After more than four decades, 87-year-old Ed Young has announced he is stepping down as senior pastor of the prominent, multi-site Houston megachurch, Second Baptist Church.

Young’s son, Associate Pastor Ben Young, will take on the leadership role. 

On Sunday, Ed Young read a letter in multiple Sunday services at the historic church, stating, “This is a significant moment in the life of our church as we transition leadership.”

He added, referring also to his wife, Lisa: “We are committed to our Second Family [and] we will stay in the battle.”

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

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 got remarried to Lisa Milne, a church program coordinator. 

Young, who turns 88 in August, mentioned health challenges that he and Lisa have faced, 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,” said Young. “But Lisa and I have gone through all kinds of medical things—and amazingly (so).” 

Young’s current online bio states that Second Baptist has “over 82,000 members on six church campuses,” though elsewhere the church notes that 20,000 people attend weekly services. In its most recent survey, Outreach Magazine reported weekly attendance as 17,998.

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

In his announcement, Young hinted he may still occasionally preach at the Houston church. “Lisa and I are stepping up, not down,” he said in 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.” 

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

He indicated this will involve training and encouragement of church leaders.

The church has come under fire in recent years on multiple fronts, including being named in an extensive Houston Chronicle investigation of abuse in SBC churches nationwide. 

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

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

During a sermon in February, Young referred to migrants entering the U.S. as “undesirables” and “garbage.” In March, he called President Joe Biden “godless” from the pulpit, noting how a White House proclamation of the 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 a founding member of Christian folk-rock band Caedmon’s Call; and Ed Young Jr., senior pastor at Dallas-area megachurch, Fellowship Church.

Ed Young Jr. has frequently been criticized for attention-getting gimmickry at his church, such as a 2012 stunt that involved placing a king-sized bed on the roof of Fellowship Church. To promote his book “Sexperiment,” Young and his wife stayed on the rooftop bed, clothed, for 24 hours and taught via online video on marriage topics. 

Recent headlines have involved his extravagant lifestyle, the sudden closure 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. has preached frequently at Second Baptist. 

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

This article originally appeared at The Roys Report.

Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his family live in the Washington, D.C. area.