After three decades of service, Bishop T.D. Jakes is stepping down from his role as senior pastor of the Potter’s House in Dallas.
In an announcement shared during Sunday morning’s service, Jakes, 67, along with his wife Serita Jakes by his side, revealed that he has tapped his daughter, Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts, and her husband, Pastor Touré Roberts, as the new senior pastors of the church.
The couple will begin their new roles in July. T.D. Jakes will remain on the Potter’s House Board of Directors. He will also continue his role as chairman of the T.D. Jakes Group, which includes his real estate firm, social impact holding company, and the T.D. Jakes Foundation.
“As I enter my 50th year in the public spotlight, I recognize the urgent need to address more challenges of our time, particularly the looming threat of a disappearing middle class, social unrest and closing opportunity gaps,” he said in a news release prepared before Sunday’s service.
“Elevating Pastor Touré and Pastor Sarah as the new senior pastors of The Potter’s House, we will honor our rich history while embracing a future that demands innovative ministry for the coming age.”
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“As your pastor-elect, co-senior pastor elect, I’m grateful, I’m honored, as your daughter,” said Sarah Jakes Roberts. “I’m so happy you’re going to get some rest.”
The bishop’s announcement comes almost six months after he experienced a “massive heart attack” during a sermon on November 24, which was shared widely via a live stream at the time.
In a March interview with Craig Melvin on TODAY, Jakes spoke about his medical scare and how his congregation rushed to his aid after he suddenly stumbled over his chair onstage.
“I didn’t really realize what was happening to me onstage until I got to the hospital in an ambulance,” he shared with the outlet. “And the doctor leaned over in my ear and said, ‘You’ve had a massive heart attack.’ “
The bishop noted that he had no idea he was having a heart attack because he had none of the “symptoms that they say” typically occur before the medical emergency.
“The reason I didn’t realize it was because I had none of the symptoms that they say,” the pastor explained. “No numbness, no sharp pain, no anything. I just kind of drifted off to sleep. I didn’t know what it was, but I almost died.”
“(The doctor) said five minutes later, I’d have been dead on arrival. The right side of my heart had completely stopped getting blood at all.”
“In retrospect, it was such a privilege to stand on the other side to get a little glimpse of what that might be like or at least what it was like in that moment for me,” he added.
“I think it was absolutely amazing. And then I had my whole church — and when I say my whole church, I mean global not just the congregation, even people who didn’t go to my church — people everywhere sending prayers. I’m so thankful.”
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Bishop T.D. Jakes founded The Potter’s House in 1996, as a non-denominational, multicultural church in South Dallas. The church has since surpassed 30,000 members and expanded across North Dallas, Fort Worth, and Denver, per its website.
