A lead pastor at a megachurch in north Texas is resigning for inappropriate actions, church elders announced in a sermón Sunday. Following the pastor’s departure, a former longtime pastor at Gateway Church, who was accused of misconduct in a recent lawsuit, has taken the helm as interim head pastor.
Josiah Anthony, lead pastor at Cross Timbers Church in Argyle, Texas, resigned after elders learned he had engaged in “inappropriate and hurtful” actions, Elder John Chalk said. Chalk shared the news in broad terms while reading from a statement.
“Josiah has been in a prolonged and sustained season of struggle with his emotional and mental health which has been very painful for him and those around him,” Chalk told the congregation. “Throughout this struggle, some of Josiah’s decisions and actions were inappropriate and hurtful to current and former members of the CT family and staff.”
The “events and circumstances” involving Anthony happened over the course of a few years, Chalk noted.
“During this time, Josiah was not forthcoming and transparent with the staff and the elder board,” Chalk continued. “Once all of this came to light over the last few weeks, it became evident that Josiah could not continue to serve as our lead pastor.”
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Chalk said elders then asked Anthony to resign, and the pastor agreed.
The Argyle Police Department told the local publication WFAA that there are no open investigations regarding Cross Timbers. Police added that they have no “knowledge of the circumstances surrounding changes to their leadership team.”
Chalk added elders felt it was vital to share the truth of Anthony’s resignation with the church.
Anthony first started working at Cross Timbers in 2014 as a student pastor, according to his LinkedIn. From there, he worked his way up and became senior pastor in 2022. In his role, he oversaw a congregation of 5,000 and supervised more than 60 employees.
“My passion lies in fostering spiritual growth, nurturing community relationships, and advocating for social justice initiatives,” his LinkedIn said.
Cross Timbers Interim Pastor tied to Gateway Church
While elders search for a new lead pastor, Cross Timbers Executive Pastor Byron Copeland will take over as interim pastor, Chalk said.
Copeland worked at the controversial Gateway Church for nearly 20 years, according to his LinkedIn.
He was also accused of misconduct in a 2023 civil lawsuit filed by Rachel Childress against Gateway.
Childress alleged that former Gateway Pastor Aldean “Al” Pearson harassed her by trying to “physically touch her” and making “inappropriate remarks,” El Informe Roys (TRR) previamente reportado.
In the lawsuit, Childress said she reported Pearson to Copeland and several other staff members, but they failed to listen and act on her accusations.
When she first informed Copeland of Pearson’s harassment in 2020, he “sympathized with her but did nothing,” the lawsuit states. Then in 2021, she reported her hostile work environment to Copeland and other staff again.
After this, Copeland allegedly “aggressively confronted” Childress, the lawsuit said.
“Copeland backed Ms. Childress into a corner of the room they were in and threatened to fire her if she didn’t shut up and stop stirring up drama,” the lawsuit continues. Later that evening, Copeland reportedly sent her an apology over Slack.
Gateway Church has made headlines in recent months over the bombshell allegations that its founder Robert Morris sexually abused Cindy Clemishire, beginning in 1982, when she was 12 years old.
Morris has since resigned from the church’s top position while Gateway leaders claimed they did not know the age of his victim and the length of her abuse, TRR previamente reportado.
Last week, James Morris, who was set to take over leadership of Gateway, renunciar from his father’s church.
Cross Timbers leaders encourage members to stick with church
After Chalk made his announcement at Cross Timbers Sunday, the church’s founding pastor, Toby Slough, took the stage.
He addressed the congregation and encouraged them to “feel their feelings,” whether that be anger, disappointment, or sadness. He also asked them to stick with the church.
“As you process through the reality of this day, in the context of quite honestly what we’re hearing on the news . . . my prayer is that we would let unchanging truth be our guiding light, even when it doesn’t feel that way,” Chalk said while tearing up.
He noted church elders’ quick response time to learning about Anthony’s actions. He said that within a month of learning this, the elders made their decision about Anthony’s resignation.
He also thanked the individuals who spoke up and shared about Anthony.
“I am so grateful for the individuals who had the courage to speak to our elders about some challenges that they had had, with grace and integrity,” he said. “I know that wasn’t easy.”
He added, “I’m grateful the Lord is near to the brokenhearted.
Freelance journalist Liz Lykins escribe for WORLD Magazine, Christianity Today, Ministry Watch, and other publications.
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17 Responses
So the new definition of “above reproach” seems to work on a sliding scale.
“Well, at least he’s better than that guy!”
Here’s another Board that lacks transparency in their statements to try and save the revenue from walking out the door.
Is this the 4th this year for the Dallas area mega churches?
These are indeed the days of revelation & God is going to reveal ALL of it & sooner than most people think. And putting in 1 ungodly, disgraced former pastor for this one is NOT the right thing to do.
Seems to me that the elders aren’t doing much to right a foundering church . . . they make a choice to bring in an interim pastor who has been recently accused of misconduct? This church is a disaster waiting to happen.
We are thankfully witnessing the end of the megachurch era. Good riddance to Church Inc.
¡Amén!
Christians need to both LEAVE and **BOYCOTT** most/all MEGA-“churches”!
Those evil “churches” bring shame on God’s most holy Name!
Leave them! Boycott them!
It’s important to Understand the mindset of the mega Church, especially it’s Pastor and staff
Having been in the ministry for over 50 years, I have seen this often, and, unfortunately, I have been guilty of it myself…
I have friends on Gateway’s staff, and can somewhat understand what’s going on…
The pastor and the staff have a “vision” of “something big.” They take that vision and dump it on the people: sucking up all the cash from the sheep that they possibly can.
Size matters.
You lose sight of the individual.
There are thousands at Gareway who are terribly wounded and beaten down. But they do not get the help they need.
Gateway Church counseling services are way off base as well. They like to blame “evil spirits” for many of the people’s issues (go back and listen to some of Robert’s sermons, and you will notice he often makes makes reference to “curses and spirits”)
The pastors are worn out, burned out, dried up, withered – and ready to quit. It is very exhausting to try and build the biggest building in town. It is extremely tiring to keep a big corporation in the black.
Quite agree. One must ask, are these organizations – due to their ethos and methodology – by definition, Christian churches?
Obviously, “You will know them by their fruit.” The leaders get mad when the Real King Jesus Christ falls on them and begins to crush them. They call The King as the Devil as well as the real work of the Holy Spirit. They blaspheme and commit the unpardonable sin.
At the very least could these pastors consider that their actions will eventually land them a headline and “mugshot” Julie Roys’ site.
So many of these stories have a common theme: leadership boards, teams, etc. that don’t or can’t keep pastors and other leaders accountable. I realize accountability won’t necessarily help where the intent to defraud or abuse is there. But it can help someone who genuinely makes a bad decision to learn from it, have a consequence and hopefully be restored. I read many of the comments on this site and it seems to me several participants don’t fully embrace restoration as Paul describes it. But I’m guessing that’s due to a cynicism that exists surrounding large churches. I digress..
It’s too bad these churches don’t have stronger leadership that isn’t afraid to stand up to the “Leads”. I’m guessing much of the lack of accountability is also due to fear that if people knew the truth they would walk with their donations. And that demonstrates a tremendous lack of faith.
So you want snakes to be restored to abusing the sheep? Really? What kind of Machiavellian are you? Paul called out false leaders by name and was very harsh. Jesus was infinitely harsher. “Woe to you! How will you avoid hell?”
Ah – I love the baseless personal attacks. Maybe next time you decide to bravely “keyboard warrior” someone without merit, don’t skip over the part that says, ” I realize accountability won’t necessarily help where the intent to defraud or abuse is there.”
There are two concerning things I see in this article- by not naming at least the genre of disqualification, there is no way to know if the leadership is handling it well. If it is an abusive situation, there may be more abused, if it’s an inappropriate relationship, it might be clergy abuse. Do police need to be involved? The congregation doesn’t need details, but the lack of transparency is concerning, and might mean a cover up. And second- having an interim person that just recently was credibly accused of intimidating someone coming forward about a hostile work environment speaks volumes about what the leadership is willing to overlook. this is especially concerning if the reason the pastor was disqualified was any sort of situation involving intimidation- it will NOT create a safe healing environment for those he intimidated.
Sexual abuse is a crime in this country, and not reporting it, especially if you are in a position of authority with the state or federal government, is also a crime. Teachers, principals, nurses, and other staff in a school who do not report “suspected” abuse are held accountable by the courts and are punished. Technically, because the church is not a government entity, it’s leaders may not be held criminally responsible for not reporting abuse to the police, but they can be taken to court and tried if the victim reports them. Know full well that God himself holds them responsible for not reporting to the authorities, and God himself will bring their sin to light for all to see. They will be held responsible by God for this sin, and so will everyone else in the church who did not take action and looked the other way.
How can this man be a senior pastor when he does not have any formal theological education to be caring for the souls of his flock? Josiah has a bachelors degree in Business Administration and Marketing and it seems that he wanted to run the church like a CEO of a business organization. This is sad :(