Bishop T.D. Jakes (67) announced on Sunday, April 27, that he is stepping down as lead pastor of The Potter’s House Church in Dallas and handing over the lead shepherding role over to his daughter and son-in-law.
An emotional Jakes preached a sermon titled “Whatever God Commands” before naming Touré Roberts and Sarah Jakes Roberts as his successors.
Jakes started preaching when he was 19, and he founded The Potter’s House in 1996. Today, the church averages over 16,000 weekly attenders and owns 1,000 acres of land.
The news of Jakes stepping down comes five months after he suffered a massive heart attack onstage while preaching on a Sunday morning. Recently, Jakes has also been the center of controversy surrounding sexual abuse allegations, which has led the bishop to file a defamation suit against his accusers.
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“About six years ago, I started talking to Pastor Touré and Pastor Sarah, because I did not want all that I had spent my life…building to get old and go with us,” Jakes told the congregation.
“I talked to the board because I was concerned,” he continued. “I have seen too many men build something and stay so long that they kill what they built. What you got to understand is it’s not so important that you just know when to grab ahold; it’s knowing when to let go.”
“Now there’s some other things that I’m assigned to do, both here and outside,” Jakes added. “But I cannot afford, especially after November, to risk something happening to me, and you be sheep without a shepherd.”
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Jakes explained that he can’t “afford to let all the work of all the saints, living and dead, to hold this so tight, so long that I wither away. So I’m suggesting to you, I’m recommending to you, that you receive Pastor Touré and Pastor Sarah.”
Touré told Jakes, “It’s hard to put into words but we feel deeply honored” to be placed in this position.
 announced on Sunday, April 27, that he is stepping down as lead pastor of The Potter’s House Church in Dallas and handing over the lead shepherding role over to his daughter and son-in-law.){kind=link}