TONY Evans, a megachurch pastor in Texas, America, has suddenly announced he is stepping down from the institution he helped build after 48 years of preaching, saying only that he has fallen short of the “absolute supreme standard of truth” he aimed to live “due to sin.”
Evans, 74, the first Black person to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, founded the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in South Dallas in 1976 with his friend, the Reverend Crawford Loritts, according to NBC DFW.
Originally from Baltimore, Evans began the church in the living room of the house he shared with his late first wife Lois, starting out with Bible study sessions for just 10 worshipers.
Over the next half-century, Oak Cliff’s attendance swelled to 10,000 and the fellowship now boasts more than 100 ministries, with the pastor himself well known as a radio personality for his syndicated show The Alternative with Dr Tony Evans and for serving as chaplain to the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
Evans lost the mother of his four children to bile duct cancer in December 2019 but remarried last year to educator Carla Crummie and all appeared to be well until his unexpected statement on Sunday June 9, announcing his intention to step aside over the unnamed “sin.”
