Since news of his “inappropriate relationship” broke last September, former well-known Bible expositor Steve Lawson has disappeared from public view and has not issued any public statement. However, The Roys Report (TRR) has learned that Lawson is attending a Nashville church, led by a pastor who was fired from his previous church for leadership issues and believes Lawson can be restored.
Jim Bachmann, pastor of Stephens Valley Church (SVC), told The Roys Report (TRR) he has “empathy” for Lawson and believes his ministry days aren’t over.
“I think it’s possible that he could serve a local church in some capacity,” Bachmann said. “There’s some people that would probably say a broken, repentant Steve Lawson could be more effective than he was before.”
Lawson has been attending SVC, where Lawson’s brother is a member, for “several months,” Bachmann told TRR. Lawson is not an SVC member, so SVC can’t discipline him, Bachmann said. Lawson is also not teaching, preaching, or serving in ministry at SVC, Bachmann said.
“He’s just a quiet, very quiet worshipper,” Bachmann said. “I have spoken to him a few times and I think Steve is a brokenhearted man.”
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Last September, Lawson was fired from Trinity Bible Church for what was termed an “inappropriate relationship” with a woman. Lawson was also fired from his position as dean at John MacArthur’s The Masters University and Seminary (TMS), where the woman reportedly was an undergraduate student when their relationship began.
A TMS email to students said Lawson was “permanently disqualified,” TRR previously reported. Lawson also resigned from OnePassion Ministries, a ministry he founded to train Bible teachers.
Lawson has been seeing two professional counselors while in Nashville, Bachmann said. Lawson also meets regularly with elders for “friendship, support, advice, and prayer.”

“I think he recognizes the fences are not all mended yet,” Bachmann told TRR in an interview. “There’s work to be done. I think he wants to do that work.”
TRR attempted to reach out to Lawson through Bachmann but has not received a response.
In 2016 Bachmann went through a church trial for leadership issues with his previous denomination, the Presbyterian Church of America.
“You get into those situations where there’s so much misunderstanding, and it’s a hard thing to go through it,” he said. “So, I have some empathy for Steve, although he hasn’t gone through any discipline process.”
Lawson in Nashville
Bachmann said Lawson told Bachmann he moved to Nashville to give his wife, who is not with Lawson, space. Bachmann said Lawson is angry at himself for his misconduct.
“I caution everyone about jumping to conclusions (with the measure we mete out it will be meted out to us) and think we should all be in fervent prayer for Steve and his family,” Bachmann wrote in a follow-up email to TRR.
Bachman said Lawson also seems like a broken man trying to “make things right” and to reconcile with his family. Bachmann also said Lawson visited his wife in Dallas in early January with the hope of reconciliation.
“He fully accepts responsibility for what he has done,” Bachmann told TRR.
Bachmann emailed to TRR that Lawson has wondered what to say in public.
“Steve has wrestled with the right way to issue a public statement and recognizes the need to do so,” Bachmann wrote. “He has remained silent while many others have been critical of him. He recognizes he has brought this on himself by his indiscretion.”
Bachmann told TRR he believes Lawson was, and still is a member at Trinity. Bachmann added that Lawson is not under Trinity’s discipline and is not running from discipline by coming to Nashville.

TRR reached out to Trinity leaders this week to ask about whether Lawson is under discipline, but did not receive a response.
Bachmann said no one from Trinity has reached out to him or his church to request SVC be involved in Lawson’s discipline or restoration.
“We have not had any contact with Trinity Bible Church leadership (or membership) but would be happy to partner/coordinate/communicate with them if they wish,” Bachmann emailed to TRR.
In an interview with TRR, Bachmann said, “We really want this to have a happy ending for everybody. The Bible is full of examples of people who fell into serious sin. Aren’t we glad we have a savior who is a friend of sinners?”
Bachmann’s church trial
In 2016, Bachmann was fired from Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC), a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). This is the church that formed Covenant School, the site of a mass shooting in 2023 that killed six.
Some staff at CPC liked that Bachmann knew everybody’s name and said the growing church still had a warm, “small church” culture, according to an organizational dynamics assessment CPC commissioned that was leaked to TRR. However, other staff said the work culture under Bachmann was “unpredictable” and “fear-based,” the assessment stated.
“(I)t is known if you get on Jim’s bad side, you’re put on the ‘black list,’” the assessment stated. “Now there isn’t an actual ‘black list.’ Rather there is a perception that you will be treated differently by Jim if you are direct with him.”
Due to conflict over leadership issues, the PCA put Bachmann through a church trial and charged him with “inflicting severe injury on the peace and purity,” according to PCA minutes. No misconduct was noted in the minutes.

The Nashville Presbytery of the PCA appointed the Judicial Commission, which conducted a week-long trial with 18 witnesses and 2,000 documents. Bachmann confessed to the charge, and the PCA issued a “censure of indefinite suspension” until he shows repentance, PCA minutes show.
Bachmann later appealed the verdict, PCA minutes show. His appeal stated that in a negotiated plea bargain with the Judicial Commission, Bachmann had agreed to confess in exchange for a “censure of admonition,” which is a lesser censure than suspension.
However, while the Nashville Presbytery accepted the Judicial Commission’s charge, it decided on a greater censure of “indefinite suspension.”
Yet, according to the PCA’s Book of Church Order, if the presbytery appoints a judicial commission to conduct the trial, then the presbytery must either accept the commission’s full recommendation or reject all of it. Accepting a portion of it and rejecting another portion is not an option, the appeal argued.
Bachmann won his appeal. He told TRR the charges were “very subjective” and said he was “exonerated.”
“Sadly, I had lost my job by that time so I could not return to the church I loved and served for 25 years,” Bachmann wrote in his email to TRR. “The wheels of justice move slowly.”
However, it’s not entirely true that Bachmann was exonerated of all charges. The PCA still admonished Bachmann, as recommended by the Judicial Commission, PCA minutes show. But the PCA withdrew the suspension, restoring Bachmann to “good standing.”
Since then, many of Bachmann’s defenders have taken to the media to say Bachmann was treated unfairly.

But Bachmann told TRR he believes in the importance of accountability and church discipline.
“I submitted to every step of the way, to the whole process,” Bachmann said. “I recognize it was for my good and the good of the church.”
He added in his email, “Perhaps my example and experience can be of help to Steve. If so, I am glad for the Lord to use it in a positive way.”
Bachmann said he believes everyone makes mistakes, including those who handled his trial. He said one of his “chief adversaries” has apologized for how the presbytery handled his trial.
“It meant a great deal to me.” Bachmann said. “It always boils down to repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Each step is hard but the end result is beautiful.”
However, a letter Covenant Presbyterian Church (CPC) wrote to the Nashville Presbytery in 2020 shows that CPC believed it was unbiblical to reconcile with SVC without Bachmann’s repentance, which they hadn’t seen.
SVC, also known as Westminster Chapel, was the church Bachmann founded after his firing from CPC. One-fourth of CPC’s members and four of its staff followed Bachmann to SVC, church documents stated. SVC is an independent church with its own elder board.
CPC argued SVC’s formation didn’t follow procedure and neither CPC nor the presbytery approved its formation, making it a “schism.”
“(SVC) was created as an improper and schismatic response to NP’s decision to bring (Teaching Elder) Jim Bachmann under judicial process on May 2, 2016,” CPC stated. “The division of a church without the approval of the dividing church congregation and the Presbytery is a violation of the unity of the church and the PCA Constitution.”
Bachmann emailed to TRR that he followed PCA’s Book of Church Order (BCO) in how he left the PCA.
As of 2020, when CPC made the report, the church believed SVC hadn’t repented of the schism.
“Without this repentance, while individual Christians may and hopefully will reconcile where it is needed, the reconciliation of one branch of the visible church with an unrepentant and schismatic branch is not biblically warranted,” CPC stated.
TRR reached out to CPC to ask the current status of their relationship with Bachmann and SVC but received no immediate response.
Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.
20 Responses
Where is Robert Morris?? Waiting for Trump to pardon him?
Trump can’t pardon him, as it must be a federal crime. I don’t think he did a federal crime, and as I understand it, the state crime stature of limitation has already run out, as the infraction happened well over 30 years ago….if not longer.
I think he’s waiting for one of two things to happen: 1) Gateway folds, the hardcore supporters go over to his son’s new “church”, and they take over the Gateway property, or 2) Gateway cries out to his son to come back and become the heir apparent he was meant to be. Either way, he returns to the pulpit in some form (probably as a regular “guest speaker”).
Yep, not even six months and someone is trying to put him back on a platform. It is getting to be formula.
The openness of Brother Bachmann here is actually refreshing. I wish all pastors will be as open as this man, regardless of his previous faults. Also CPC has no say if he moved on and founded another church with biblically sound governance. I pray he’s able to break through Steve Lawson’s apparent stubborn pride. May grace abound in this very tricky situation. Amen
When the woman having been caught in the very act of adultery was dragged to Yahshua by a hostile group (without the man with whom she had been caught in this sinful act), Yahshua stooped two times and wrote in the dirt. Jeremiah 17:13 speaks of those who sin as having their beings written in the dirt of the earth. Is it then possible that Yahshua was writing the names of every one in the group of men who had presented the woman to Him, and when upon seeing their names written, they departed one by one, leaving only the needful woman and Yahshua there to face one another? “Where are your accusers?” He asked the conflicted, sorrowful woman. He continued: “Has no one accused you?’ She said: “No, Yahshua.” He said then to her: “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.” John 8:11
For our sins, He died. No one other than He would die for our sins and our sicknesses – but many say that they would die for our “freedom.” And, many people through the ages have died in war and in protecting others from crime and sinful behaviors of mankind. BUT NO ONE WOULD DIE FOR OUR SINS OTHER THAN YAHSHUA!
May Yahshua shed His Grace on all of us this day as we depart from our sinful ways, times, and laws, and truly Live in His LIGHT. He is returning soon, as we make ready for the BrideGroom. It is not too late to repent while it is yet day.
All this concern for the feelings of the perpetrator. And not one mention of the victim, empathy for him/her, reaching out to care for her. Sin, “mistakes” hurt people. The church should care for the wounded.
What victim? Oh, you mean the adult woman who had a six year affair with a married man? That victim?
I agree-looks like it’s expected that Ann will forgive and forget!
Public ministry + public downfall = public scrutiny.
Also, it’s called accountability.
“He fully accepts responsibility for what he has done,” Bachmann told TRR.
No, he hasn’t. No public apology or explanation.
Not from Lawson or any of the ministries that platformed him: Ligonier, MacArthur & Co., etc.
And their disingenuousness and hypocrisy is reflecting exceedingly poorly on these ministries and American Christendom as a whole.
Worse, it’s drawing the name of Jesus Christ through the mud…
American Evangelicalism really is appearing to the world as Mammon Ministries, LLC [A Subsidiary of Je$us, INC.]
Indeed. I don’t understand how he can be still “wrestling” with “the right way to issue a public statement”.
Those who have repented (and are now therefore humble) are transparent and have nothing to hide.
He never had an issue with words before: not just his sermons but his relentless social media posts.
He wasn’t shy, taciturn or reticent, that’s for sure!
How about a simple: “I am truly sorry for letting down my wife, family, friends and supporters and those who trusted me.
*I am sorry for living in hypocrisy and cover-ups for years.
*I understand that is the way of deception and darkness and not of Light and Truth and I no longer want to live this way”.
(Last sentence = REPENTANCE).
That took me under a minute to come up with.
[*Assuming this to be the case because if it were all false, he would have publicly denied the reports].
John Mac addressed this he is not responsible for for what Lawson did. He totally condemns it !and says he wakes up praying for him! This is. Nothing that brings them any joy!
** “Steve has wrestled with the right way to issue a public statement and recognizes the need to do so,” Bachmann wrote. **
If he genuinely recognizes the wrong he has done and sincerely repents, this shouldn’t be too difficult. He just has to be honest. One begins by saying, “I did [these specific actions with no waffling, vagueness, euphemisms, minimizing, or deflecting],” and proceeds from there.
He needs to repent and go back to his family! This is evil to not make him repent! There are consequences for our sin you are not doing him or yourself any favors by you or him turning blind eye of scripture and the qualifications to be a pastor! You do not get to make your own rules! Being a Christian is hard.Yes, you all can be forgiven, absolutely! But you have disqualified yourself and are leading people to make light of sin! It’s hypocritical! And damning! People willing to be in a church that turns blind eyes to scripture and God’s law is nothing more than a building full of damned people soothing their consciences!! He needs to make a public apology. put down pride accept that he is a sinner and repent. You can delete this but truth is truth! You are in a scary place Gods wrath will abide on you and him! You will face God and leading those into ministry roles after this sin is outrageous and screams of pride and your motives and plans above Gods plan and will for his church. I pray you both repent and step down!
So its all about Steve. Poor man just needs counseling. Tell me just what does a wolf look like? This pastor is a fool. Either stupid or looking to ride on the coat tails of fame. Letting such a one have access tonyour flock is failure to be a real pastor.
Ann is the victim here. Pray for her and the family.
The arc of these “fallen Christian leader” tales is so predictable it’s comical. One doesn’t need to be a prophet to see where this is going. Sorry, but you can’t claim to be the epitome of a Man of God for decades and skate this easily. Tales like this and Ravi and many others raise fundamental questions about the reality of Christianity. The Holy Spirit would appear to be either nonexistent or stunningly inneffectual. Not only does the indwelling of the Spirit appear to be rather iffy in these “great men of God,” but the gift of discernment would seem to be wholly lacking in their sycophants.
The response of the “Christian community” is equally predictable. We can’t handle the fundamental questions these repeated incidents raise about the very reality of the faith, so we fall back on pat responses in order to preserve the mental house of cards in which we live – not to mention the entire industry of Christianity, Inc., which surely bears no resemblance to anything Jesus had in mind.
I’ve concluded there is one reality here: Friendship with the world is enmity with God. Your life can’t be one of celebrity, wealth and sexual temptation while purporting to be a man of God. There is just a complete and utter disconnect. As Thoreau suggested, “even though you trade in messages from heaven, the whole curse of trade attaches to the business.” But on it goes and always will.