During a recent podcast appearance, Atlanta megachurch Pastor Bryan Meadows answered questions about what he called a 12-year “affair” with a female co-pastor. But that woman, who recently came forward, characterizes the relationship as abusive and a betrayal.
Meadows, the 39-year-old founder and senior pastor of Embassy City Church, spoke to host Jessica Laine MacDonald for almost 90 minutes on the Feb. 26 episode of “Hardly Initiated.” Meadows, who also uses the title Apostle, told MacDonald he “had an affair” that he “knew was wrong.” He didn’t name the other woman, saying, “I stepped out on my wife, but there is complexity and nuance.”
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After his adultery was exposed in 2024, Meadows took a lengthy sabbatical. During a previous one-man show titled “My Truth,” the pastor referred to being unfaithful. Now he’s advertising another upcoming show, titled “Good Grief,” saying it’s about the pressures and sacrifices that accompany ministry.
Bryan Meadows Admits the ‘Breaking of Boundaries’
Bryan Meadows founded Embassy City Church in 2011 with wife Patrice. He told podcast host Jessica Laine MacDonald, a former parishioner, that early in his marriage, he and his wife had invited a woman to stay at their house. Meadows confessed that “the breaking of boundaries” eventually occurred, adding that he maintained the relationship with his co-pastor because he’s a “loyalist.”
MacDonald, who sought marital counseling from Meadows two years ago, called out the pastor for betraying his wife, leading a double life, and not being transparent. Adultery by Meadows, who performed her wedding ceremony, “deeply impacted” and “hurt” her, she told him. “How can he lead our marriage when he is not being faithful in his own?” MacDonald said she wondered.
During the conversation, Meadows said he had been lonely and turned to a “friend,” who “created space for us to do something that wasn’t right.” He described compartmentalizing his marriage and the affair, adding that the affair became addictive.
When a fellow church leader confronted Meadows in 2024, he initially tried to deny the affair. But he said he finally had to confess, noting, “Exposure is a blessing.”
Atlanta megachurch Pastor Bryan Meadows answered questions about what he called a 12-year “affair” with a female co-pastor. But that woman, who recently came forward, characterizes the relationship as abusive and a betrayal.Click to Post
