Steven Lawson Quietly Restored to Ministry After Disqualification
In September 2024, Trinity Bible Church of Dallas removed Steven J. Lawson from all ministry activities after he told the elders he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman. OnePassion Ministries, the work he founded, said that sin had disqualified him from ministry. Then, according to documents reported on November 11, 2026, elders at the Nashville church he later began attending quietly judged him spiritually fit for ministry opportunities. That letter is dated November 25, 2025. The public did not hear of it for nearly a year.
The question before Bible believing churches is not whether God can forgive a sinner who repents. The question is whether a man who has been disqualified from the pulpit is thereby qualified to stand in it again. Forgiveness and qualification are not the same thing.
What the Church and His Ministry Announced
On September 19, 2024, Trinity Bible Church of Dallas announced that Lawson had been "removed indefinitely from all ministry activities at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas." The elders said they had been informed by Lawson of "an inappropriate relationship that he has had with a woman." They said they would continue to come alongside him and pray for him, "with the ultimate goal of his personal repentance," and that he would no longer be compensated by the church.
The next day, the board of OnePassion Ministries announced that Lawson had confessed the same kind of relationship to the board, "a sin that has disqualified him from ministry," and that he had resigned from all his duties there.
In March 2025, Lawson posted a public confession on X, according to The Christian Post. "I alone am responsible for my sin. I have confessed my sin to the Lord, to my wife, and my family, and have repented of it," he wrote. "My sin carries enormous consequences, and I will be living with those for the rest of my life. Over the years, many have looked to me for spiritual guidance, and I have failed you. I beg for your forgiveness."
What the Nashville Letter Says
Protestia reported that it had obtained a letter from the elders of Stephens Valley Church in Nashville, dated November 25, 2025, written to commend Lawson to churches or Christian organizations that might have him speak. The elders wrote that they had observed his life for the last 15 months and believed him "to be genuinely repentant and walking in close fellowship with the Lord." The letter, as published by Protestia, said, "Together we grieve his past sin, as he has and the consequences he has brought upon himself and others. Now however we rejoice in his present repentance and God's work of grace in his life." It closed, "In light of Steve's 'broken and contrite heart' and all we have observed these past months we deem him spiritually fit for ministry opportunities that the Lord may open to him."
That wording matters. The letter does not say that Stephens Valley Church has installed Lawson as its pastor. It says the elders deem him spiritually fit for ministry opportunities. Churches, conferences, and Christian organizations are being told, in effect, that this man is again fit to be used. Protestia reported that the elders declined to make the letter public, and that the church chose not to comment when asked. An official at Stephens Valley Church later told The Christian Post that the church could not immediately confirm the report. Trinity Bible Church also told The Christian Post it had no comment.
In January 2025, Pastor Clint Archer, who described himself as Lawson's friend, wrote on The Cripplegate that Lawson was "fully aware that he is permanently disqualified from ministry and is not under any illusion that he could ever be restored to a teaching position or ministry capacity that requires the qualifications of an elder." That was Archer's account of Lawson's understanding at the time. The letter reported in November 2026 points in a different direction. The Christian Post described the matter as an adulterous relationship, and Archer used the same word.
Forgiveness Is Not Qualification for the Pulpit
A man can be forgiven and still be unfit to serve as a bishop. The office has requirements that go beyond a claim of repentance.
Paul wrote, "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil" (1 Timothy 3:1-7).
Notice the words "must be." These are not suggestions for a gifted preacher. They are requirements for the office. Blameless. The husband of one wife. A good report of them which are without. The standard is not talent or fame. The standard is the Word of God.
Paul told Titus the same thing: "If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers" (Titus 1:6-9). Again the word is "must."
Solomon spoke plainly about adultery: "But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away" (Proverbs 6:32-33). That does not mean God refuses to forgive a repentant sinner. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). A forgiven man may be restored to fellowship. That is not the same as being restored to the pulpit. A letter cannot create qualifications that Scripture still requires.
Public Sin and Public Standards
Paul also wrote, "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear" (1 Timothy 5:19-20). Trinity Bible Church did the right thing when it removed Lawson and told the church why. A later private commendation, kept quiet for months, does not erase that public rebuke, and it does not cancel the qualifications God already wrote.
Love the man. Pray that his repentance is genuine and lasting, and pray for his wife and family. But do not lower the standard of 1 Timothy 3 in order to make room for a gifted voice. If a church, a conference, or a publisher is thinking about putting this man back in a teaching office that requires the qualifications of an elder, the Bible is not unclear. The pulpit is a sacred trust. Doctrine matters, and so do the men who are allowed to teach it.
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