Pastor Tony Evans stood before his long-time congregation on October 5 with tears, reflection, and a restored heart—but not his former title, The Christian Post reports.

After stepping down in June 2024 due to a personal sin from years past, the 75-year-old founder of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas has completed a rigorous 12-month restoration process but will not return to an official leadership role at the church.

Evans, who led the church for nearly five decades, voluntarily walked away from ministry last year after acknowledging personal failure—not criminal, but moral—in light of the biblical standards he’s long preached.

Church Upholds Biblical Principles In Restoration

The church’s elders implemented an extensive process rooted in Scripture, involving biblical counseling, mentoring, repentance, and complete removal from pulpit duties. They cited principles from Galatians 6:1 and Lamentations 3 to guide their approach.

Evans embraced the very structure he had promoted during his tenure, calling his church a “hospital of restoration” and accepting the same medicine he prescribed to others.

“I have to apply the Word to me as I applied it to everybody else,” Evans said. “Because if we’re going to be a Bible church, that just can’t be a name.”

Son To Lead As Legacy Continues

While the church celebrates Evans’ personal restoration, it turns the chapter forward with his son, Jonathan Evans, expected to be formally confirmed as the next lead pastor. The symbolic “passing of the baton” was underscored by Jonathan’s emotional tribute to his father during the restoration ceremony.

“Man, I’m proud of you,” Jonathan told his father—words that echoed what many in the congregation seemed to feel that day.

Evans spoke candidly about the emotional pain of giving up a role that defined nearly all his adult life: “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.”

Transparency Balanced With Discretion

The church openly acknowledged its deliberate approach in handling the matter. Associate Pastor Chris Wheel defended the decision to limit public details: “This was not done to conceal wrongdoing,” he said, adding that the goal was to preserve “the dignity of all involved.”

In a world thirsty for spectacle and scandal, the church charted a more difficult path—pursuing quiet restoration instead of loud condemnation. The wheel confirmed that Evans demonstrated “genuine repentance and godly sorrow,” along with humility and a desire to honor God.

“Restoration when pursued with gentleness and self-awareness reflects the very character of Christ,” Wheel added.

No Return To Staff, But Continued Ministry Ahead

Despite completing the elders’ process, the church clarified that Evans will not resume any formal position on staff or in leadership. Yet, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship expects his gifts to strengthen the church in new ways.

Wheel noted that although Evans won’t be returning to a staff role, he will continue “to proclaim the truth of Scripture with clarity and conviction.” A polite way of saying: you can take the pastor out of the pulpit, but not the message out of the man.

Evans made it clear that while no secular law was broken, “I did not use righteous judgment in my actions.” It was a fall from grace—not into prison, but into personal and spiritual accountability.

Personal Confession, Public Reflection

In the days leading up to his public confession in 2024, Evans informed his family of the situation, choosing transparency. “Three days [before], my dad would call us and tell us the same thing he told you. No more. No less,” Jonathan shared.

That level of humble consistency is rare in a culture increasingly addicted to dodging consequences and blaming systems instead of self. Evans owned what he did and submitted to the same process he once directed.

“So when it came my turn,” Evans said, “I could not apply to others what I was unwilling to apply to myself.”

End of an Era, Continuation of a Mission

During the October 5 ceremony, church elders laid hands on Evans and took communion to mark the conclusion of this journey—not just his, but the church’s, through a season of mourning, healing, and forward motion.

The wounds may linger, but so too does the clarity brought by obedience to Scripture. The church didn’t walk away from their founding pastor—they stood with him, but with standards intact.

In the end, Tony Evans put it best: “Knowing that there was not just going to be an empty seat but a new chair and that [Jonathan] would be sitting in it made losing my chair durable, manageable.”