Pastor Sam Allberry Resigns From Nashville Church For ‘Inappropriate Relationship’
Sam Allberry, a high-profile evangelical leader who publicly professed celibacy while acknowledging same-sex attraction, resigned from his church office last weekend.
Allberry, believed to be in his early 50s, has been a widely platformed evangelical voice with teachings focused heavily on sexuality and identity. An Anglican clergyman, Allberry was the associate pastor at Immanuel Church Nashville, a nondenominational, independent congregation.
Church elders said in a statement they first learned about Allberry’s inappropriate relationship with an “adult male” in 2024. They elders emphasized that the relationship ended before Allberry joined staff in 2023.
At that time, they judged the conduct “unwise” but not “disqualifying.”
This year, new details surfaced that “disqualified” the pastor from ministry, they said. The statement did not disclose those details.
“In January of 2026, the Elders received new information about the relationship that had not been disclosed previously,” according to their statement. “While the relationship did not go as far as it could have, Sam’s conduct constituted a serious breach of trust and a failure to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.”
The elders said they ruled Allberry disqualified from ministry. Allberry agreed with their decision, they said, and he resigned.
“Throughout this process, Sam has been repentant, humble, and cooperative with the Elders and outside counsel,” they said.
The elders added they will provide counseling for Allberry and “the other party,” which may mean that it was the latter who gave elders the new information.
Although Immanuel Church was reported to have announced Allberry’s departure during a May 3 service, a video recording viewed by TRR contained no such announcement. Contacted by telephone, Rhea Thornton, the church’s executive director/treasurer, gave TRR no further explanation.
Separately, The Gospel Coalition confirmed Allberry’s resignation from its Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. The organization said it learned of the matter May 2.
The Gospel Coalition said it was “heartbroken.” It also said it began removing Allberry’s content from its website.
In an email Monday, Mark Vroegop, TGC’s president, told The Roys Report, “We are heartbroken over this revelation and Sam Allberry’s disqualification. We are praying for Immanuel Church, everyone affected, and Sam.”
Allberry built a ministry around describing himself as same-sex attracted while remaining celibate. That framework became influential across conservative evangelical networks.
Allberry’s other affiliations included Living Out, a group he co-founded; the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics in Britain; and the Anglican Church in North America, where served as a canon theologian.
TRR contacted all three groups for comment, but the British organizations were observing a national bank holiday on May 4.
ACNA executive director Kate Harris, in an email, said Allberry is still affiliated with the denomination: “Only a formal disciplinary charge and/or sentencing affects a priest’s ordination status within the ACNA,” she told TRR.
Harris said Allberry “is in regular communication with his Bishop, The Rt. Reverend Clark Lowenfield, who leads the Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast, covering Texas and Louisiana. She said Lowenfield “indicated he plans to issue a statement” later on Monday.
Allberry authored four books published by Crossway Books in Wheaton, Illinois, and was a contributor to the upcoming “ESV Applying the Gospel Study Bible for Men,” due for release at the end of July. The publisher also has 36 articles by Allberry on its website.
Crossway did not immediately respond to a request for comment about what will happen to the forthcoming study Bible, or Allberry’s other books.
Allberry was also featured on 18 episodes of the FamilyLife Today radio program and published a guest article on the FamilyLife website. FamilyLife is a ministry of Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ.
“In response to the conduct Sam Allberry has acknowledged, Cru and FamilyLife are removing all guest content featuring him from our platforms and radio archives,” the organization told TRR via email Monday. “Such conduct is inconsistent with the biblical convictions our ministries teach and uphold.”
Cru officials said Allberry did not contact them, nor did they reach out to him after the news broke.
Allberry also previously worked for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
The RZIM organization faced its own sexual misconduct scandal while Allberry was on staff there. He addressed it in a Christianity Today podcast hosted by Russell Moore, a minister-in-residence at Immanuel Church Nashville.
Moore did not immediately respond to TRR’s comment request.
Allberry’s teaching repeatedly emphasized confession. He argued churches must create space for honesty about sin.
In a 2024 ChurchLeaders podcast interview with Ed Stetzer, he said, “We want our churches to be places where it’s safe to confess any kind of sin.”
Allberry added, “When it comes to an issue like same sex attraction … we do want people to know it is a sin. It’s something to be confessed.”
He framed confession as central to Christian life.
“Cultural authenticity is me saying, here are all my flaws. It’s just the way I am. You’ve got to accept it,” he said.
“Whereas a biblical confession is me saying … these are the areas where I recognize I’m not … as I should be in God’s sight,” he said.
He also drew a distinction between temptation and sin. That distinction formed a core part of his teaching.
This article was originally published by The Roys Report.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.