Photo emerges of woman with Steve Lawson at John MacArthur's church
An alleged photo showing Pastor Steve Lawson next to a woman believed to be his mistress has emerged online amid new scrutiny about the role of a California megachurch in the scandal.
Following Lawson's removal in September as lead pastor at Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, Texas, due to his admission of "an inappropriate relationship with a woman," Phil Johnson, executive director of Grace to You, shared unpublished details about the scandal on social media.
Grace to You is the radio and TV ministry of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, led by Pastor John MacArthur. Lawson previously served as a dean at GCC's The Master's University and Seminary.
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Johnson stated at the time that the woman involved "is not a member of [Lawson's] church" and resides in a different state, asserting that the affair with Lawson lasted five years until the woman's father caught them. He described the relationship as having "strong romantic overtones" but insisted that "no literal fornication was involved." He clarified that the woman in question lives out of state, "nowhere close to" any of Lawson's ministries.
In response to Johnson's post, an X user who identified herself as a fan of Lawson's and supporter of Ligonier Ministries questioned his accuracy in an Oct. 22 tweet, saying, "It seems maybe you weren't telling the truth here."
She included an image of Lawson sitting next to a young woman with her face blurred out, originally shared and taken down by the Grace Community Church Crossroads Instagram account.
It seems maybe you weren’t telling the truth here? This picture was scrubbed from the Crossroads IG but word on the street is this is the girl who was nowhere close to Steve’s ministries. Care to confirm or deny? pic.twitter.com/3i3MbPCAoU
— Casey (@AwakeNotWoke75) October 22, 2024
"If the young woman in the photo is, in fact, his mistress, she was apparently very close," the post added.
Johnson defended his statements, responding, "What I said is true," and suggested that the woman — who identified herself later as Casey Statts — contact him directly for further clarification.
In her follow-up email, Staats expressed her disappointment and emphasized the public's demand for transparency, stating, "People are desperate for transparency in a world that gets crazier by the day."
Johnson replied in detail by reiterating that the woman does not live close to Lawson's ministries and commented on the nature of the woman's relationship with Lawson, emphasizing that she was "a consenting adult in her mid-twenties" at the time. He confirmed that she was a "student at The Master's College during some of the time that they were engaged in this adulterous affair."
He also addressed rumors of pastoral abuse by asserting, "This was not a case of pastoral abuse as defined by Texas law," stating that even though Lawson formerly served as a dean at the Master's University and Seminary, the woman's connection with Lawson originally came from her "family's relationship with Lawson and had nothing to do with her student status."
"After the scandal broke, I did hear from one Grace Church secretary who told me she had observed some overly-familiar behavior between Lawson and his mistress," Johnson wrote in the email. He noted that the secretary did not report her concerns to any elders at Grace Community Church but instead took that concern to an employee of Lawson's ministry, OnePassion.
Johnson concluded his email by stating, "If credible testimony is brought forward proving that any of our elders 'DID know about this and did nothing,' then that elder... will be dismissed." He cautioned against spreading unverified rumors, urging caution in discussing the matter.
Following the initial report about Lawson in September, Johnson wrote in a series of now-deleted X posts that Lawson only informed the elders at Trinity Bible Church after "the girl's father had confronted Steve and threatened exposure."
"This was not a noble confession of sin," Johnson added.
In another reply on X, Johnson said the woman was in her late 20s and not a Trinity Bible Church member. He also said while Lawson and the woman "insist no literal fornication was involved," their "tie to one another was adulterous in spirit, if not in fact."
Johnson later deleted the X thread, but not before it was captured in a screenshot and shared across the platform.
"In deference to the elders of Trinity Bible Church of Dallas, I removed the comments I posted this morning regarding the Steve Lawson scandal," Johnson wrote. "Those elders shepherd the local church Lawson belonged to, so their pastoral duty takes precedence over mine."
"These are godly men, committed to the truth of Scripture, and I'm fully confident they will do the right thing," he added. "They have every right to set their own pace."
With more than 40 years dedicated to ministry as a prominent figure in the Reformed/Calvinist Evangelicalism movement, Lawson formerly served as a teaching fellow at Ligonier Ministries and as the dean of Doctor of Ministry Studies at The Master's Seminary but has since been removed from both websites.
A frequent speaker with MacArthur at TMS events, Lawson often appeared in front of MacArthur's congregation at Grace Community Church for The Shepherds Conference and other events.
