After a recent health crisis in November 2024, Bishop T.D. Jakes has decided it’s time to step down from daily pastoral duties at The Potter’s House, the Dallas megachurch he founded in 1996. Jakes, born in 1957 in West Virginia, began preaching in 1979 in Montgomery, West Virginia. Over the decades, he built The Potter’s House into one of the largest and most influential churches in the United States, serving tens of thousands in person and millions online.
On April 27, 2025, Jakes publicly announced that leadership will pass to Pastors Touré Roberts and Sarah Jakes Roberts, effective later in 2025. Touré Roberts, founder of ONE | A Potter’s House Church, and Sarah Jakes Roberts, Jakes’ daughter and leader of the Woman Evolve movement, have served as assistant pastors since 2023. The Roberts family moved from Los Angeles to Dallas in 2022 to prepare for these expanded roles.
Although stepping back from daily leadership, Bishop Jakes will remain Chairman of the Board and spiritual overseer of The Potter’s House. He continues to focus on his business ventures, philanthropic activities, and new media projects, including an upcoming podcast partnership with iHeartMedia.
The leadership transition comes after Jakes’ health emergency and a recent International Leadership Summit themed “Changing of the Guard,” underlining the ongoing effort to prepare the church for the next generation.
