Steve Lawson, Lead Preacher of Trinity Bible Church of Dallas and Dean of D.Min. studies at John MacArthur’s The Master’s Seminary, has been removed from his church due to “an inappropriate relationship” with a woman, Trinity announced today.
“Steven J. Lawson has been removed indefinitely from all ministry activities at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas,” Trinity announced on its website around noon Central Time today. Shortly before posting, the church also sent an email announcement to its congregation.
“Several days ago, the elders at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas were informed by Steve Lawson of an inappropriate relationship has had with a woman,” the elder announcement added. “The elders met with Steve and will continue to come alongside him and pray for him with the ultimate goal of his personal repentance. Steve will no longer be compensated by Trinity Bible Church of Dallas.”
The announcement also reminded readers “that we are ALL sinners” and that Christ’s church “is bigger than any fallen man.”
“The Lord was building Trinity Bible Church of Dallas well before Steve became our Leader Preacher, and He will continue to build this church long after Steve Lawson, or any other man for that matter,” the elders said.
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The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to Trinity for additional comment and clarification about whether the woman involved with Lawson was a member of the congregation or staff at Trinity. The church did not reply by time of publication.
Lawson had been scheduled to deliver the sermon last night at the opening session of the Men of the Word Conference hosted by The Master’s Seminary (TMS), but was replaced by HB Charles. A pinned post on the X account of TMS still lists Lawson as a speaker at the event.
TRR reached out for comment to TMS, where Lawson also serves on the board, but did not immediately hear back. Lawson was listed as a dean at TMS’s website but was removed in the late afternoon.*
Lawson is the founder and president of OnePassion Ministries “and has dedicated his life to help biblical expositors bring about a new reformation in the church,” the ministry’s website states.
The website also says Lawson is the author of 33 books and is a teaching fellow and board member at Ligonier Ministries.
The Roys Report (TRR) reached out to Ligonier for comment but did not immediately hear back. However, Lawson’s page at Ligonier’s website has been removed.
Trinity Church has also removed the disgraced pastor from its website.
Lawson’s contentious history
Prior to coming to Trinity Church, Lawson pastored churches in Arkansas and Alabama for more than three decades.
In 1995, Lawson began pastoring Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, according to The Alabama Baptist.
However, in 2003, Lawson and “the entire full-time ministerial staff, including their assistants, as well as the organist and the pianst (sic), resigned.” The reason cited for the mass resignations was a “difference in theological beliefs about predestination between the pastor and some church members.”
A staff member at another Baptist church in town told The Alabama Baptist that Lawson and some of his church members had disagreed for years. But Lawson decided to leave when more than 300 people signed a petition calling for his resignation.
Bill Whitfield, a part-time minister at Dauphin Way Baptist told the newspaper that Lawson was a “five-point Calvinist who believed in double-predestination”—the doctrine that God chooses some people to be saved and others to be damned.
Whitfield added that the expository preacher lacked a “compassionate spirit” and believed anyone who disagreed with his beliefs “could not comprehend the gospel.”
Lawson then planted another church in Mobile with those who followed him from Dauphin Way, Christ Fellowship Baptist Church.
After about a decade, Lawson left Christ Fellowship Baptist Church and moved to Dallas, where he eventually became a teaching pastor at Trinity Bible Church, which launched in 2018.
Close friendship with John MacArthur
For decades, Lawson has been not only a colleague but a close friend of author and pastor John MacArthur, who’s also known for his doctrinal dogmatism.
When MacArthur pulled out of Ligonier Conference in March 2022, about 10 days after TRR reported that MacArthur had protected a child abuser and shamed the abuser’s wife, Lawson posted a picture golfing with MacArthur on Instagram.
Lawson has called MacArthur “the greatest influence on my preaching” and also referred to MacArthur as the “greatest expositor of our day.”
At a TMS conference in 2020, Lawson was even more effusive, saying, “It seems that in every generation, there is one man who is uniquely positioned to have the dominant voice in the church. . . . I really believe in the 21st Century that it is John MacArthur who has been raised up by God in an unprecedented manner.”
Lawson holds a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary and a DMin from Reformed Theological Seminary.
According to his website, Lawson is married and has three sons and one daughter.
*After we published this story, TMS removed Lawson from its website. We have updated our story accordingly.
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
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122 Responses
A converted heart hates sin, is so grieved when it sins & throws itself at the mercy seat of God.
The more one realizes just how truly wretched one is, the more one gets to grow in the knowledge of God’s love&mercy, the increase of this knowledge is what empowers one against sin, also making one more merciful&loving towards others. One realizes how doomed we would be without the precious the blood of Christ.
We obey because we love Him.We Love because He loved us first.
Mathew 5:4, Luke 7:47,
Rom 7:15-24,
This makes me very sad. Judgment is happening in the house of God, let us fall into the hands of the Lord for his mercy is great.
Great Word of Truth! Thanks for sharing.
I find it a little disturbing that the vast majority of the comments are not about what the article is about but about Calvinism, which it is not. What it is about is a leader who has either: 1) had an affair with an unrelated party, or 2) engaged in clergy abuse by seducing someone under his authority. I had a meeting of men in my house for over 6 years where one was an outspoken Calvinist and one was an outspoken anti-Calvinist. There was a lot of quarrelling that went on there just between the two. The rest of us did not. Just like it is here. Funny though that being quarrelsome is a fruit of the flesh and not a fruit of the Spirit. Calvinists are a quarrelsome lot and they bring out others who are just as quarrelsome. Lots of pride being expressed in all of that as well. Also, not a fruit of the Spirit. But do not quarrel with me. I believe in the Lordship of Jesus Christ and humility as the chief virtue. Does anyone care about what is right and wrong with what leaders do? Or is it just the prideful theology quarreling that people care about?
Unfortunately, as in the case with most areas of life, several commenters who frequent this board care more about the scandaled leaders than they do about the leaders victims. When you side with the offending party instead if the offended party, you become just as amoral as the offender.
Eddie, I get what you are saying but in all fairness speaking up about those who are abusive is caring a whole lot about victims – preventing future ones. But also trying to achieve some justice for past ones. The Bible talks a lot about confronting sin and keeping leaders accountable esp when it is so public. It sets a higher standard. So should we and leaders should welcome it.
Eddie is right. Where is the victim? How did Lawson meet her? Was he on a dating site or did he meet her casually? A man his age, not very attractive, would have been ignored unless he charmed her first with his position as a notable pastor which makes him accountable through his fiduciary duty’s as a spiritual leader. Lawson should make a public apology. His covering up “who she is” does not seem to be to protect anyone but himself. She told her father, so she isn’t the one keeping secrets.
Psalm 37:24
New American Standard Bible
24 When he falls, he will not be hurled down,
Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.
Steven, countless brothers and sisters are praying for you and your family, your church, all your appreciated endeavors in helping so many understand the Scriptures and so much more. May our dearest Lord help you in this time of great need and bless you profoundly. You are much loved, brother.
Is an “inapropriate relationship” the same as a “moral failing”. Call whatever it is, what it is, please.
I’m praying for you brother.
Calvinists, Arminians, and everyone else in the church have many things in common and in the case of this story………one. They can morally fail.
Some might look at this as proof that Calvinism is a failure or evil. But the church responded by removing him from leadership. So there is proof it entirely isn’t falling or evil. I get it that there are some interpretations or perversions of Calvinism that are not biblical, but you don’t condemn the whole thing. I’d say the same thing about Arminianism. Both are people’s attempt to understand difficult topics so let’s temper with one another. Maybe one thing we can agree on: when you preach, teach, act from Calvinism/Arminianism more than the scripture, there’s an idolatry problem.
Hypocrisy…we should not be surprised by this adultery issue, this sin is far more common than we know even among reformed preachers… noted by their undying support for a president who is a multiple adulterer … the only thing surprising is that anyone is surprised by this
We don’t know whom the woman is and maybe we shouldn’t know to protect her and let her have some privacy. Also, this recently came out and we have not enough information to draw any conclusions. We’re grieved about this. Too many want to be first to break this story resembling yellow sheet journalism.
So in MacArthur’s church there is child molestations and massive number of wife abuses going on for decades and MacArthur covers up everything and defends the abusers and attacks and mocks the victims. Once those revelations start coming to the surface, Steve Lawson immediately defends MacArthur publicly.
Lawson basically spits on all those wronged widows and orphans.
Doesn’t Jesus say if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble then it would be better for a millstone to be hang around his neck and he be thrown into the sea ?
Why is everyone asking for prayers for Lawson only, and almost no one asks prayers for Lawson’s wife and kids whom he broke, and also the woman, possibly the Christian wife with whom he had sex with, and her family ? Maybe they think it’s her fault, just like MacArthur’s church has been doing to women.
Eric, your above statement rings so true! I am a wife in this very situation. I continually pray for Anne. My outwardly honorable, teaching, elder husband has spun a terrific web of deception – and most still struggle to see the truth of his life. He has lived a 50 year private life of sin. Some of it has come to light. Yet I am the one shunned while everyone tries to figure out how he got away with it, if it’s really true, and how to possibly help him – if he ever chooses to be truly repentive. And, this is not a sin that just suddenly happens. Complete deception is the ruling sin here. One has to have a deceptive, manipulative heart to get away with this. Steve needs Christ, and Anne needs the support from those who truly know Christ!
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).”
It’s amazing to read all the comments about what no one knows; outside of what has been revealed!
Did Steve Lawson have an affair? YOU and I don’t know! I’ve seen this type of church discipline for having inappropriate communication through text and emails; NOTHING more! What we do know is that Steve Lawson came forward to confess a sinful action to his Elder Board, and they responded by removing him from ministry!
However, now people are responding without truly understanding the situation, and choosing to attack his teachings, his associates, and his ministries without considering the full story… and that is also sinful! Time will reveal all, but for now, the body of Christ needs to lift up everyone who has been affected by this indiscretion; Steve Lawson, his wife and children, the other party involved, Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, and all the ministries that have inadvertently been affected by this travesty.
If you are among those who are making comments on things you DON’T know, I suggest you repent of your indiscretion too. Seek to understand your role in the church, and meditate on the words of Paul, found in Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 through 4 : “Therefore I exhort you, brothers… do not be conformed to this world, but… to each one among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound thinking, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
May God bless all who choose to acknowledge the sovereignty of God, and may God’s Glory be proclaimed, and revealed all the more through this ordeal!
I concur that premature judgement of alleged sexual immorality by Christian clergy is very unwise, especially in a culture of civil government that promotes the coercive sexual grooming of children in government school – practice pridefully paraded in the most public was possible as righteousness. Society cannot endure two standards of sexual morality – one for the “Christian church”, and an entirely different one for the humanist church of Marxist-oriented civil government
This is truly a sad situation. Rush to judgment is not helpful as you point out. “Bearing false witness” is also a sin and come comments on here sure seem to enter that category.
His Gospel was ‘faith alone’ BUT YOU BETTER STAY A GOOD BOY!! You have to be worthy enough… So, What does a person who believes “yoiu better not sin” do in this situation. HE GAVE NO COMFORT TO THE WEARY, mixing “lordship , James 2:19 , WHAT A MESS. Paul states that THE LAW fires up sin, and he apparently was under the law of lust.
The head Pastors are falling like flies, so sad many times they preach on sin in the Church and what people must do to get rid of it, But Unfortunately they are the main problems
Jen, you made a comment earlier that did not have a reply button. So I will just follow up here-
You said, “If it is clergy sexual abuse (which we don’t know) it’s 100% his fault. Just like with David and Bathsheba, the Prophet Nathan put the fault 100% on David. When a minister uses his power and influence to coerce women into sex, that is only and always the fault of the minister. The woman bears 0 guilt.”
I’m uncomfortable with this notion of assigning of guilt 100% vs 0%. Is it not for God to determine? And in the example of David and Bathsheba they both suffered consequences in that it was also Bathsheba’s baby.
I agree that clergy sexual abuse is a crime perpetrated by one person onto another. But it is not quite as black and white to me in that women can be influenced and pressured but still have a sense of wrongdoing. I really don’t know how much guilt they bear. I would never assign percentages.
In this case we really have no details. Only God knows.
We have so few details here I think we need to be careful about what we fill in. Was it even a congregant? That’s an important detail because if not is it even CSB? We would never say that anyone who has a sexual relationship with a pastor has 0% guilt wouldn’t that give freedom for a woman to do what she wants as long as it’s with a pastor?
If she is a congregant, again, we just don’t know if she has the capacity to recognize wrongdoing, even to a small degree.
To be continued…
If I were able to see my comment as soon as I wrote it I would probably have removed the part about Bathsheba as a reflexive response to your comments, Jen.
Because the possibility has been raised that David raped Bathsheba or she could have truly been in fear and did not have a choice. However, it’s all speculation, and again only God knows…
Continued…
From beginning of time it is true, women have suffered abuse at the hands of men and shamefully at the hands of clergy. But I don’t think that we should swing the pendulum so far the other way that it’s all on men, and women bear no responsibility, even when there’s a power dynamic. That doesn’t give much agency to women does it?
Is it not possible for women to be under the influence of a pastoral figure and yet be aware that what they are doing is wrong? I’m just asking the question because I don’t know the answer. I just don’t think I can go as far in assuming the 100/0
JOHN 8:1-11, KJV.
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
I am always disheartened when I hear of Pastors who have been removed from the pulpit for any reason, and it is certainly not my place to pass judgment on those who have fallen. After all, we are all fallen creatures, no matter how high a pedestal one places themself. Satan has his grip on many who are too close to God’s truth, and the power of Satan plays itself out time and again in those who lead the body of Christ. This is an ideal time to step back, evaluate our lives, and earnestly pray for God’s deliverance and mercy.
The one common thing that I’m seeing in all of these prominent Clergy falling is in the words of Jesus: “The Spirit is willing but the Flesh is Weak!” Indeed, even sincere Christians find themselves succumbing to lustful thoughts and behaviors. I don’t care what any pe4son says, even if they’re well-known people, EVERY married person, at a minimum, has entertained unholy thoughts towards another person who is not their spouse. That is especially true in long-term marriages!
So, even men like John MacArthur may boast about what he has never done, I will never believe him if he he says that as a man well into his 80’s that he has never had unholy/lustful thoughts towards another woman. I simply will not believe it!