Churches Leaving The ‘Network’ Led By Pastor Steve Morgan
Nearly half of the congregations that have been associated with a “Network” of churches overseen by Pastor Steve Morgan have either publicly announced their departure or removed any reference to the network from their websites.
MinistryWatch began reporting about Morgan in 2022 when a watchdog group called “Leaving the Network” issued an eight-point “call to action,” including an independent investigation of the group.
Morgan, who was originally part of the Vineyard Association of Churches, left that group in 2006 and formed his own network. At one point, the network included 26 churches in the U.S., U.K., and Taiwan. Morgan is still the lead pastor of Joshua Church in Austin, Texas.
One of the concerns that “Leaving the Network” has raised is that Morgan was arrested in 1987 for aggravated criminal sodomy of a minor, but his case was diverted. The group believes Morgan’s past has been concealed from members and leaders in the network of churches.
Families against Cults on Campus has been collecting testimonies from many families who noticed rapid changes in loved ones who became involved in a Network church.
Examples include drastic personality changes, loss of interest in hobbies, significant financial commitment to the church, abrupt priority shifts, Network gatherings prioritized over family celebrations and increased control of their lives by Network leaders.
Eleven churches no longer appear to be affiliated with the Network. MinistryWatch reported about four — Isaiah Church, Vine Church, North Pines Church, and Hosea Church — last fall. Now seven more have indicated in some way that they are no longer part of the Network.
— Brookfield Church in Athens, Ohio: Planted in 2011 out of The Vine Church led by Morgan. Its website now states: “In November 2024 we lovingly ended our official association with that network.”
— Cedar Heights Church in State College, Pennsylvania: Planted out of the Vine Church in 2013, Cedar Heights has removed any content from the “church network” tab on its website.
— Mountain Heights Church in Morgantown, West Virginia: Planted by Brookfield Church in 2019, the website contains no reference to the Network of churches to which it used to belong.
— Oaks Church in Muncie, Indiana: Planted by Clear River Church, which is still part of the Network, in 2015. Oaks Church has no reference to the Network on its website.
— South Grove Church in Athens, Georgia: Also planted by Clear River Church in 2019, South Grove’s website doesn’t have any references to the Network.
— Vida Springs Church in Gainesville, Florida: Planted by Clear River Church in 2016. Now it has removed references to the Network from its website.
— Christland Church in College Station, Texas: Planted by Vine Church in 2017, Christland confirmed to MinistryWatch that as of Nov. 13, 2024, it is no longer part of the network of churches overseen by Morgan.
Sandor Paull, Christland’s lead pastor, told MinistryWatch the decision to leave the Network of churches led by Morgan was made by the church’s elder board “after much prayer and wise counsel.”
“We want to be a local church that serves the [Bryan-College Station] community [that] helps people know Jesus and grow in their faith. That mission was increasingly impacted by the issues that didn’t originate at our local church or relate to anything that happened here,” Paull said.
Christland Church in College Station, Texas. (Courtesy photo)
Christland Church has been the subject of some criticism in recent months. For example, Emma Wright, a woman who started attending Christland in 2018, told The Battalion there were red flags at the church she should have acknowledged sooner.
“There was definitely a culture of secrecy. … It was very much expected at Christland that you would obey your leaders in all things. I remember being told what kind of music to listen to and not listen to by leaders. I remember being told what kind of person to date or not date,” Wright said.
After she left, Wright said she was cut off from the majority of people at Christland, where she attended for four years.
A protest was held outside of Christland in October 2024 to draw attention to what protestors claim is emotional and physical abuse of people at churches in the same Network.
In a public letter on the Christland website dated March 9, 2025, the church board acknowledged that people “feel deeply hurt,” adding, “For that, we are deeply sorry.”
Christland has hired Ambassadors of Reconciliation to facilitate, at Christland’s expense, a process of Christian mediation.
“As a way to create a safe space to receive their stories and have a productive discussion, we would like to invite those who have an account of harm from any pastors at Christland into Christian mediation,” the letter states.
Paull emphasized to MinistryWatch that “there are no sexual misconduct allegations against the staff of Christland church or their children’s program.”
However, the church has engaged Telios Law to conduct a third-party audit of the children’s program and make recommendations for improvement because the allegation that “children are not safe” at Christland is “too important to overlook.”
“The child safeguarding audit will consist of reviewing policies and practices, visiting the church to see the children’s program in action, and interviewing the staff responsible for child safeguarding,” Telios Law founder Theresa Sidebotham told MinistryWatch. “The standards used will be those laid out in the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (see ecap.net).”
Telios will also review the leadership practices and culture at Christland and make recommendations for change.
“The leadership audit will review the emotional and spiritual health and culture of the leadership,” Sidebotham said of the process. “We plan to use several common workplace tools like the DISC and 360 Leadership evaluations, in addition to interviewing leaders and staff to evaluate strengths and weaknesses, including any possible problems with culture and management.”
She expects the process to take several weeks and said that legal privacy concerns around the audit will limit what can be shared publicly.
Sidebotham has been criticized for the way she has handled previous investigations. Rebecca Hopkins, who was involved in Sidebotham’s investigation of Missionary Aviation Fellowship, wrote a lengthy critique of the investigation and its conclusions. For example, Hopkins pointed out that Sidebotham made “no recommendation of a zero-tolerance policy for missionaries who engage in sexual misconduct.”
MinistryWatch reached out multiple times to Joshua Church for comment about the departing churches.
This article has been republished with permission from Ministry Watch.
Kim Roberts is a freelance writer who holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from Baylor University and an undergraduate degree in government from Angelo State University. She has three young adult children who were home schooled and is happily married to her husband of 28 years.