Phil Johnson, a pastor at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church (GCC), stated five weeks ago that the woman with whom Steve Lawson “had a 5-year relationship” lived “nowhere close to any of the ministries Steve served.”
However, when recently accused of lying, Johnson admitted in an email that the woman was “a student at The Master’s College (University) during some of the time that (she and Lawson) were engaged in this adulterous affair.”
Lawson, a former dean at GCC’s The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS) and a teaching pastor at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, was removed from his church in September due to “an inappropriate relationship” with a woman.
Since then, there has been much speculation on social media regarding the identity of the woman and whether Lawson’s “affair” qualifies as clergy sexual abuse.
To date, Trinity Church, TMUS, and GCC have not identified the woman.
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They also have not responded to questions by The Roys Report (TRR), concerning whether the woman, whom Phil confirmed was in her “late 20s,” was under the spiritual authority of Lawson, who’s 73.
According to abuse experts, “any sexualized behavior by a church leader/spiritual leader toward someone under their spiritual care, who by nature is in a position of less power and authority” is clergy sexual abuse.
Texas has a law criminalizing clergy sexual abuse; California does not.
On Oct. 20, Casey Staats, a longtime donor to Ligonier Ministries, where Lawson served as a teaching fellow and board member, confronted Johnson on X for his claim the woman didn’t live close to any of Lawson’s ministries.
In her post, Staats included a picture of Lawson with a woman purported to be the woman with whom he was involved, which had been posted on the Instagram account of GCC’s college ministry. That IG post has since been deleted.
“It seems maybe you weren’t telling the truth here?” Casey wrote to Johnson. “This picture was scrubbed from the Crossroads IG but word on the street is this is the girl who was nowhere close to Steve’s ministries. Care to confirm or deny?”
Johnson responded that if Staats felt she needed more details, she should contact him “directly by email or phone.”
Two days later, Staats did just that.
“I am the woman who posted on X today wanting to know if you were being truthful about Steve’s young mistress not being ‘close’ to any of his ministries,” Staats wrote in an email she recently released to TRR. “If the young woman in the photo is, in fact, his mistress, she was apparently very close.”
Staats added, “People are desperate for transparency in a world that gets crazier by the day. Whether GCC knew about this or not, there is MUCH speculation that many there DID know about this and did nothing. Do you want this rumor floating around social media if it’s not true?? PLEASE help people understand what exactly went on with 100% honesty and transparency.”
The next day, Johnson responded and appeared to confirm that the woman in the picture was the one involved with Lawson. (TRR is not identifying the woman because it is not clear whether she is a victim of clergy sexual abuse or not.):
What I said is that she does not live close to any of Lawson’s ministries. Obviously, given that they were having an affair, they were adjacent to one another at SOME point, so a picture of her sitting next to him doesn’t actually nullify the facts of what I said. Grace Church is in Los Angeles. Lawson was preaching at a church in Dallas. The woman Lawson was romancing lives in Washington State. What I said was absolutely true. (You publicly accused me of dishonesty before you even asked for that clarification.)
The point is that this was not a case of pastoral abuse as defined by Texas law. She was not a parishioner of his. Her family (who live in Orange County, CA and are members of a church down there) were donors to Lawson’s ministry and personal friends with him, and that is how the connection was made. On more than occasion he even stayed in their home while he was in California. She was a consenting adult in her mid-twenties when the relationship began. She was also a student at The Master’s College during some of the time that they were engaged in the adulterous affair. But her connection with him originally came through her family’s relationship with Lawson and had nothing to do with her student status.
Though Johnson denied Lawson was in a position of spiritual authority over the woman while she was at TMUS, other documentation suggests otherwise.
Until recently, the woman was also featured on TMUS’s website “Alumni Focus“.
According to the webpage, which was deleted after Sept. 28, the woman attended Grace Community Church as a child and returned to the area to attend The Master’s University, where Lawson had a profound impact on her.
The website stated, “More than anything, though, (name redacted) says she was impacted spiritually by her time at TMU. ‘Getting to hear preachers like Steve Lawson or Dr. MacArthur on a weekly basis encouraged my faith and grounded my beliefs in truth,’ she says.”
Also, the post states that the woman graduated from TMU in 2018. This would mean that Lawson’s misconduct went on for at least six years, not five as Johnson stated in a now-deleted, Sept. 25 X post.
TRR reached out to Johnson via email to confirm the woman’s identity and to ask how he knew her relationship with Lawson “had nothing to do with her student status.”
Johnson did not reply to our email.
TRR has also confirmed that the woman worked at Grace Books, GCC’s bookstore, in 2021. We called and spoke with an employee at Grace Books today, who stated that only GCC members are eligible to work at Grace Books.
So, the woman involved with Lawson apparently was a GCC member while the misconduct was happening.
Johnson also claims in his email to Staats that none of the GCC elders knew of Lawson’s misconduct with the woman as some have claimed on social media.
Johnson adds that a Grace Church secretary told him after the scandal broke that she had “observed some overly-familiar behavior between Lawson and his mistress. (This girl had straightened his tie and combed his hair in a public setting.)”
However, Johnson said the woman took her concern to an employee of Lawson’s ministry, OnePassion, not to an elder at Grace Church.
“As far as I can determine, no one who says they witnessed inappropriate behavior between Lawson and the woman ever brought any concern to our elders,” Johnson writes.
TRR reached out to OnePassion Ministries and asked if any of its employees heard a concern about Lawson from a GCC secretary, and if so, when and what was done?
OnePassion did not respond to our inquiry.
The only employees listed on OnePassion’s 2021 990 tax form are Steve Lawson and his daughter, Grace Anne Bills, who serves as OnePassion’s ministry coordinator and vice president.
Steve Lawson’s wife, Anne Lawson, received $30,000 from OnePassion, according to the 990. But the only position mentioned for her is as a director of OnePassion, which is a non-staff position.
The money paid to Steve and Anne Lawson, as well as Grace Anne Bills, account for about 70% of the total $557,668 paid by OnePassion in salaries and other compensation in 2021.
On Oct. 20, John MacArthur discussed the Lawson scandal in a Q & A session at GCC. The 85-year-old pastor said he believed God was purifying His church by exposing Lawson but did not mention the TMUS graduate Lawson was involved with.
He also called on GCC to band together in the crisis.
“We’ve got to circle the wagons . . .” MacArthur said. “Because when we’re exposed like that, all the enemies are going to come at us with a vengeance. And if they can pit us against each other, they can do some real damage.”
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.
82 Responses
1st Corinthians Chapter 4
18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
Wow. In comparison to others reported on with deviant and abusive behavior, people love to comment on Steve Lawson. Maybe it has something to do with his connection to JM.
it absolutley is is connection to JMac. It’s the hypocrisy of the “values” that that community holds around marriage, women, submission and leadership- and then actively having a 5 year affair while condemning others. It’s using power and authority to groom young women under their leadership. it’s setting yourself up as the only one holding “sound doctrine” while it’s done nothing to transform your own life.
It’s projecting your values with incredible judgement when other people fail.
That’s why people are calling Lawson and JMac out.
Yep, “Do as I say….not as I DO!” In accordance with his own teaching, he is “The fool of all fools!”
JMac has a tremendous following from people who have no idea what’s going on. And they don’t want to know. Ironically, GRACE TO YOU’s Nov 1, 2024 blog post is The Church and Integrity. What a sick joke.
I agree 100%. As a member of GCC for 5 yrs, I was exposed to the underbelly of the org. It all centers on hierarchy, legalism and is Pharisaically pious at it’s core. The congregants who inquire about anything (especially if the concerns are monetarily connected to the churches disbursements of tithes) are branded as heretics at best, messengers of satan as worse. Any member whom the church sees as a threat to their regime, is publicly “stoned” during communion Sunday. At that time, they are named and excommunicated at the pulpit during the somber moments before communion which should be wholly focused upon the humble reason for partaking in Christs death. This is an awful, abusive church whose members silently reside in fear waiting for the next shoe to drop…
I don’t doubt the JMac connection is part of the interest. I think another factor is the huge age difference between he and his victim makes it super creepy. This young woman is not young enough to be his daughter but, his granddaughter. And if he was friends with her family for years I wonder how young she was when the grooming started.
I’m sure in the end two women will be blamed for all of this; the wife who didn’t satisfy him and the young woman who tempted him. And he will be replatformed because the body of Christ “needs” him.
He will most certainly not be replatformed in the circles he was once in – there is absolutely zero change of that. But, why does it have to be that he groomed her? He was incredibly wrong in this situation, but so was she. She was a grown woman who also knew better. They are equally to blame and she is not a victim.
Jennifer, saying that they were both grown adults ignores the incredible power imbalance between them. The age difference alone puts him in a place of authority, but add on all of the cultural layers of the specific power structures at Grace and TMUS, it incredibly reduces the ability of this (or any) woman to say “no” to him as an equal. If they don’t have an equal ability to choose the relationship, they don’t share equal blame. There is a reason it is illegal in a growing number of states for a pastor to have a relationship with anyone in their congregation or care- even if that person “believes” it’s consentual- the power imbalance makes the nature of consent murky. https://bozlawpa.com/adult-clergy-abuse/
The “grooming” piece comes in when he has trained everyone around him to trust him, and see him as above reproach while he does this reproachful thing.
If my boss at work convinces me that it is ok to commit financial fraud do I get a pass due to the power imbalance or a 50 year age difference? Is there a possibility that a woman could find a pastor desirable to the point she would pursue him and the pastor knowing it is a grave sin would chose to do it anyway? Do the people that helped people kill themselves at the Jonestown massacre get a pass because they were brainwashed and manipulated by Jim Jones? Scripture seems clear to me that as adults we own our own sin.
Mark, If your entire work culture revolved around your boss being the spokesperson for God, submitting to their authority, and that they held at least some power in your afterlife, then that would be a reasonable comparison.
You’re getting closer with the Jim Jones comparison- because the power held in these high control religious environments is usually close to absolute.
Note I did not absolve the woman in the situation, but noted that the guilt and blame for it is not equal.
It’s also weird to come out in defense of a man who at the very least, even if he was totally seduced by a jezebel, chose to carry on a 5 year affair while telling others not to, and judging them harshly for it.
Jen, how did you get the impression that I was defending Lawson, his behavior is evil ,he ignored his conscience and stood in the pulpit for 5 years while having an adulterous relationship, it doesn’t get much more evil than that. He is and should be forever removed from any ministry leadership position. I am almost 70 years old and have been down this path when my wife was 27. Our pastor was telling my wife about his marriage problems and trying to hit on her and manipulate her. My wife was stressed and conflicted and took a little while to tell me. When I confronted the pastor he then tried to manipulate me, I was angry and told him I would not talk to him without an elder present, he was shortly gone. My young wife knew the right thing to do and did not sin.
I agree, Jennifer, that Lawson did not “groom” her. She is a product of GCC and TMU, and all that MacArthur and his minions are about. She was approx. 24 or 25 when this began, and apparently, of sophisticated and educated background.
Also, she likely found Lawson attractive. He has much to offer, and if he offered it, she was flattered.
Notice in the photo with the two of them, it appears Steve isn’t wearing a wedding ring. And he shouldn’t have been, if he was cavorting.
You have to be kidding! What in the world with a 24ish year old find attractive about 68 year old man. The whole thing is just creepy and gross. Grooming must’ve played the part.
“Wow. In comparison to others reported on with deviant and abusive behavior, people love to comment on Steve Lawson. Maybe it has something to do with his connection to JM.”
“A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Galatians 5:9
Steve was also affiliated with Ligonier Ministries, which is also highly esteem.
When you have positioned yourself high and lofty enough to publicly condemn all others, be ready when your day comes.
And don’t dig deeper by claiming it is persecution for greatness, call it what it is – Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”
After monitoring this and other church corruption blogs for years, I have come to the conclusion that the word “Grace” in a church’s official name should be approached with the same caution as “People’s Democratic” in a country’s official name.
i.e. “The more adjectives about Democracy in a country’s official name, the nastier a Dictatorship it is.”
— TV Tropes
Will we not look at what JM uses to JUSTIFY all he has done and also consider his Free Masonic roots? He proudly says the “sound doctrine” is good, yet the doctrine clearly ignores the gifts of the spirit and the deep works of the Holy Spirit that Jesus told us we can all do and practice. Why does he not want these in the body? Hmmmm – Having come from an abusive church where this “sound doctrine” is used to batter its people (by a close “trainee” of GCC) – The doctrine is exactly what keeps people from walking in the spirit and love. They have propped themselves up as men of the faith who follow and stand on the shoulders of the “church fathers“. We listen to them and believe what they say and teach, but we must remember, as HIS CHILDREN, that we have the mind of Christ, and the Holy Spirit and we can read the Bible and know what it says. But the body of Christ has been filled with fear and domination for quite some time here in America just like it was in Jesus’ time with arrogant and abusive Pharisees – o – plenty. And the argument is that there has been a battle about doctrine for thousands of years. That doesn’t matter, there is only one doctrine and it’s very clear in scripture… It’s the doctrine of love and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, and of course… Not lying in pride.
I find it disturbing that someone posts emails that they had privately with another person. That’s a violation of privacy. Who is Casey Staats and what business is it of hers? Also how does anyone know this woman is the one with whom Lawson was having his affair? She’s guilty just because she’s sitting next to the guy? What I want to know is where is Steve Lawson and why is he being such a coward about coming forward and telling his adherents the whole story? They all think that God has forgiven him, so everyone else has to as well….
Hi. Casey Staats here. Respectfully, this is the business of *anyone* who has contributed to any of Steve’s ministries or ministries he’s been affiliated with, such as Ligonier. I never told Phil I would keep this quiet. In fact, I asked for total transparency because that is what is needed in this situation. He didn’t provide that initially and made things much worse for himself.
Casey—-WELL DONE! And thank you. Phil Johnson’s response to you was typically hypocritical: “I’m not interested in using X to amplify an ugly scandal.” Dear Lord. It was Johnson who initially published, on X, the ‘ugly scandal’ in a self-serving attempt to extricate TMS, GCC, JMac, et al, from Lawson, all the while divulging the ‘ugly’ with supposition, and fanning the ‘scandal’.
Johnson has always been MacArthur’s snake.
When I told my daughter about the scandal the first thing she said was “wow, how much did Steve pay her?”. I thought, gee, that makes sense! She said “no girl in her 20’s is having sex for free with that old man” hmmmm, seriously? Truly something to think about, especially since Steve is not coming forth. A 20 something? Come on Steve, fess up!! What 20 year old would “want”a man in his seventy’s?”. Well, Anna Nicole Smith had an affair with a ninety year old man, but she had “daddy issues”. Sounds like this mysterious woman has a good family support system. Confess your sins Steve! I have bought your books and listened to your sermons for years. Even if you have repented you owe us an explanation!
Scandals like this make us question so much. Who can we trust? Who is the next to “fool us”? You have hurt so many people Steve. Even though you don’t know me, I trusted you!
All I can do is pray for you and your family.
I think that’s highly unlikely, given that the woman comes from a very well-to-do family. I don’t know if this is the case in this situation without knowing more. But in cases of clergy sexual abuse, there often is a large difference in age. The man in authority is often a father figure, who leverages that position to lure the woman into a sexual relationship she never wanted.
Yep, another creepy old dude leveraging power and notoriety…
Julie,
Can we state for fact that the relationship wasn’t fully mutual, or even that for whatever reason (i.e. career advancement maybe) that the unnamed woman didn’t initiate it?
There are too many unknowns at this point to say anything definitively. If GCC and Trinity would be more forthcoming with the facts, we could likely determine the answer.
“We’ve got to circle the wagons.” -John MacArthur. Does that sound like something Jesus would say ? Would Jesus play semantics over where a pastor’s mistress “lived”, vs. where she was actually in college ? These prominent Christian “leaders”, are they not “acting like mere men”, as Paul lamented ?
Interesting article and comments following – thank you. Someone hit the nail on its head: Where is Steve? The longer he remains in “hiding”, the more the rumors will fly. A transparent confession by him will help the whole church learn how to avoid this kind of transgression.
Why he is hiding could be the result of legal advice. Where Steve is hiding, and how he has been cloaked so well this far, is very intriguing. Can he be at home with Anne? Or staying with one of his children? For someone as congenial and “hail fellow well met” as Dr. Lawson, this has been quite a feat.
What seems to be overlooked in the Steve Lawson debacle is that the responsibility of elders/overseers/leaders is to shepherd the church of God, something the apostle Paul clearly states to the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20:28-31. Commenting after the fact in the way that the leadership of both Grace Community Church, Grace to You Ministries, The Master’s Seminary and Trinity Bible Church have done and after tremendous damage has been done worldwide indicates that those who are charged with being vigilant were not. And this requires much soul searching on their part and an apology to those impacted for not taking heed to themselves and the flock and not being watchful, as exhorted by the apostle Paul, not simply trying to exonerate themselves by pleading ignorance or by going on the offensive when, quite correctly, they have been challenged
From what I understand through what I’ve read, both parties have said their relationship wasn’t sexual but was still romantic and, thus, inappropriate. Everyone keeps saying it was sexual, though.
OK, So the question that immediately arises is this – why is her face blurred out as if she’s an innocent victim that’s been sexually assaulted? Surely this woman knew what she was doing and had her full faculties about her? So why the two-faced treatment? If people can establish that it was Steve Lawson are they going to tell me they really have no idea who the woman is? Or is this media out let just covering its backside in case it gets the facts wrong?
As fellow Believers we are commanded and encouraged in Galatians 6 to do all in our power to restore the fallen and broken while being diligent in the area of self examination. Our supreme example is the loving Savior who whispered “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more”. My greatest desire for Brother Larson would be to locate his person and humbly pray and weep with him.