The Steve Lawson adultery scandal was one of the highest-profile celebrity pastor scandals of 2024, where there were quite a few. Steve Lawson was caught in a five-year-long double life affair with a woman a third his age, ruining decades of ministry.
Protestia obtained a recording of a meeting with the elders at Trinity Bible Church from December 11 where the elders answered questions related to the events and their response. Trinity Bible Church has been under fire for their poor handling of the situation, in that they allowed the scandal to drag on by not clearly stating what Steve Lawson did and why he was removed, instead using intentionally vague language. Protestia notes that what Evangelical Dark Web suspected about the nature of the relationship is now confirmed.
In particular, we learned that Lawson, 73, was not simply involved in an inappropriate relationship that resulted in him being indefinitely removed from the church, but instead was in a long-term sexual relationship with a woman in her twenties that resulted in him being permanently disqualified. We also learned that he was not an elder of the church, never wanted to be, and had left the state, refusing to submit to church discipline.
According to the transcript of the recorded meeting:
He disqualified himself from the ministry, and we put that he had had an inappropriate relationship with a woman who was not his wife.
Well, since that, we also not only told him that he was relieved of all his duties, we stopped immediately any financial compensation that we were giving him.
Protestia frames this next part in the context of a chastisement of members who left the church over this, that they idolized Lawson:
We’ve had people leave the church, we’ve had people that were here because of Steve Lawson. I will tell you this: man’s heart is an idol maker. Man’s heart is an idol maker. And whenever you give a man too much attention, you hold him in too high of esteem, it’s bad for both parties. It’s bad when a man thinks that he’s anything more than a man. Cause we’re all sinners. And it’s bad for the person when you elevate someone beyond what he is and that’s simply a man.
This comes after the elders insisted on a need-to-know basis for information, therefore disconnecting their lack of transparency from the reasons people left.
There are many men who have filled this pulpit over the years. And if I told you their names, you would know who they are. And we have asked them, for years, ‘would you ever consider being the pastor here?’ And the Lord in all that, has never opened the door.
We’ve made financial offers. We’ve been real serious about this. We’re going to continue to be serious and intentional. But there was an impediment. These men, for whatever reason, didn’t want to come. We are now in a position where we feel like the Lord….is going to bring us the right men, the right women, the right families for the ministries here. And so we ask that you would pray for that.
Trinity Bible Church implies that Steve Lawson inhibited the church’s ability to bring on additional pastors in what is perhaps the second biggest revelation in this report.
With the dispute about Steve Lawson’s membership status, Trinity Bible Church insisted that Lawson was a member, but this raises the question as to why church discipline was never practiced.
We would take exception to that…we sought wise counsel from men like John MacArthur and others. We dealt with his issue, this sin swiftly. We dealt with it firmly. We immediately ended his remuneration. We disqualified him and we would now say permanently from ministry.
So we don’t have, that I know in the scriptures, extradition where we can go to Tennessee and drag him back to Dallas. And I think maybe some people want him led through the streets, have tomatoes thrown at him. But we’ve dealt with this swiftly and biblically…There is no timetable in some of these biblical passages. So as time goes on, if there’s something else for us to do, we will do that.
When we exposed him, that was a discipline. And he acknowledged it. So when he says, ‘yes, I agree, and I submit to the elders,’ he has been disciplined and he has acknowledged it. The next phase is the ball is in his court to show repentance. And now he goes back to Anne to his family and others.
This was one of a few appeals to John MacArthur in the transcript. This is as far as the discipline process went for Steve Lawson. And despite him never being an elder, they have declared him forever disqualified.
I’ll just tell you right now, as the guy who’s closest to him. He says he’s repentant and I don’t think he is.
I’m just telling you right now. He will tell you he is, until I see him, until he goes to his wife and he goes to his family, I don’t care who else he says he’s repentant to.
Trinity Bible Church uses Steve Lawson’s refusal to reconcile with his wife as evidence that his repentance is not sincere.
4 Responses
The thing that should jump out is the question of when to start another church plant?
IF their membership is 750 and they have only 4 elders? DO they only count as elders paid people usually with a seminary and / or bible college education on staff? That’s a lot of people to try to rule with only 4 people. Certainly not what Jethro would have condoned in Exodus.
In business you here the Pareto principle which suggests that 80% of production comes from 20% of causes or people. However, over taxing elder’s with too many responsibilities is a recipe for problems, (lawson debacle not withstanding). Only a few denominations acftually have the bishop’s office we saw later in the early church too.
It makes me wonder if many churches are run how they are, only because they are afraid what might happen if they allow more people to serve.
Protestia are evil manipulative genocidal traitors, who tweeted that any Christian who doesn’t celebrate race-mixing, is committing a sin.
Protestia tweeted that anything less than enthusiastic celebration of race-mixing, is a sin.
Protestia tweeted that the blending of the races glorifies “god”.
These tweets are clearly an attempt by Protestia to manipulate, gaslight and deceive Christians into wrongly believing that “god” hates the concept of White racial loyalty.
Protestia is essentially using religion (and the threat of divine punishment) to manipulate, pressure and coerce White people into embracing the destruction of the White race.
That is the height of depravity and evil: threatening that “god” will punish you if you don’t celebrate the destruction of your own race.
Furthermore, Protestia is driving Pro-White people away from Christianity, by FALSELY portraying “god” as a wicked, evil, destructive, malevolent anarchist who demands the destruction of the White race.
Protestia are LIARS and depraved traitors.
I wonder how much Protestia gets (((paid))) to spew these evil manipulative genocidal anti-White lies.
Hopefully one day, the America First movement will win power, and after that happens, everyone who works for Protestia can be arrested and put on trial for treason and incitement of genocide.
“We’ve had people leave the church, we’ve had people that were here because of Steve Lawson. I will tell you this: man’s heart is an idol maker.”
The “man’s heart is an idol maker” is silly in this context. Of course they’re going to leave that church and find a new one, hopefully better one, after Lawson’s fall. Does anyone actually expect them to stay in that church? That’s like Catholics arguing that despite Francis pushing gay they should stay Catholic.
Protestia is happy to get the heat off JD.