Ep. 462: Dr. Michael Brown, Wycliffe Bible Translators, TD Jakes, and More

On today’s program, a team of elders is recommending Dr. Michael Brown return to public ministry in spite of a recent report concluding that he engaged in sexual misconduct. We’ll have details. And, the Presbyterian Church USA—historically, very involved in evangelistic efforts—is now closing its missions agency. Theologians say they are not surprised given the denomination’s leftward drift. Plus, more than a year after Wycliffe Bible Translators listed its sprawling Orlando headquarters for sale, its status remains unclear with the property still marked “under contract.” MinistryWatch reporter Shannon Cuthrell takes a closer look. But first, megachurch Pastor TD Jakes has announced plans to step aside as head of The Potter’s House. T.D. Jakes, the well-known pastor of Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, plans to step aside later this year and appoint his daughter and son-in-law as the church’s leaders, Christianity Today reported. The producer for today’s program is Jeff McIntosh. We get database and other technical support from Stephen DuBarry, Rod Pitzer, and Casey Sudduth. Writers who contributed to today’s program include Kim Roberts, Mark Wingfield, Tyler Hummel, Shannon Cuthrell, Brittany Smith, and Christina Darnell. A special thanks to Baptist News Global for contributing material for this week’s podcast. Until next time, may God bless you.   MANUSCRIPT:   FIRST SEGMENT Warren: Hello everybody. I’m Warren Smith, coming to you this week from Charlotte, North Carolina. Natasha: And I’m Natasha Cowden, coming to you from Denver, Colorado, and we’d like to welcome you to the MinistryWatch podcast. Warren: On today’s program, a team of elders is recommending Dr. Michael Brown return to public ministry in spite of a recent report concluding that he engaged in sexual misconduct. We’ll have details. And, the Presbyterian Church USA—historically, very involved in evangelistic efforts—is now closing its missions agency. Theologians say they are not surprised given the denomination’s leftward drift. Plus, more than a year after Wycliffe Bible Translators listed its sprawling Orlando headquarters for sale, its status remains unclear with the property still marked “under contract.” MinistryWatch reporter Shannon Cuthrell takes a closer look. Natasha: But first, megachurch Pastor TD Jakes has announced plans to step aside as head of The Potter’s House. Warren: T.D. Jakes, the well-known pastor of Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, plans to step aside later this year and appoint his daughter and son-in-law as the church’s leaders, Christianity Today reported. Jakes, age 67, told the Potter’s House congregation the news on Sunday, April 27, saying, “I cannot afford, especially after November, to risk something happening to me and that you be sheep without a shepherd.” Natasha: Last month, Jakes revealed in an interview on NBC’s Today Show that he suffered a massive heart attack in November. Warren: Sarah Jakes Roberts and husband Toure’ Roberts are expected to take over as senior pastors in July when the church celebrates its anniversary, but plans for the current assistant pastors to take the lead have been in the works for a few years, Jakes said. He will remain as chairman of the church’s board. The Roberts couple currently lead One: A Potter’s House Church in Los Angeles. Toure’ Roberts founded One in 2004. Sarah Jakes Roberts is the founder of Women Evolve, a conference for women to be held in Atlanta later this summer. Natasha: Our next story also pertains to pastoral succession – but this one isn’t as positive Warren: Pastoral succession, megachurch wealth and family dynasties combine in a lawsuit filed against Second Baptist Church of Houston and its leaders April 15. The Southern Baptist congregation is the 17th largest church in America, according to Outreach magazine, with average weekly attendance of 19,735 in 2024. After 46 years as senior pastor, Ed Young stepped down last May and named one of his sons, Ben Young, his successor. Another son, also named Ed Young, leads a Dallas-area megachurch called Fellowship Church, which is the 13th largest church in America. Natasha: But all is not well in Houston, nearly one year after Ed Young the elder took a sudden retirement at age 87  — and orchestrated naming his son as successor. Warren: Now there are allegations of deceptive practices, an illegal church business meeting and a family’s attempt to enrich itself by control of the church’s $1 billion in assets. Natasha: What do you mean? Warren: The elder Young is Southern Baptist Convention royalty and a legend among American pastors. He not only was elected president of the SBC twice during the “conservative resurgence,” but he grew the church from about 500 people in 1976 to tens of thousands today. With that growth, and with the extremely long tenure of a senior pastor, came governance issues that boiled over at the time of a pastoral transition. While the vast majority of Southern Baptist churches operate with congregational governance and call pastors through a lengthy search committee process and an all-church vote, none of that happened last year at Second Baptist. Natasha: Now, a group of members has formed a nonprofit corporation called Jeremiah Counsel “to promote, protect and restore integrity, accountable governance and donor protection for churches in Texas.” Specifically Second Baptist. Warren: Jeremiah Counsel filed suit against Ben Young, Ed Young, Associate Pastor Lee Maxcy and North Texas attorney Dennis Brewer, who served as chief financial officer of Fellowship Church in North Texas. The plaintiffs charge these defendants — labeled “The Young Group” — conspired to steal church assets and take away the congregation’s right to choose its own pastor. They accuse the elder Ed Young of enacting a series of changes beginning in 2023 “to secure the ascendance of his son, Ben Young … as senior pastor to Second Baptist’s 94,000 congregants.” Natasha: And that’s not all… Warren: They accuse their former longtime pastor of collaborating with Ben Young, Lee Maxcy and Dennis Brewer Jr. “to orchestrate undisclosed and unvetted amendments to the bylaws at Second Baptist.” Natasha: Next, the latest concerning Michael Brown. Warren: A group of Christian leaders comprising an “elder accountability team” recommended that Line of Fire’s Dr. Michael Brown be released to resume his public ministry from which he has refrained since November. The team also expressed concerns about the Firefly investigation report into accusations against Brown that “concluded that Brown’s actions toward the two females were inappropriate and unacceptable for his leadership position within the ministry.” Natasha: Brown was accused of sexual misconduct by crossing physical boundaries with a 21-year-old woman, Sarah Monk, who was working as a secretary at Brown’s FIRE School of Ministry, based in Concord, North Carolina. While admitting to a close relationship with his accuser, Brown claimed the relationship was “totally non-sexual in every way.” Warren: The elder accountability team took issue with Firefly’s use of the term “sexually abusive misconduct,” the lack of opportunity for Brown to provide rebuttal to some testimony, the failure of Firefly to include testimony by Nancy Brown, wife of Michael Brown, and the claim that Brown was intentionally grooming Sarah Monk, one of his victims. According to the team, Firefly expanded the “historically narrow understanding of the term” sexual abuse when it evaluated Brown’s conduct. In evaluating this expansion, the elder team argued that it could bring “confusion in what constitutes true sexual abuse and has the very real danger of diluting it.” Instead, the elder team would choose the term “moral indiscretions” and “leadership misconduct.” Warren: The elder team also recommended that Brown or Line of Fire agree to pay for reasonable counseling expenses for Monk and that Brown invite Monk and the husband of the married woman to an in-person meeting for dialogue that might aid in healing. The elder accountability team condemned as unbiblical those who “relitigated with accusations, judgment, and sentencing by a jury on social media” and caused “irreparable damage to Dr. Brown’s credibility and ministry.” The team went on to say they do not believe Brown committed a sin “grievous enough” for which he should be disqualified from ministry. Natasha: Let’s look at one more story before we take a break – what do you have? Warren: Nearly four years after indictments were issued against Randy and Michelle Free for theft of property from Cedar Cross Country Church in Alvarado, Texas, both of the Frees have been sentenced. On March 17, Michelle Free entered a plea agreement for 10 years of probation with 320 hours of community service, according to Johnson County District Attorney Timothy Good. Her probation is a deferred adjudication and as long as she abides by the terms, Free will not have a felony conviction on her record. However, if she fails to abide by the terms or commits a new offense during the probationary period, Free could be sentenced to between five and 99 years in prison. Natasha: Good told MinistryWatch that Free had admitted to one felony charge of misapplication of fiduciary property valued at more than $300,000. In doing so, she admitted she had a duty to the church that she misused. Warren: According to a civil lawsuit related to the crimes, Randy Free began taking control of the church’s assets by making himself the president and registered agent for the Cedar Cross Country Church. The Frees then set up a separate non-profit corporation, Team Heritage International, in order to move the church’s assets and sell the church property,...