Texas pastor Ed Young retires, appoints son to lead Houston megachurch

After more than four decades, Ed Young, 87, announced he is stepping down as senior pastor of Houston’s popular multi-site megachurch, Second Baptist Church. Young’s son, Associate Pastor Ben Young, will assume the leadership role.

Ed Young read a letter during several Sunday services at the historic church on Sunday, saying, “This is an important moment in the life of our church as we make a leadership transition. » He added, also referring to his wife Lisa: “We are attached to our second family (and) we will stay in the battle. »

Young said he was “thrilled” to hand over the leadership role to Ben Young, who has preached regularly at Second Baptist for the past decade. Ben Young has been an adjunct seminary professor, radio talk show host, author and chaplain to the Houston Astros, according to his biography.

Ed Young has led Second Baptist as senior pastor since 1978, when the church had 2,000 members. In 2017, Young’s first wife, Jo Beth Young, died. In 2020, the pastor remarried Lisa Milne, a program coordinator at the church.

Young, who turns 88 in August, mentioned the health challenges he and Lisa have faced, 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,” Young said. “But Lisa and I have been through all kinds of medical stuff – and surprisingly (so).”

Young’s current online biography states that Second Baptist has “more than 82,000 members across six church campuses,” although elsewhere the church notes that 20,000 people attend weekly services. (In its most recent survey, Outreach Magazine reported weekly attendance of 17,998 people.)

Young previously served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), from 1992 to 1993. Young also has an endowed professorship at his alma mater, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In his announcement, Young hinted that he might still occasionally preach at the Houston church. “Lisa and I are going up, not down,” he said during the first service. “We are committed to our Second Family, and I will move from the pulpit to the pew unless I am called.”

Young, who has a broadcast ministry called The Winning Walk, who is based at the church, said he and his wife will “use our core spiritual gifts of evangelism and encouragement within this family of faith” in the years to come.

He said this will involve training and encouraging Church leaders.

Controversy and appeal

The church has been criticized in recent years on several fronts, notably due to a widespread campaign Houston Chronicle investigating abuse at SBC churches across the country.

The report recounts how, in 2013, the second Baptist youth pastor, Chad Foster, was sentenced to five years in prison for criminal solicitation against a 16-year-old female church member. The Church later settled a lawsuit brought by the girl’s parents, who alleged Second Baptist’s “vicarious liability.”

Recently, Ed Young was criticized for “mixing politics with religion,” according to the the Chronicle report.

During a sermon in February, Young called migrants entering the United States “undesirable” and “trash.” In March, he called President Joe Biden “ungodly” from the pulpit, noting that the White House’s proclamation of Transgender Day of Visibility coincided with Easter Sunday.

Young is the father of three sons: Ben, his successor at Second Baptist; Cliff Young, media director at Second Baptist and founding member of the Christian folk-rock band Caedmon’s Call; and Ed Young Jr., senior pastor of Dallas-area megachurch Fellowship Church.

Ed Young Jr. has often been criticized for attracting attention at his church, such as a 2012 stunt that involved placing a king-size bed on the roof of Fellowship Church. To promote his book Sexual experienceYoung and his wife remained clothed on the roof bed for 24 hours and taught via online video on marriage topics.

Recent headlines have discussed his extravagant lifestyle, the sudden closing of a Miami church plant and his longtime association with disgraced pastor Mark Driscoll. Driscoll spoke at a marriage conference at Fellowship Church in February 2022.

Young Jr. frequently preached at Second Baptist.

In announcing the end of his long tenure as leader of Second Baptist, the elder Young said he was “the chief of sinners,” but “God has graciously allowed me to live out this calling with you.” Serving you has been the great privilege of my life.

Independent journalist Josh Shepherd writes about faith, culture and public policy for several media outlets electrical outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, DC area.