Elders at Central Bible Church in Fort Worth, Texas, recently asked their longtime lead pastor, David Daniels, to resign after he confessed to having a porn addiction.
An initial announcement, which has since been deleted from the church’s website, stated that: “David Daniels was asked to resign as Lead Pastor of Central Bible Church due to an ongoing pattern of moral failure that he recently confessed to our Elders.”
The church did not respond to a request for further comment from The Christian Post on Monday, but the elders went into more detail about Daniels’ resignation in an email to church members cited by Christian abuse survivor advocate Amy Smith of The Watch Keep.
“David shared for the past number of years he had developed a pornographic addiction that was deeply affecting his marriage and his walk with the Lord. As the elders listened to David, they were both shocked and saddened by what they heard,” the elders wrote in the statement.
“As the elders met together to discuss what David had confessed, they were united in their decision that David had disqualified himself from serving as our lead pastor since one of the qualifications for elders is to be ‘above reproach’ (1 Timothy 3:2). Thankfully, David is in agreement with their decision.”
In his letter of resignation, the elders said Daniels admitted to being “genuinely broken over the foolish decisions I have made, including not allowing myself to be rightly accountable to each of you.”
“I have failed our church, and the Lord. As I have expressed before, I am truly sorry,” he said.
In a follow-up statement on Facebook last Thursday morning, Daniels said he would be taking a two-month break from the internet while thanking supporters who have been showing him grace.
“I am so grateful for the overwhelming expressions of compassion, grace, and love from my friends (and even strangers) over the last week. I am logging off for the next couple of months and will NOT receive or see any texts, emails, or online messages. Thank you for your continued prayers.”
Central Bible Church did not respond to a request for comment.
Before his resignation, the married grandfather and author served as lead pastor of Central Bible Church since 2005. He has written books such as Wonder: Advent Meditations on the Miracle of Christmas and An Unexpected King: Meeting the Messiah in Mark’s Gospel (2022).
Daniels’ resignation over pornography appears rare among reasons for pastoral resignations.
In Barna’s “Beyond the Porn Phenomenon,” produced in partnership with Pure Desire Ministries in 2024, researchers found that a majority of practicing Christians, including pastors, admit to viewing pornography, and a large share reported that they were comfortable with the habit.
Pornography use was found to be prevalent among all demographics, while the gap in use among Christians and non-Christians, as well as men and women, grew narrower over the last eight years.
Even though practicing Christians were still found to view pornography less frequently than non-Christians, the gap between the two groups was only 14 percentage points. Some 54% of Christians reported viewing pornography compared with 68% of non-Christians.
In general, 75% of Christian men and 40% of Christian women reported consuming porn on some level.
“Despite the Church’s stance against lust generally, it seems little progress has been made to deter many of those who fill the pews from pornography consumption specifically,” researchers said. “The gap between professed beliefs and actual behavior raises questions about the efficacy of current approaches within faith communities.”
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