Elders at the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas, revealed on Sunday that Pastor Tony Evans has been reinstated to ministry after stepping down over a year ago for a sin that was not disclosed publicly.
They clarified that he will not resume any staff position or hold a leadership role within the church.
“Dr. Evans acknowledged in a public statement falling short of God's standard and a need to submit to the church's discipline and restoration process. We are pleased to report that Dr. Evans has fully submitted to the church's discipline and restoration process,” Chris Wheel, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship’s associate pastor of outreach, told the congregation on Sunday.
Wheel explained that Evans' 12-month restoration process included counseling with outside non-staff professionals, pastoral mentoring, and a period of stepping away from pulpit ministry.
“In alignment with biblical principles and unanimous affirmation of the elder board, Dr. Evans has successfully completed this restoration journey,” Wheel said. “While he will not be returning in a staff nor leadership role at OCBF, we joyfully look forward to seeing how God uses Dr. Evans' gifts and calling to proclaim the truth of Scripture with clarity and conviction for the strengthening of the body of Christ.”
In June 2024, after 48 years of leading his church, Evans, 75, confessed that he had fallen short of biblical standards years prior. Although he did not specify the nature of the sin, he emphasized that he had not violated any secular laws.
"While I have committed no crime, I did not use righteous judgment in my actions. In light of this, I am stepping away from my pastoral duties and am submitting to a healing and restoration process established by the elders," Evans stated in his confession.
Evans’ son, the Rev. Jonathan Evansmentioned that his father only revealed to his family that he had fallen short a few days before sharing it with the congregation, and he did not share any more than what was disclosed to the church.
During his restoration ceremony, where he spoke with his son, the Rev. Jonathan Evans—who is soon to be formally confirmed as the church’s new lead pastor—Tony Evans described his past year's journey as “bittersweet.”
“It's certainly bitter when you've done something for 48 years every day, every week, and then you’re no longer doing it. And it's your fault. And that creates a wound in your soul. A wound in the soul that's not easily [healed],” he explained.
“And so, I have felt the angst of that, the pain of that, the struggle of that. But I also understand that when you go through something, you have to relate to God in a deeper place. You have to experience him in a deeper way.”
He elaborated that the church created a restoration policy to support members and leaders when they fall, viewing church as “a hospital of restoration and not just a place where you go.”
“I had to submit to the very process I helped to install and say, you know what … I need to apply the Word to me as I applied it to everybody else along the way. Because if we're going to be a Bible church, that just can't be a name. You got to come underneath the Bible and underneath the prescribed governance, which are the elders in this case of the local church,” he added.
