(RNS) — Bishop T.D. Jakes is turning leadership of his Dallas megachurch, The Potter’s House, over to his daughter and son-in-law — a move they said occurred after preparations “over the last several years,” but also five months after Jakes suffered a massive heart attack.
“I cannot afford, especially after November, to risk something happening to me and you be sheep without a shepherd,” Jakes, 67, told the congregation toward the end of the church’s Sunday (April 27) worship service after he had preached the day’s sermon.
The church’s announcement said he will continue as its “spiritual overseer” and chairman of the board.
His daughter, Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband, Pastor Touré Roberts, were standing nearby when he asked the congregation to accept them as the new leaders. They have served as assistant pastors of the church since 2023.
The official appointment of the new co-senior pastors is expected later this year, and Jakes said it could occur by the church’s 29th anniversary in July.
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.
Jakes’ ministerial trajectory has led him from a West Virginia storefront church to a Time magazine cover to revival and cathedral pulpits. The younger couple have been pastors of One LA, a California-based ministry that is part of The Potter’s House.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, left, addresses his daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband, Touré Robert …