Disgraced North Texas Church Leaders Draw National Attention, Government Interest

Arguably one of the biggest stories of the summer in North Texas continues to develop well into the fall, as yet another North Texas church leader has made news for the wrong reasons.

David Scarberry, who serves as a staff “evangelistic outreach leader” at Revival City Church in McKinney according to church watchdog site Watchkeep, was arrested last week and charged with continuous violence against family, a charge he told KERA was the result of “false accusations.”

Scarberry’s story doesn't end with these latest charges, however. KERA also reported that Scarberry “spent five years in an Oklahoma prison after he was found guilty of using an offensive weapon in a felony and for two additional drug felonies in 2002,” and that “[h]is ex-wife filed for the domestic abuse protective order in 1994.”

Revival City Church isn’t a large church, not one of the many mega-churches that have long been a presence throughout Dallas-Fort Worth. In the past, Scarberry’s arrest could’ve rather easily avoided the media spotlight.

But since prominent pastor Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship stepped down from his role in June after admitting to an undisclosed “sin,” North Texas has seen an alarmingly steady progression of pastors, many of them leading large and prominent congregations, leave their posts due to an array of moral failures and even crime. Shortly after Evans’ announcement, Robert Morris, the best-selling author, television host and pastor of one of the largest churches in Texas, Gateway Church in Southlake, stepped down after admitting to sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.

In August, we noted a few of the now-disgraced pastors in a report looking at how churches and the victims of clergy abuse may try to move on. WFAA has been keeping track of pastors and church leaders that have become entangled in controversy, with the list now totaling 17. Scarberry is only the most recent addition.

It’s a disturbing trend that’s gained attention across the country thanks to the high profile of some of the pastors as well as the sheer regularity of the troubles. The New York Times published a story late last week about the matter. Ed Young, the outspoken, feather-ruffling pastor of Fellowship Church, arguably the biggest-name pastor in the region, is interviewed for the story. In a somewhat off-color manner, he says the string of pastoral indiscretions and misconduct is “like the unbuckling of the Bible Belt.”

New York Times writer Ruth Graham, who lives in Dallas, attempted to connect the dots between the controversies.

“There’s no clear pattern to the scandals, which range widely. The churches are all Protestant but belong to different denominations — or none at all — and have different theological beliefs and worship styles,” Graham wrote. “But the cumulative impact has been unsettling for many Christians and their leaders in Dallas, a city that the magazine Christianity Today once declared ‘the new capital of evangelicalism.’”

Mary DeMuth, a religious author from Rockwall interviewed for the Times story, views the added attention to such developments as a result of the #MeToo movement and “a rising appetite for transparency in church circles” the report stated.

In some cases, not much has been heard from the churches or pastors once a resignation or firing has been announced, but there are possible ripple effects in some other instances. Last week, according to KERA, Cindy Clemishire, the woman whom Morris reportedly abused when she was a child, appeared before a Texas House committee hearing, where she said she rejected $25,000 from Morris’ attorney to stay silent and take blame for the abuse in 2007.

Republican Rep. Jeff Leach, who attends Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, according to his official website, was one of the lawmakers at the hearing. He seems to be ready to put a greater spotlight on what has been happening in North Texas churches and look for ways to support the victims.

“I fear that if we don't act in a real, meaningful, and strong way,” Leach is quoted in the KERA report as stating. “[W]e're going to almost become a sanctuary for criminals who are preying on our children.”