FIRED, LYING “PASTOR” JOSIAH ANTHONY, WHO CAME OUT OF GATEWAY “TO HELL” CHURCH, SAW THE CROSS TIMBERS CHURCH CONGREGATION AS A WHOREHOUSE, AND HE WAS THE CHIEF WHOREMONGER–WOLF. CHURCH ELDERS REPENT . . .
FIRED, LYING “PASTOR” JOSIAH ANTHONY, WHO CAME OUT OF GATEWAY “TO HELL” CHURCH, SAW THE CROSS TIMBERS CHURCH CONGREGATION AS A WHOREHOUSE, AND HE WAS THE CHIEF WHOREMONGER–WOLF. CHURCH ELDERS COME TO THEIR SENSES AND ADMIT THEY “MADE MISTAKES” IN DEALING WITH THIS MATTER LAST SUNDAY AND STRONGLY CONDEMNED JOSIAH’S SERIAL ADULTEROUS BEHAVIOR. THE ELDERS ALSO REPENTED OF HIRING ANOTHER GATEWAY “TO HELL” CHURCH FORMER PASTOR, BYRON COPELAND, AS INTERIM PASTOR AND REPLACED HIM WITH TOBY SLOUGH.
DANIEL WHYTE III, PRESIDENT OF GOSPEL LIGHT SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL, SAYS THAT HE IS THANKFUL TO GOD THAT THE ELDERS OF CROSS TIMBERS CHURCH HAVE ADMITTED THEIR FAILURE, REPENTED, AND REVERSED COURSE. HERE IS WHAT WHYTE SAID LAST WEEK WHEN THE STORY BROKE:
DANIEL WHYTE III, PRESIDENT OF GOSPEL LIGHT SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL, SAYS THE ELDERS OF THIS CHURCH DO A POOR JOB OF RESOLVING THE ISSUE AND THEN ADD FUEL TO THE FIRE BY HIRING A FORMER GATEWAY “TO HELL” CHURCH PASTOR, BYRON COPELAND, WHO WAS CAUGHT UP IN ONE OF THE GATEWAY LAWSUITS WHERE HE WAS ACCUSED OF CORNERING A WOMAN AND TELLING HER TO “STOP STIRRING UP DRAMA” IN THE CHURCH. WHYTE TELLS CROSS TIMBERS CHURCH THAT NO PASTOR WHO WAS IN LEADERSHIP AT GATEWAY CHURCH FOR OVER 20 YEARS SHOULD BE IN PASTORAL LEADERSHIP IN ANY CHURCH AT THIS TIME. THIS IS VERY UNWISE AND DANGEROUS.
WHYTE SAYS FURTHER THAT SOMEBODY NEEDS TO DEFINE WHAT AN ELDER IS SUPPOSED TO DO ACCORDING TO HOLY SCRIPTURE BECAUSE ACROSS MULTIPLE CHURCHES RECENTLY, ELDERS ARE LESS THAN SCINTILLATING AND ARE PROVING TO BE MORE LIKE CRONIES TO THE PASTOR INSTEAD OF PROPHETS TO THE PASTOR AND ARE SHOWING A DEVASTATING LOW LEVEL OF DISCERNMENT, AND HAVE A STRANGE TENDENCY TO CREATE MORE PROBLEMS THAN THEY RESOLVE. AS ONE PREACHER SAID YEARS AGO, ‘THE DEACON BOARD, THE TRUSTEE BOARD, AND THE ELDER BOARD NEED THE BOARD PUT ON THEM.’
ARGYLE, Texas — A week after Cross Timbers church elders announced their lead pastor’s resignation, church leaders addressed the congregation again, this time with details of why exactly the pastor was forced to resign.
On Sunday, July 28, Cross Timbers Church announced the resignation of its lead pastor Josiah Anthony, citing “inappropriate and hurtful” actions. The vague sermon left many church members and the general public with questions, which church leadership acknowledged Sunday, Aug. 4.
The Aug. 4 sermon was the church’s first since announcing Anthony’s resignation and church elder John Chalk apologized for the church’s communication with its members.
“We’ve made mistakes along the way, we should have communicated more clearly and directly with you,” Chalk said. “Our lack of clarity led to a lot of assumptions about the situation and in trying not to cause unnecessary harm, we inadvertently did.”
On Thursday, Aug. 1 the church released a statement to its members clarifying what led up to Anthony’s resignation. The update stated that just before Anthony left for his annual sabbatical, elders received a report “of inappropriate communication” with a female former church member. Then, elders found another communication with a former staffer that was not sexual in nature but was “excessively personal, and overly familiar,” the update said.
After announcing Anthony’s resignation, the elders learned about other messages from Anthony that were “sexual in nature.” Chalk repeated this update to members at the service on Sunday.
“Please know that we are trying not to hide it from you… we shared with you what we knew to be true at the time,” Chalk said.
Anthony preached about his mental health issues, which church leaders mentioned when discussing his resignation last week. Chalk said that messaging made it seem like the church would excuse inappropriate behavior because of mental health.
“That was not our intention and we are sorry for that,” Chalk said.
Chalk also apologized to the church members for a staff member who was quoted describing Anthony’s exchange with former staff members as “emotional affairs,” because that infers the interactions were consensual. Chalk described the communications between the women and the pastor as inherently not consensual because of the power imbalance caused by Anthony’s leadership role within the church.