Cross Timbers Church founding pastors step down after resignations of 2 other pastors
In a string of resignations and terminations, two more pastors have resigned from Cross Timbers Church in Argyle, the church’s elders announced in a statement.
Founding pastors Brian Hackney and Jamie Hackney are stepping down from their positions, after “sensing” their employment through the church was “coming to a close,” the statement says.
A screenshot of the statement was posted Wednesday on X by Amy Smith of the watchdog site The Wartburg Watch.
The Hackneys, married for 33 years, were “instrumental” in the growth of the church, founded in 2000, the statement goes on to say.
The church’s staff was notified Thursday and the Hackneys’ last day on staff will be Saturday, Aug. 31, according to the elders’ statement.
“Although there have been a series of transitions, we want you to know that our Elders and Leadership team have a renewed energy, and our staff has a forward-facing posture,” the statement reads. “We look forward to all the Lord has in store for our church.”
The Hackneys’ resignations come after the church’s executive pastor Byron Copeland and lead pastor Josiah Anthony also stepped down.
In an email sent to staff members July 28, the elders said Anthony agreed to resign after failing to notify them of “inappropriate actions.” In an update on Aug. 1, the church specified Anthony sent inappropriate messages — some of a sexual nature — to women in the church, including those on staff.
The initial email said the inappropriate actions committed by Anthony were not connected to children, physical or sexual interactions or illegal activity, to the church’s “knowledge.”
Two weeks later, Copeland announced his departure from the church.
“I have felt the heavy weight of our recent hurt at Cross Timbers Church,” Copeland wrote in a note shared by the church. He had been serving as interim lead pastor after the resignation of Josiah Anthony on July 28.
“I sense that God is calling me to a fresh season of life,” Copeland said in the statement.
Cross Timbers’ resignations joins a list of North Texas pastors who have recently resigned or stepped away from their positions, including Gateway Church’s founder and lead pastor Robert Morris.
Morris resigned in June after admitting to sexually abusing a child while he was in his 20s.
