Churches in the Dallas Area Grapple With Scandal and Controversy

When independently governed churches grow large enough, true accountability is almost impossible, said George Mason, who retired in 2022 as pastor of a prominent, progressive Baptist church in Dallas after more than 30 years.

Because an independent church’s popularity and growth depend largely on a single charismatic man, his downfall would bring not just institutional embarrassment, but a threat to employee livelihoods and, as some see it, to the salvation of perhaps thousands of people.

In that sense, “it is a systemic thing,” Mr. Mason said.

For some pastors, the outbreak is a nudge to humility, especially given the previously sterling reputations of several men in the headlines this year.

“Stories like this remind me to be watchful about my own life,” said Bart Barber, a pastor in Farmersville, Texas, about an hour northeast of Dallas.

“I want to get on and say, ‘It’s terrible, a true pastor should never do that!’” said Mr. Barber, the previous president of the Southern Baptist Convention. “Then I think, ‘What would Steve Lawson have said in an interview five years ago?’ Probably something very similar,” he said, referring to the pastor who resigned at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas.

Ms. DeMuth, the writer, sees the exposures as a positive thing, a downstream effect of the #MeToo movement and a rising appetite for transparency in church circles. It’s “God cleaning house and saying, ‘Enough of this tomfoolery,’” she said.