The founder of a prominent Texas megachurch, who departed from his church last year due to a mysterious “sin”, has been reinstated, calling his time away an “extremely challenging experience.”
According to CBS News, Pastor Tony Evans has “successfully completed his restoration journey” and returned to the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas this past Sunday.
Upon his return to the stage, the 75-year-old pastor was met with enthusiastic applause from the congregation after stepping down as the church’s leader in June 2024.
“This past year has been incredibly difficult, a time of being away from what I cherish most—the proclamation of God’s word,” Evans stated in a video shared on YouTube following his return announcement.
He acknowledged, “Much of this was my own doing, and I needed to go through a process of repentance and restoration for healing to occur. Fortunately, our God is a God of restoration,” he remarked.
While the church’s elder board commended how Evans dealt with his undisclosed moral failing, he is not anticipated to resume a leadership position, as reported by CBS News.
Instead, the church revealed that his son, Jonathan, will take on the responsibilities of lead pastor.
Evans, previously the chaplain for both the Dallas Cowboys and Mavericks, clarified that he “committed no crime” but “exercised poor judgment in my actions” which led to his resignation last year.
“Some years back, I did not meet that standard,” he confessed during his resignation.
“I therefore must hold myself to the same biblical standard of repentance and restoration that I’ve applied to others.”
The specifics of the “sin” that led to Evans’ resignation remain private.
The Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, which Evans founded in 1976 initially as a Bible study group, has expanded to house over 10,000 members and runs over 100 ministries reaching audiences both “locally and around the world.”
A notable author of several bestselling worship books, Evans also hosts the globally syndicated daily radio program “The Alternative,” which is broadcast in over 130 countries.
His reinstatement in ministry comes shortly after another Texas megachurch pastor, Robert Morris, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of inappropriate conduct with a minor from the 1980s in Oklahoma.
Morris was the senior pastor at Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, one of the country’s largest megachurches, before his resignation.
Earlier this year, an Oklahoma grand jury indicted him after a woman accused him of sexually abusing her when she was just 12 years old.
