After greater than 4 many years, 87-year-old Ed Younger has introduced he’s stepping down as senior pastor of the outstanding, multi-site Houston megachurch, Second Baptist Church. Younger’s son, Affiliate Pastor Ben Younger, will tackle the management function.
On Sunday, Ed Younger learn a letter in a number of Sunday providers on the historic church, stating, “This is a significant moment in the life of our church as we transition leadership.” He added, referring additionally to his spouse, Lisa: “We are committed to our Second Family (and) we will stay in the battle.”
Younger stated he’s “thrilled” about transitioning the highest management function to Ben Younger, who has preached repeatedly at Second Baptist over the previous decade. Ben Younger has been an adjunct seminary professor, radio speak present host, creator, and chaplain for the Houston Astros, based on his bio.
Ed Younger has led Second Baptist as senior pastor since 1978, when the church had 2,000 members. In 2017, Younger’s first spouse, Jo Beth Younger, died. In 2020, the pastor received remarried to Lisa Milne, a church program coordinator.
Younger, who turns 88 in August, talked about well being challenges that he and Lisa have confronted, reported the Houston Chronicle. “Two weeks ago, I thought I was in the red zone and maybe in the two-minute zone because I know I’m in the last quarter of my life,” stated Younger. “But Lisa and I have gone through all kinds of medical things—and amazingly (so).”
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Younger’s present on-line bio states that Second Baptist has “over 82,000 members on six church campuses,” although elsewhere the church notes that 20,000 individuals attend weekly providers. (In its most up-to-date survey, Outreach Journal reported weekly attendance as 17,998.)
Younger beforehand served as president of the Southern Baptist Conference (SBC), from 1992 to 1993. Younger additionally has an endowed chair at his alma mater, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
In his announcement, Younger hinted he should still sometimes preach on the Houston church. “Lisa and I are stepping up, not down,” he stated within the first service. “We are committed to our Second family, and I’m gonna move from the pulpit to the pew—unless I’m called on.”
Younger, who has a broadcast ministry known as The Profitable Stroll, which is predicated on the church, acknowledged he and his spouse will “use our primary spiritual gifts of evangelism and encouragement within this family of faith” within the years forward.
He indicated this may contain coaching and encouragement of church leaders.
Controversy and calling
The church has come underneath fireplace lately on a number of fronts, together with being named in an in depth Houston Chronicle investigation of abuse in SBC church buildings nationwide.
The report recounted how, in 2013, Second Baptist Youth Pastor Chad Foster was sentenced to 5 years in jail for legal solicitation of a 16-year-old feminine church member. The church later settled a lawsuit introduced by the woman’s mother and father, who alleged “vicarious liability” of Second Baptist.
Just lately, Ed Younger has been criticized for “mixing politics with religion,” based on the Chronicle report.
Throughout a sermon in February, Younger referred to migrants coming into the U.S. as “undesirables” and “garbage.” In March, he known as President Joe Biden “godless” from the pulpit, noting how a White Home proclamation of the Transgender Day of Visibility coincided with Easter Sunday.
Younger is the daddy of three sons: Ben, his successor at Second Baptist; Cliff Younger, media director at Second Baptist and a founding member of Christian folk-rock band Caedmon’s Name; and Ed Younger Jr., senior pastor at Dallas-area megachurch, Fellowship Church.
Ed Younger Jr. has ceaselessly been criticized for attention-getting gimmickry at his church, akin to a 2012 stunt that concerned inserting a king-sized mattress on the roof of Fellowship Church. To advertise his e book Sexperiment, Younger and his spouse stayed on the rooftop mattress, clothed, for twenty-four hours and taught by way of on-line video on marriage subjects.
Latest headlines have concerned his extravagant life-style, the sudden closure of a Miami church plant, and his longtime affiliation with disgraced pastor Mark Driscoll. Driscoll spoke at a wedding convention at Fellowship Church in February 2022.
Younger Jr. has preached ceaselessly at Second Baptist.
In asserting the top of his lengthy tenure main Second Baptist, the elder Younger stated he’s “the chief of sinners,” however “God has graciously allowed me to live out that calling with you. Serving you has been the great privilege of my life.”
Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on religion, tradition, and public coverage for a number of media shops. He and his household stay within the Washington, D.C. space.
“Well bless their hearts.”
