Founder of Dallas-Fort Worth megachurch Watermark steps back after committing ‘sin’
Todd Wagner, the longtime leader of Watermark Community Church, one of the DFW area’s most popular and sometimes controversial megachurches, is stepping back from his duties after committing what he described as the sin of pride.
Wagner made the announcement during a service on Sept. 6 at the church’s Dallas headquarters. “Don’t be looking for some scandal,” he said. “Don’t even think this is scandalous. What is scandalous is when a Christian plays with, overlooks or welcomes sin — respectable or not. And I refuse to do that, and my friends love me enough to remind me of that. ... Pride kills. And I would call what I’ve heard my friends describing and telling me: pride. That’s the sin.”
He was not specific about what he meant by “pride.” Watermark’s communications staff did not respond to an interview request for Wagner or for an opportunity for the church to elaborate on his decision to step back.
In his sermon, Wagner added he was not asked by others to step back and had not committed a “disqualifying sin.” “There’s no sexual immorality,” he said, “no financial issues that are going on, no physical altercations, there’s no foul language, there’s no holes in the wall.”
Wagner founded Watermark in 1999, hosting services in a biblical museum near NorthPark Mall. The church, which is evangelical and nondenominational, has grown to include a sprawling complex in North Dallas and branches in Fort Worth, Plano and Frisco. Before the coronavirus pandemic, some 20,000 people, including a large contingent of business leaders, college and high school students and young adults, attended various services every week, according to Watermark. A weeknight service called The Porch routinely attracted thousands of millennials and Gen Z-ers.
Watermark made national headlines in 2006 when a member sued the church. The man, named as John Doe in the lawsuit, claimed Wagner disclosed Doe’s extra-marital affair and threatened to tell non-church members, potentially his employers, even if Doe left Watermark. Doe’s lawyer, Jeff Tillotson, told the Dallas Morning News at the time, “the typical notion of a Dallasite is that if you don’t like a church you can just leave, and that is apparently not shared by some of these churches.”
Four years ago, a Watermark church member shared in a viral Facebook post that his membership was revoked for being in a gay relationship. A letter that Watermark sent him recommended he still meet with a Watermark church staffer who “shares in the same struggle (same sex attraction) who has found healing, freedom and victory through our savior Jesus Christ.”
In a statement in response to the post, the church said it held meetings with him and that “it became increasingly clear that he no longer believed same-sex sexual activity was inappropriate for a follower of Jesus Christ, and he also made it clear that he no longer desired the help, care, and encouragement we were seeking to provide. Like any member whose beliefs move away from the core commitments, biblical convictions, and values of Watermark, it became appropriate to formally change his membership status.”
Wagner has long been an outspoken spokesperson for Watermark and evangelical beliefs in general. He once made an appearance on “60 Minutes” to discuss the rapture. He has addressed accusations of Watermark being a cult on a podcast. This summer, in the midst of nationwide protests over racial injustice, he said in a sermon “when you talk about race, you may as well be talking about unicorns.” Explaining the comment, Wagner later told NPR, “Sin’s the problem. And one of the things that we do is we treat different people — groups or tribes or ethnicities — we group them into these categories so that we can be oppressive to them because we’re sinners. And that is always the problem.”
This month, after making his announcement of stepping back, Wagner was joined during the service by Watermark’s all-male group of elders. They shared their support for Wagner, saying his decision to step back was the best way for him to be in position to lead for another 20 years.
“We believe Todd is repentant,” said Brian Buchek, a Watermark elder.
Buchek recommended church members ponder the biblical passage Galatians 6:1, which counsels people to “gently” restore a person who has committed a sin and to not be tempted to commit sins of their own.
“So, we’re reminding ourselves satan is the enemy,” Buchek said, “and we must guard against sins like gossip, assuming the worst and sowing any seeds of discord or division. We ask each of you to do the same as you process our message with your community group.”
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
