Megachurch Pastor T.D. Jakes Announces Plans to Step Aside

Son-in-law and daughter will take reins at The Potter’s House

T.D. Jakes, the well-known pastor of Dallas megachurch The Potter’s House, plans to step aside later this year and appoint his daughter and son-in-law as the church’s leaders, Christianity Today reported.

Bishop T.D. Jakes, right, speaks at The Potter’s House with his wife Serita, from left, daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband Touré Roberts, Sunday, April 27, 2025, in Dallas. (Video screen grab)

Jakes, age 67, told the Potter’s House congregation the news on Sunday, April 27, saying, “I cannot afford, especially after November, to risk something happening to me and that you be sheep without a shepherd.”

Last month, Jakes revealed in an interview on NBC’s Today Show that he suffered a massive heart attack in November.

“I didn’t really realize what was happening to me onstage until I got to the hospital in an ambulance and fussing that it happened onstage, by the way, because I didn’t want it to happen, and the doctor leaned over my ear and said, ‘You had a massive heart attack,’” Jakes said.

Sarah Jakes Roberts and husband Toure’ Roberts are expected to take over as senior pastors in July when the church celebrates its anniversary, but plans for the current assistant pastors to take the lead have been in the works for a few years, Jakes said. He will remain as chairman of the church’s board.

​​The transition announcement lasted more than half an hour, with all three leaders speaking with emotion and Jakes’ wife, Serita, sometimes dabbing her eyes. The congregation stood, cheered and applauded often during the speech.

“We stand on solid ground and a sure foundation, and we will honor it, respect it,” Touré Roberts said to Jakes in front of the congregation.

The Roberts couple currently lead One: A Potter’s House Church in Los Angeles. Toure’ Roberts founded One in 2004. Sarah Jakes Roberts is the founder of Women Evolve, a conference for women to be held in Atlanta later this summer.

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Last fall, Jakes filed a defamation suit on the day after his heart attack, claiming Pennsylvania minister Duane Youngblood had falsely accused Jakes of attempted sexual assault. The lawsuit linked Youngblood’s accusations to Jakes’ health issues. Youngblood, 58, is on parole after felony convictions for sexual assault and corruption of minors.

Not long after, additional sexual misconduct allegations were made by the brother of the first accuser, the Rev. Richard Edwin Youngblood.

Jakes maintains his innocence. “We’re living in a time of misinformation and disinformation that’s hard to live with,” Jakes said in the Today interview. “Some people don’t see you as an individual. They see you as an opportunity.”

On Friday (April 25), a Pennsylvania judge denied Duane Youngblood’s motion to dismiss the suit, saying “it relies on statutory provisions that are not applicable in this litigation.”

Jakes’ legal representation also asked a federal court to subpoena Google to reveal who posted videos about him on YouTube that were generated by artificial intelligence. In December, NBC News reported these videos “have implicated figures like Jakes in the allegations against (rapper Sean ‘Diddy’) Combs without evidence and used manipulated media to depict the celebrities engaging in lewd acts and exaggerated displays of emotion in video thumbnails.”

An FAQ document that accompanied the church’s Sunday announcement said the changing leadership at The Potter’s House was “absolutely not” related to any wrongdoing by T.D. Jakes.

“This decision is based on faith, foresight and a commitment to generational leadership — not scandal or moral failure,” it said.

But Jakes, speaking on The Potter’s House stage, once again referenced being close to death during the November health crisis.

“I was afraid of letting God down and letting you down, and even to miss a service would make me sick because somebody might need me,” he told the congregation. “And even when I was dying, with my last breath, I was blessing you, and if I died blessing you, that was OK. … Thank you, Lord.”

Jakes is not only the pastor of a megachurch, he is an author, media personality, and leader of a foundation.

In 2024, the T.D. Jakes Foundation announced $9 million in grants to 16 community-based organizations in “historically underrepresented communities” across the country in collaboration with Wells Fargo.

Through T.D. Jakes Enterprises, Jakes has made a foray into television and movies. Some of the most well-known and highest-grossing projects with which Jakes was involved was 2014’s “Heaven is For Real” and 2019’s “A Dog’s Way Home,” featuring Ashley Judd.

Jakes also has a presence on Amazon Prime with his program “A Moment with T.D. Jakes.” This is in addition to his other media presence on stations like Trinity Broadcasting Network and Daystar.

Adelle M. Banks also contributed to this report.

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