at around 2:24 p.m. local time, the department said on X. …

Religion News Service reports: Leaders of the International House of Prayer, an influential charismatic evangelical prayer and mission group based in Kansas City, announced Friday (Dec. 22) that they have cut ties with founder Mike Bickle. In late October a group of former IHOPKC leaders accused Bickle of a pattern of alleged clergy sexual misconduct. Earlier in December, Bickle admitted …

The Christian Post reports: More than a month after leaders of International House of Prayer Kansas City announced that at least one allegation of abuse including “sexual immorality” made against the ministry’s founder Mike Bickle has “some credibility,” the embattled minister confessed on Tuesday to sinful misconduct he committed over 20 years ago. “With a very heavy heart I want …

Via press release from the Justice Department: A federal grand jury today charged the leader of the Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo megachurch with two felony counts alleging he produced and possessed child sexual abuse material (CSAM) depicting a 16-year-old victim. Naasón Joaquín García, 54, previously served as a minister for the church in Santa Ana and, from December 2014, …