Bishop T.D. Jakes installed his daughter and son-in-law over his Dallas megachurch Sunday, urging them to lead the ministry he founded in 1996 “in the way of Christ.”
Touré Roberts and Sarah Jakes Roberts became co-senior pastors of the 30,000-member The Potter’s House Church during an installation ceremony held as part of a nearly four-hour service celebrating the congregation’s 29th anniversary.
“You have been set apart for a special service to pay a specific word, to equip the body of Christ’s ministry of reconciliation, which it inherited from Christ Himself to the world,” Jakes said. “As you embark on this chapter of your ministry, this is truly a new beginning. I charge you: Remember always that Jesus came not to be served, but to serve.”
Jakes, 68, anointed the pair with oil before they signed documents certifying the pastoral transfer. He placed white stoles with the church’s logo around their necks to signify the “yoke of the Gospel.”
The new senior pastors then addressed the congregation.
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Roberts said the pastoral transition will be “like blending a family.” He thanked several of his relatives for lifting him at key points in his journey and said his goal is to do the same for The Potter’s House congregation.
“And now my purpose, simply put, is to lift you, is to sacrifice, is to pay the price and to lift you in every way that I can, with every gift that I can,” he said.
Jakes Roberts said she initially felt trepidation about leading the church and thought “somebody else could do better.”
“But I asked God to make it clear that this was his path and his choice for me, not just because it made sense on paper, but it was because of God’s plan,” she said. “God kept showing up over and over again, making it clear that this was part of his plan for my life and for our marriage and for our children.”
Roberts and Jakes Roberts became assistant pastors of The Potter’s House in 2023 after relocating to Dallas from Los Angeles.
In April, Jakes announced that he would step down as senior pastor at The Potter’s House and pass the mantle to Roberts, 52, and Jakes Roberts, 36. According to a statement issued by the church at the time, Jakes felt “the urgent need to address more challenges of our time, particularly the looming threat of a disappearing middle class, social unrest, and closing opportunity gaps.”
In the months leading up to the announcement, Jakes suffered a heart attack while preaching, was accused of sexual abuse y filed a defamation lawsuit against the pastors who accused him of abuse. He was also mentioned as part of a 2024 lawsuit against recently convicted music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Jakes will remain in leadership at The Potter’s House as board chairman and a spiritual overseer. He plans to continue as chair of the T.D. Jakes Group, which consists of T.D. Jakes Real Estate Ventures, T.D. Jakes Enterprises and the T.D. Jakes Foundation. He also plans to launch a new slate of shows through iHeartPodcasts.
Jakes Roberts is an author and founder of Woman Evolve, an organization that aims “to equip women through spiritual and practical development with the tools necessary to evolve into the highest version of themselves,” según su sitio web.
Roberts is also an author and founder of ONE | A Potter’s House Church in Los Angeles.
Ann Marie Shambaugh has reported as a print journalist in multiple states, including currently in Carmel, Indiana.
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22 Responses
Nothing says nepotism and hereditary empires like this. Keep in the family. The clan Jakes retains the Iron Throne.
Sometimes that works out. Sometimes it’s a recipe for disaster.
Examples (Only in terms of numbers)
Success
Joel Osteen taking over for his father John
Failure
Robert A. Schuller taking over for his father.
Osteen is hardly a success unless you mean grown rich spewing feel good noise. And kicking out hurricane victims so his carpet stays clean or letting Kayye West pretend he’s walking across water or the $600k found by a plumber in a bathroom wall. Oh yeah he’s gods favorite.
Notice I said (Only in terms of numbers) not in terms of ethics or orthodox beliefs.
Osteen’s church is thriving in terms of the number of people attending there while Schuller’s church is no more.
I used to be a follower of large evangelicals. Then god gave me discernment to see they don’t represent god. Look at Tony Robbins. If he starting yelling Jesus is lord he’d double his net worth in a year.
The reason Schuller’s son failed was because he wanted to preach the word of God out of the Bible. Daddy didn’t want that. He wanted feel good messages, so he wouldn’t let junior take over. I live about two miles from the Crystal Cathedral. It’s now owned by the Catholics.
Philip, when in America, I was invited by friends attending Crystal Cathedral. I vividly remember waiting in a long line to get in to the building to listen to the famous pastor, Daddy Schuller. To my utter shock, Schuller preached nothing from the Bible. I looked around and people had their Bibles closed because Daddy Schuller was spinning them a good yarn about the work he was doing in Africa and across the world. On leaving LA, I encouraged my friends to get out of that church and go to a church where they will get real spiritual food and hear Christ being preached – as Paul said “we preach Christ and Him crucified.” When family leadership takes over a church, especially a huge megachurch such as The Potter’s House, there is such a danger that the family becomes the Potter, and Christ takes second place.
Other success stories:
All of Tony Evans’ children (his son Jonathan Evans is being positioned to take the helm at Oakcliff Bible Fellowship);
David Arthur, son of Kay Arthur, who is CEO of Precept Ministries.
I try to believe and pray for the best in these scenarios….
Ah, the American way. Passing on the baton to family whether it be properties, businesses, stocks,
trusts, brand names, etc, etc.
But a church ⛪️? 🤔
The body of Christ? 🤔
Or is it perhps something else? 🤔
Hmm. I don’t have much of an opinion yet. Let’s pray and see how this goes.
When members have no vote in who the pastor it shows they are not following Christ!
I’m not saying that congregational vote isn’t a valid consideration (or even best practice) for pastoral succession, but I have a hard time finding anything in the Bible that mandates this.
The will of the masses are not always the best for making decisions.
Amen…You are exactly right…the church needs to decide who the next pastor is…this is not an inheritance to be passed down…I have seen this in multiple places and it is really a joke…
Aside from the obvious “keeping all control in the family”, my first question would be what are the qualifications of these two new “co-pastors”?
Side stepping GODS judgement does not give you a free pass to continue your folly. Remember you can surely fool people, but you can’t and won’t fool GOD!
I bet she had “trepidation” for a second, until she found out her salary and jumped on it. The whole family has been mired in controversy ever since he jumped ship in his other church. Hard to believe that people fall for what spews out of his mouth and for that prosperity gospel. God is cleaning house these days and whatever happens in the dark will be revealed in the light. If he wasn’t so sad, he would be laughable and is prob still sending notes to Diddy and Franklin. Repulsive!
One of the things I look for in a church is a staff page where multiple people don’t have the same last name.
I’m not ALWAYS trepidous about a family – particularly parents and children – all being in the same ministry, because when an elder is truly raising his family in the ways of the Lord according to scripture (e.g., making sure they become disciples of Christ, etc), it’s not too far out there for that to include being equipped for ministry as well.
Does that mean they are all CALLED into vocational ministry? Not necessarily.
But it’s not as alarming – or rather, it SHOULDN’T be as alarming – as a secular organization or corporation with generations and layers of nepotism.
I just question whether family members are truly qualified; or just in place because they are family… Would other churches have hired this person?
And I don’t know the Jakes family enough to say so.
Yet in the examples I gave above (Tony Evans, Kay Arthur), the children had grown their own personal ministries and followings before taking the helm, so maybe so?
And this is a surprise too… Absolutely no one. It is the family business and heretical to boot.
Good luck! Aside from the false, prosperity teaching like Potters House, Mega churches tends to breed consumers and spectators instead of servants; fans instead of sold-out followers.
I’ve seen and heard Jakes “preach” several years ago. He is certainly no Charles Spurgeon or even close to him. Better termed a ‘charismatic story-teller’.
https://newcreationinx.com/2025/07/05/the-solution-for-church-decline-is-not-mega-church/