Ohio Megachurch Founder Lonnie Snell Fired for Sexual Misconduct With a Staffer. Now the Board Is Talking 'Restoration'

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Another megachurch, another fallen pastor. As first reported by The Roys Report, Lonnie Snell, the founder and senior pastor of New Life Chapel in West Chester Township, Ohio, has been fired for what the church's board calls sexual misconduct with a subordinate. The suburban Cincinnati church has about 3,000 people, according to the report.

In a statement posted on the church's website, the board says Snell was terminated effective October 23, 2026, and is no longer affiliated with New Life Chapel. It describes the other person as "of consensual age and development." The Roys Report says board member David Norris read the announcement to the congregation on Sunday, October 25, and told them a formal investigation had been opened on October 21. Snell was dismissed two days later.

According to The Roys Report, the staff member involved was also fired, though no reason was given. The church has no elders. The three board members who have authority over the founding pastor all pastor other churches and do not regularly attend New Life. Norris told the congregation the board hopes to begin a "restoration process" and will support Snell's restoration, without saying whether that could mean a return to ministry. WORLD reported that Snell has been married to his wife, Ruth, since 1994, and that the couple has four sons. The West Chester-Liberty Herald noted, citing the Cincinnati Enquirer, that no criminal charges against Snell appeared in county court records as of October 30, and that a planned revival was cancelled.

The board's statement also asked members not to use it "as liberty to conduct your own speculation or investigation" but to pray and come together in unity.

A Bible Believing Response

I take no joy in writing stories like this. A wife has been betrayed, four sons have watched their father fall, and a whole church has been wounded. Pray for them. But the Bible is not silent about what should happen next.

First, a pastor must be "blameless, the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2) and "must have a good report of them which are without" (1 Timothy 3:7). Adultery is not a small stumble. Solomon said the man who commits it "getteth a wound and dishonour; and his reproach shall not be wiped away" (Proverbs 6:33). A man can be forgiven and restored to fellowship with God and His people (Galatians 6:1; 1 John 1:9), and I hope he is. But being restored to fellowship is not the same thing as being put back in the pulpit. The qualifications for the office still stand.

Second, look at the structure. A founding pastor, no elders, and a board made up of pastors who live and minister elsewhere. That is not the New Testament pattern of local church accountability. When one man has all the power and no one close enough to see what is happening, the sheep are exposed.

Third, "don't speculate, just pray" is not the whole answer. Of course we should not spread rumors. But Scripture says, "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear" (1 Timothy 5:20), and "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11). Churches need honesty and light, not just calls for unity. And when the person under a pastor's authority loses her job too, people are right to ask hard questions.

Pastors, guard your heart and your home. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).

Sources: The Roys Report, WORLD, New Life Chapel board statement, and the West Chester-Liberty Herald.

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