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.
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took their sweet time with any additional facts … only when outed does anything true come out from GCC or associated entities … the giving must be going down or they would just stonewall like usual …
yes, I am a FORMER member and could not take the deceit anymore
wonder what the IRS thinks about all this
I am going to say something that might be deeply controversial, but I’ll say it anyway.
To my sisters in Christ:
Some of these men who seduce, entice, lie, cheat, cover-up and even coerce young, vulnerable women under their influence, are the same ones who will loudly and piously bellow from the pulpit that the Vice President is a witch. They will preach that she carries the spirit of Jezebel and will apparently seduce the nation. They are the very ones who will convene entire conferences and gin up urgency around the issue of women pastors who also curiously carry the same seducing, usurping spirit of Jezebel.
All while THEY use their offices and positions of leadership to manipulate, lie, cheat and dishonor young women in their midst. Sisters, do not allow these men to defile you, while their boys run cover for them, and you carry the scarlet letter on your chest.
You do not need to hear a word of “prophesy” from them. God will speak to you if you get into His word.
You do not need to be taken by pretty words about your specialness. Get into God’s word and bask in your identity in Him. You do not need to be taken by their age and “wisdom.” You can be wiser than your elders if you study His word. Do not give to the dogs that which is sacred. Your body belongs to God. If and when you marry, intimacy belongs to your husband. Do not shirk back from telling these men just what they are: Sons of Belial who know not the Lord.
Amen! This needs to be said and you say it well.
Or, in other words. Do not cast your pearls before swine?
more and more and more I believe that every accusation from a person who hold power is a confession.
If someone is making accusations, especially ones that are generally unfounded, it’s much more likely that they’re committing that “crime”, which is why they thought to accuse their enemy, or opposition of it.
as a side note, as christians we’re called to LOVE our enemies- not slur them. Love definitely looks like truth-telling, but in kindness, and actual truth- not judgement and derision.
Jen, you are completely correct. I married someone who ended up in ministry was a narcissist and did the very thing you are speaking of. Does God’s word not tell us what is done in the dark will be brought to the light…… These men are sinners saved by grace but to stand in a pulpit and preach it to ya… So to speak and be actively involved in sin that disqualifies you for the position takes something I can not even put into words…… Lacking a respect and fear of God I suppose. And let me say…. I find it hard to believe, after all that has come forward concerning GCC and what the MS teaches concerning women submitting and accepting abusive marriages, that JMac did not know something. Something of a common thread there leaning into disrespect for women between MSem and Lawson’s actions. God Bless his wife, may God carry and restore her no matter her choices during this mess.
It’s possible that these same men would know a Jezebel spirit if they saw one.
it’s probable that these men ARE the Jezebel spirit they’re so “afraid” of.
JM
“If someone is making accusations, especially ones that are generally unfounded, it’s much more likely that they’re committing that “crime”, which is why they thought to accuse their enemy, or opposition of it.”
JM
“it’s probable that these men ARE the Jezebel spirit they’re so “afraid” of.”
Ha. I see how that seems ironic.
do you feel that my “accusation” is unfounded? there seems to be quite a bit of foundation that men who take certain stances about jezebel-spirits end up being revealed as jezebels themselves.
you’ll note that I was clear about accusations being unfounded (and often certain) being the ones that are often shown to be confessions.
my “accusation” was neither unfounded or certain (see use of “probable”).
How many people associated with John MacArthur, have serious issues?
This just keeps happening, and friends of mine keep getting swept into hie teaching.
I’ll up the ante. How many Christian leaders throughout the country don’t have issues? I remember when sanctification was taught. Now that biblical concept just gets in the way; just a thorn in the flesh. Better to just live in blatant unapologetic sin and preach from the pulpit “do as I say, not as I do” and feel the congregants flattering envy while being upheld in godlike Christian celebrity status. It really is hard to find egos larger than a preachers.
Tim, you’re diluting the potency of examining JMac’s church specifically by saying it happens everywhere. Until we examine why it’s happening HERE, we don’t have data points to compare to everywhere. By saying it’s happening everywhere, you normalize that it’s happening here- but this church specifically is very narrow on how they treat women, marriages, and agency- and I believe that played into this scenario specifically.
I always thought that where she “lived” was irrelevant: People travel. How unsurprising it is that Grace Community Church and The Master’s College are relevant venues.
Just another creepy, old dude trading on his power to have a sexual relationship with a woman young enough to be his granddaughter. And this malarkey about her, not living near him, give me a break! People travel, the wheel is not a new invention.
If these people were good friends for 25 years, how did a 5+ year “affair” go unnoticed? Was Lawson’s character considered so unimpeachable that everyone ignored what must have been red flags? vocabulary.com; lecherous: A common use is talking about a lecherous old man who hits on younger women.
Well, it didn’t go totally unnoticed- at least one woman saw her adjusting his tie and fixing his hair, thought that was weirdly intimate, and said something. But those closest too him didn’t have capacity to accept that when it was reported.
I do understand that. I was once adjacent to an affair between two of my closest friend, and did not clock the weirdly intimate behavior -specifically we were all at the movies and he was sucking the sour sugar off the sour patch kids because she didn’t like it- I commented that it was “gross”, but didn’t think more of it. I do understand that if you don’t have a concept of an affair being possible with these people, it takes something REALLY OBVIOUS, in my case, her husband calling them out, to make that situation real.
Only in conversations after the blow up did she tell me that they worked the hardest to hide it from me, because I knew them both the best. So I do understand very well how those around, even closest to people “don’t see it”.
But truly, my friends’ affair was one of many instances of sexual impropriety in that ministry- and years and years later it came out that the pastor was also having affairs. Since then I’ve been watching in the different congregations I’ve been a part of or adjacent to, and noted that if there is a sin happening across the congregation, it almost always means the pastor/leadership is in that sin as well. Even if they preach loudly and actively against that sin.
I don’t think that where she lived is relevant either, but I have been counting on Phil Johnson to be ABSOLUTELY above board in every statement he makes. We need to be able to trust a few people at least. Please be one of them. Don’t hedge. Take the hard road if that’s what it is, but please be 100% truthful
Everyone associated with TMUS who has responded to this has proven that they are untrustworthy by not being completely up front and transparent about it from the beginning. They obfuscate, nuance, minimize and mislead at every statement, and have YET to tell the whole truth. We only know things because they’ve been discovered- not confessed or repented of.
GCC and associated entities SOP is … deny, discipline, deceive, doxx and denigrate
the house of cards JMac built is coming down due to his duplicitous ways
I’m confused by J.Mac’s statements in the video. Is it: “All the enemies are going to come at us with a vengeance”? Or, “God is blessing this church in many, many ways”?
I’m getting really dizzy by the spin.
To the point about there being no current law in California- legislation criminalizing clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse of adults was brought before the CA Senate this past April (SB 894). Members of the Senate Public Safety Committee declined to vote, thereby declining to join the 14 other states and the District of Columbia in protecting adult congregants/seminarians/students. Advocates who understand the dynamics within a relationship of counseling and spiritual care, wherein there is an inherent power differential, will continue to press for a law in California. The mechanism of abuse in these situations is in fact often the “relationship” itself, or a belief that there is in fact a “relationship”.
https://sd37.senate.ca.gov/news/senator-dave-min-unveil-legislation-prohibiting-adult-sexual-abuse-religious-clergy
https://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_applauds_california_bill_to_prohibit_the_sexual_abuse_of_adults_by_clergy
I wonder who will be the first pastor/megaman/worship leader/evangelist/ prophet/ author to write a best seller about sex in the church with full details. It could be a best seller, movie, drama series on tv. There is plenty of erotic stories to tell. Maybe behind the scenes as pastor to the president.
The bad fruit of OSAS.
“Once Saved Always Saved” Unconditional “Eternal Security” a term phrase not found in the Bible to the best of my knowledge.
Thank you David..at last I finally see someone who beleves what I beleve..and the bible teaches.Paul taught that deliberate and continuos sin ..would result in lost salvation..and Jesus..himself ..stated in the book of revelation..that he can ..blot.. the name of those out of the book of life ..who refuse to repent it seems a majority of these churches..dont beleve,,this . because I hear it all the time
I beg to differ, David. I think the root cause is legalism, the kind the Pharisees labored under (Matthew 23). Trying to live up to biblical morality by self-effort. Paul said: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:14). The corollary is that the more we place ourselves under Law (not to be construed that I am antinomian in any way) the more sin and the flesh will be triggered. And the more we live and experience the Grace of God, the more these fleshly temptations lose their foothold in our lives. Love can transform where Law cannot is the message of the Kingdom, not to mention, the whole New Testament.
David Eugene Szalay: YOU’RE A GOOD CATHOLIC.
There are Protestant groups which do not hold to OSAS. Assemblies of God, Free Will Baptists, and Churches of Christ are the most well-known.
“God has established three institutions within human society: the family, the state, and the church. Each institution has a sphere of authority with jurisdictional limits that must be respected.” John MacArthur
Are great performers more likely to persuade others to commit adultery with them?
I have found (anecdotally from several churches), that any sin found consistently in the congregation is happening secretly in the leadership. So, it’s not so much that leaders persuade others to commit adultery with them (other than their adultery partners), but they permit them. And they groom both the victim and the entire congregation to accept it by preaching sermons about their own righteousness, and condemning others, so that people don’t see their missteps or aren’t believed then they report them.
“that any sin found consistently in the congregation is happening secretly in the leadership.”
That has been the issue since the church turned from God’s Commandments. Anytime you attempt to address the hypocrisy they will turn to paul, and use Ro 13 to silence the truth/judge those speaking up.
Rev 2:14, 20
14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
I always find it interesting when people start asking questions of Evangelical Ministry leaders, those people who are asking the questions are often then cast as “Enemies” by that ministry. Sort of the same way that Donald Trump casts the Press as the “Enemy” of the People.
Of course other questions can be asked:
– Did Steve Lawson have sexual relationships with other TMUS students?
– Since a family friend was involved, was there grooming happening at an earlier date?
– Was this affair conveniently ignored by many at GCC / TMUS?
– Are other professors involved sexually with TMUS students?
when was the press ever positive about..church and christians..that is major nationwide media ?
Psalm 11:1) In the LORD I put my trust; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”? 2) For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. 3) If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?
We can pray.
MacArthur gives apparent evidence of being a man whose priority is to protect his legacy rather than deal with authoritarian abuse in his church. How curious that it is often founders of ministries who use the language of obfuscation in order to deflect from the deeper issues: systemic dysfunction, repeated abuse (especially toward women and “underlings”), and reciprocal coverup among fellow errant ministers. Individual sinner-leaders might be rescued but churches who serially cover-up will rightly lose influence or eventually fade away while besmirching the name of Christ and His body.
“Circle the wagons”
Not at all surprising. When these situations happen in loudly patriarchal spaces the response is rarely support for the female victim, full transparency and efforts to find and support other victims.
Rather, it’s “circle the wagons” and beware of those who are doing a better job exposing the truth than the organization where it is happening.
Macarthur Peters and Johnson are no better than the people,,they critisize..Julie Roys herself..questioned Macarthur..about him..leading a lavish life style like Kenith Copland..who both Peters and Macarthur condem..and guess. who comes to Macarthurs rescue..after that..Justen Peters,,and liar Phill Johnson..to paint a picture..of how meager a life Macarthur lives..with very low pay and modest housing..these megachurches..are nothing but big money..enterprises//we need to get back to smaller..local church,,life with true holyness and not being profitering high rollers like Mac and his cohorts
It’s so sad to see the scandals of the evangelical clergy. Christianity has been marked by countless scandals and dishonor to Christ.
May God have mercy on the true church.
To those who use their power of influence and fall into sin, God will judge them, yes God will judge them.
Phil, Phil, Phil…..same ole same ole mealy mouthed obfuscations. Why is it that you are always front and center in picking up a big fat rock so you could do yourself some righteous stoning? You illegally doxed Julie….then ran back into that glass house that you and Johnny Mac preach at others from. And now you’re right back at it with the Lawson situation. Yes, men do love the darkness more than the light. God have mercy on us all.
Phil is John MacArthur’s mini-me. To separate Phil’s lips from JMac’s posterior will require the surgical skills of Ben Carson when he worked on Patrick and Benjamin Binder in 1987.
I find it ironic that it’s the “Lordship salvation” people who “discern” against people like Joel Osteen and others, who are the guilty ones. Unless I’ve missed something (I live in Osteen’s backyard so to speak), I haven’t heard about such misbehavior from the upper leadership at Lakewood Church. Despite their poor doctrine.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” ~Jesus
Part of it is how they want “grace and mercy” for one of their own who commits egregious sin (Lawson) while proudly proclaiming others who do the same as “heretics” (Morris).
Jesus dispelled the “boys will be boys” rationalization and ushed in a new directive to treat women with dignity, honor, and respect. We are joint heirs and co laborers, not simply servants and objects for pleasure.
Jesus was friends with Mary and Martha of Bethany, and with Mary Magdalene. He certainly wasn’t hitting on them.
Peter was married. He said marriage is the “grace of life.” He said live with “your wife” in an understanding way. Understand, if you have a pretty little thing on the side, during your travels, your wife “will not be understanding.”
My grandmother used to say, “You can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people, all of the time.”
There is value in sound teachers. I totally agree we should study the word for ourselves, so we’ll recognize untruths and manipulation when we hear it.
We now know some are mere Svengalis’ with their own agendas. Let’s stop being puppets.
I’ve had a weird feeling. In one of Steve Lawson’s “teaching series”, he made a comment like “all women over 50 are the same” (something like this, I can’t remember his exact wording)… then laughed. I wish I could remember which series this was in. It really turned my head. I thought “wow, the nerve!”. So hmmm, he just put it right out there.
I’m not surprised now about all the revelation.
None of this surprises me. I had a family member in the MacArthur world, so have some pretty close experiences with that universe, none of them very good. The MacArthur universe is patriarchical and highly authoritarian in nature. There’e little to no truly independent oversight. That is a recipe for abuse of power in any organization, religious or not. Throw in a heavily calvinist theology that buttresses those tendencies in many cases, a few big egos who never will admit to their mistakes, and a relatively closed belief system and ethos (that often seems to think it has a lock on God and the truth), and you have almost the perfect circumstances for people to abuse power and get away with it. It is cult-like in many ways.
People had to know what was going on. You cannot hide a close relationship for five years, especially in a Christian fishbowl of an institution. But this was a man with considerable power in the organization. That likely made people hesitate, and perhaps with good reason, given how anyone who questions authority in that organization is likely treated.
How far we can stray. Jesus would not “circle the wagons” around wrongdoing.
So Phil Johnson somehow has the authority to release more details regarding Lawson’s affair – and in doing so gives the impression that this affair was conducted COMPLETELY outside of Lawson’s ministries … but no one can question if he was telling the truth when it comes about that this woman attended TMS? I think it should be questioned if Johnson has any business knowing the details of Lawson’s affair since Steve Lawson isn’t a member of GCC. As far as I know – and please correct me if I’m wrong – Phil is the Executive Director of GTY. Does he teach or have some authority over Lawson at TMS? Who told Johnson these details? Wouldn’t that be considered gossip?
Maybe Phil needs to stop gossiping.
And I’m sorry, you can’t tell me that Lawson and this woman never had intercourse. 5 years? Time alone? Would you believe anyone else that said they had an affair with someone but they didn’t have intercourse?
Rule for parents of daughters: Never, ever let a male preacher of any age and any marital status stay in your home. If the lessons of Robert Morris (Gateway) and Steve Lawson aren’t clear enough on this point, then I don’t know what is.
Why is this such a problem among male preachers? This should be something extremely rare. There shouldn’t be a need to have multiple websites devoted to just reporting clergy sex predators.
I work in a small office where the majority of my co-workers are men. I have never once felt threatened by any of them and there are times when I’m the only woman in the office, sometimes with just one man there. Why do people in secular settings understand what behavior is and isn’t appropriate but men in religious spaces need things like the Billy Graham rule or the Every Man’s Battle “bounce your eyes” rule to remind them not to sexually mistreat women and girls? What’s going on in the church’s messaging that tells men that they are either entitled to sexually mistreat females or that they are powerless to their urges to sexually mistreat females?
I thought self-control was one of the fruits of the Spirit.
Most of your colleagues probably aren’t bosses. It happens more often with bosses.
It happens MOST often with false religious institutional bosses because by definition they are walking in the flesh and copying Satan rather than Christ so they are outside the grace of God.
They have set THEMSELVES up as “head” when there is only ONE head (Ephesians 5:23, Colossians 1:18) and every believer is an equal regenerate Christian, an EQUAL PART of the true ekklesia i.e. the BODY of Christ: 1 Corinthians 12.
I have to stipulate REGENERATE Christian (the only kind: John 1:12-13, Romans 8:9 and the only kind who produce the 9-fold FRUIT of the Spirit) because only regenerate Christians truly understand what it means to count the cost and follow (i.w IMITATE) Jesus, who came to SERVE, not to be served: Matthew 20:20-28