Dallas megachurch founder Tony Evans, who stepped back from leading his church due to an undisclosed “sin” he announced last year, apologized to his congregation and his family on Sunday (Oct. 5), after the elder board of his Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship announced the pastor had completed a “restoration process” and will not return to leadership of the church.
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“To the flock, to the congregation, for the consternation I may have caused you with questions and wondering and uncertainty, I’m sorry,” he said as he sat on the church’s stage during a worship service and answered questions from his son, Jonathan Evans, who has been preaching regularly at the church. “I apologize sincerely for any instability that this season has caused you because you are my treasure.”
Evans, who abruptly announced he was “stepping away” in June 2024, is the first African American to have both a study Bible and a full-Bible commentary bearing his name. In addition to his church, he founded the Christian Bible teaching ministry The Urban Alternative, which continues to air his messages on radio outlets worldwide.
Deliberate discretion
During the “Restoration Sunday” service, which lasted an hour and 40 minutes, neither Evans nor Chris Wheel, OCBF associate pastor of outreach, disclosed the sin that Evans described in June 2024 as requiring “the same biblical standard of repentance and restoration” he had applied to other people.
“While I have committed no crime, I did not use righteous judgment in my actions,” Evans, now 76, said at the time. “In light of this, I am stepping away from my pastoral duties and am submitting to a healing and restoration process established by the elders.”
Some churches offer or demand a restoration process of their leaders to overcome what they consider a violation of the Bible.
During the worship service at the nondenominational, predominantly Black church, Wheel said Evans’ “discipline and restoration process” included counseling with professionals outside the church’s staff, “evidence of genuine repentance and godly sorrow” and pastoral mentoring.
Citing the Bible’s Epistle to the Galatians’ guidance about restoring a sinful person, Wheel said: “In keeping with this biblical framework, the elder board exercised deliberate and prayerful discretion regarding the timing, the manner of disclosing specific details throughout the restoration process. This was not done to conceal wrongdoing, but rather to uphold the integrity of the process, to protect the dignity of all involved, and prevent unnecessary speculation or sensationalism,” adding that Evans “fully submitted” to the restoration process.
Wheel said Evans also took a 12-month absence from pulpit ministry to “focus on personal growth.”
“In alignment with biblical principles and unanimous affirmation of the elder board, Dr. Evans has successfully completed this restoration journey,” Wheel said.
As the congregation applauded and cheered, Evans entered the stage.
“While he will not be returning in a staff nor leadership role at OCBF, we joyfully look forward to seeing how God uses Dr. Evans’ gifts and calling to proclaim the truth of Scripture with clarity and conviction for the strengthening of the body of Christ,” Wheel said.
Evans made a major public appearance shortly after his yearlong absence concluded, speaking at the July summit of The Family Leader, a Christian organization known for its conservative evangelical stances, in Des Moines, Iowa.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Adelle M. Banks and originally published by Religion News Service.
