From staff writer Emily Belz: I reported from Texas for today’s story on the string of Dallas megachurch leaders who have left their churches over moral failings and what that means for the people in the pews. In the course of reporting, I met up with Jim Denison, the former lead pastor of a megachurch in Dallas who resigned years ago to do more theological work and writing. While he sees the strengths of megachurches, he talked about the disconnected approach he saw in his former church: The youth group had kids from 18 different high schools. They weren’t “doing life together,” he said.

Reporting on this made me think of my colleague Sophia Lee’s recent article on finding yourself without a community, even if you’re in a church. Denison recalled how his first church was a small church where his family lived in the parsonage and the members lived nearby. He said if he had had a moral failing there, like these megachurch pastors now, it would have been more painful because he had closer relationships with his small congregation. But the community would have grieved it together, and he sees “strengths” in that. 

Meanwhile, I interviewed a psychologist in Dallas who said that this kind of fallout from a megachurch means people might withdraw from church and become more isolated—and then call mental health professionals for help because they don’t trust their churches. These community ruptures are a larger trend I hope we can continue to follow in our reporting.