Former Rev. Lawson speaks out after firing, 5-year affair

The former lead preacher at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas on Wednesday publicly spoke for the first time since he was fired for having an extramarital affair. Steven Lawson wrote in a post on X that he had sinned against God, his wife, and others by starting a relationship with a woman who was not his wife. In his social media post, Lawson said he had spent the last five months undergoing counseling and was being held accountable by two pastors and the elders of a local church. He asked his followers to continue praying for his family and for redemption in his marriage.

How did we get to this point? The church removed Lawson from leadership in September after he admitted to having an inappropriate relationship. Days after he was removed, elder Mark Becker told the congregation that the church would move forward without Lawson. After the news broke, Lawson was also removed from his leadership roles at The Master’s Seminary and OnePassion Ministries. G3 Ministries also pulled all resources invested in Lawson’s work.

What else do we know? The relationship between the 73-year-old Lawson and the unnamed woman in her late 20s lasted five years, pastor Phil Johnson wrote in a now-deleted X post. Both individuals insisted there was no physical adultery involved in their emotional relationship, said Johnson, who is a pastor and elder at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church. He also said the woman was not a member of any of the ministries Lawson served and that Lawson only came forward when the woman’s father threatened to expose the relationship.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about Michael Brown admitting to having an emotional affair.