Yesterday, Watermark Community Church, a Dallas mega church, announced that founder and senior pastor Todd Wagner had resigned. In a video posted to the website along with the leadership update, Todd is joined on stage by several other elders and staff members. One of those, David Leventhal, announced that he had resigned last month due to “an erosion of trust in Todd Wagner’s ability to lead in the role of Senior Pastor and Elder.”
That’s quite a line that was no doubt scripted, but that it made it into the official announcement says that something serious has been going on with Todd Wagner at Watermark Church. Last fall Todd announced that he was temporarily stepping back from his role as senior pastor due to the sin of pride. Leonardo Blair at The Christian Post covered this story at the time.
“For the first time in 20 years, I’m stepping back from what I usually do so I can do the hard work of hard work. So don’t be looking for some scandal. Don’t even think this is scandalous. What is scandalous is when a Christian plays with, overlooks or welcomes sin, respectable or not,” Wagner told his megachurch, which averages about 11,000 weekly worshipers across four campuses.
“I thank God I have friends to help me. Pride kills. And I would call what I’ve heard my friends describing and telling me, pride. That’s the sin. And it’s really interesting because you know I don’t think of myself or I fool myself into thinking I’m not a prideful person because I never look in the mirror and clap,” he explained.
Wagner explained that he and his elders have been in talks about his sin since June and they have walked through a period of repentance and he was now asking church members for their forgiveness.
After a short time of Todd Wagner back in the pulpit as senior pastor, we now learn that there has been a significant rift at Watermark, if another elder and staff pastor resigned due to an “erosion of trust” in Todd and his ability to lead. I’ve known for years that Watermark Church has a history of abusive tactics. Anna Keith who blogs at No Eden Elsewhere, has covered this aspect of Watermark in depth.
Does this “erosion of trust” brought about by Todd’s behavior involve someone else? A church member? Has Todd abused his position of trust as a pastor? These are important questions for church members to ask. It’s important for others to ask as well, because typically pastors will move on to lead others in some capacity. Todd founded Watermark and was the lead pastor for over 20 years.
On Sunday, April 25 we shared three significant transitions to our leadership team with our church body.
David Leventhal resigned his position as Elder and staff member on March 26. His resignation was due to an erosion of trust in Todd Wagner’s ability to lead in the role of Senior Pastor and Elder. David arrived at this decision in concert with his wife, their family, and their community group.
Separately, in the following weeks, Todd, alongside his wife, Alex, reached the conclusion that the time had come for him to step down as Senior Pastor and Elder. Todd and Alex had been seeking the Lord for over a year to discern what their next step of faithfulness would be, and through conversations with family, friends, fellow Elders and their community, God gave them clarity that now was the time for a transition. Todd submitted his resignation to the Elder team on April 17, and it was accepted on that day.
We believe both men are seeking to be faithful to the Lord and honor one another in this process. At the same time, we land at a different place than David and Todd regarding why we have arrived here. After hundreds of hours of conversations over several months, every member of the Elder team, Elder Emeritus team, and the various community groups involved all affirm these decisions.
Despite a challenging season, David and Todd are at peace with one another and will serve together on the Elder Emeritus team. We are currently processing how each person can best serve the mission in the days ahead.
Church, these last few days have been long and sad as we mourn the loss of serving alongside David and Todd as we once had. Both men have served our God and our church faithfully. However, amidst our grief we have seen clearly that God is sovereignly and providentially at work in the details of these transitions. Tangible evidence of God’s leading is the unity, alignment, and peace He has provided all those involved.
As further evidence that God has gone before us, we had been considering adding Blake Holmes to the Elder team for weeks. Before Todd resigned, we joyfully extended that invitation to Blake, and he is currently in the Elder candidate process.
Please review the video of this announcement and the FAQs below if you desire further clarity. Above all, we ask you to continue to pray for the Elder team and our church as we navigate this next season.
Our mission remains the same – to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-39). Jesus is the head of our church, and we exist for His glory alone (Colossians 1:18). For over 20 years, this has been God’s church, and Todd has been one of the loudest voices to teach us that the church should never be built around any one besides Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:4). We are confident we have the staff team and lay leadership in place to lead us through this next season as we continue our mission to call all people to be fully devoted followers of Christ.
For the last two decades, we have experienced a continual sense of awe at what God is doing through His people at Watermark. Every week, people are being set free from the burden of their sin, finding refuge from the storms of life, healing broken relationships, deepening their understanding of God’s Word, sacrificially giving in a way that glorifies God, and using their gifts to humbly serve others (Acts 2:42-43). We are expectant of all God will continue to do in and through this body.
Humbly,
Kyle Thompson and Mickey Friedrich
Elders of Watermark Community Church
Watermark Community Church, Dallas mega church, announces that church founder and lead pastor Todd Wagner has resigned. @WatermarkChurch https://t.co/gSNGOtEIc8
— Amy Smith (@watchkeep) April 26, 2021
