With last weekend’s resignation of Elder David Leventhal & Elder/Sr. Pastor Todd Wagner – it seems all is not well at Watermark Church. Members received the news of Leventhal’s resignation a month after he tendered it, adding to the suspicion that a months long process of dealing with Wagner’s ‘pride problem’ appears to be more than what has been disclosed to the church.
I was contacted by a CURRENT member of Watermark, who has expressed concerns over the upsetting leadership changes. Over the course of the last year, 2 elders have resigned and one phased off to a new church when Watermark Plano became City Bridge Church.
Leadership at Watermark is in a crisis. Here is a timeline of events starting with June of last year:
- June 30, 2020 – Elders at WCC are: Todd Wagner, Beau Fournet, Brian Buchek, David Leventhal*, Mickey Friedrich & Kyle Thompson (6)
- July 1, 2020 – Watermark’s Fort Worth Campus transitions to autonomous church – retains name of ‘Watermark Dallas’; no elder changes
- September 6, 2020 – Todd Wagner steps back as senior pastor/elder, citing the sins of ‘pace & pride’. Says there is no disqualifying sin. Watch the video here.
- Sept 2020-Jan 2021 – There are 21 services with elder David Leventhal delivering 8 of the sermons. He is considered the primary speaker during this time.
- January 1, 2021 – Watermark Plano transitions to autonomous church, changes name to City Bridge Church. Elder Brian Buchek leaves main Watermark Campus to become an elder.
- January 24, 2021 – Todd Wagner returns as senior pastor/elder. (see this video); receives standing ovation
- February 20,2021 – Beau Fournet announces he is resigning as elder. No reason is given except that he wants to spend time with his family. (Click here to see the video of the announcement)
AT THIS POINT IN THE TIMELINE-WATERMARK NOW ONLY HAS 4 ACTIVE ELDERS
- March 26, 2021 – David Leventhal tenders his resignation as elder. There is no church-wide announcement made
- April 17, 2021 – Todd Wagner tenders his resignation as senior pastor/elder
- April 24, 2021 – Around 7:30 pm, Watermark members receive a text message informing them that that the next day’s services (Sunday 4/25) will NOT be live-streamed. Members are encouraged to attend in-person.
- April 25, 2021 – Announcement is made during services that elder David Leventhal & senior pastor/elder Todd Wagner have resigned. Leventhal states he resigned due to an ‘erosion of trust’ in Wagner & his ability to remain the senior pastor. (click HERE for Leadership Update with video)
There are now only two active elders at Watermark Church. According the the church governance document, there must be a minimum of THREE elders:
“The Elders shall be comprised of not less than three (3) nor more than ten (10) men.”
*also on Pastoral Staff
Elder Led Congregation
Watermark Community Church is an elder-led congregation.
In layman’s terms, that means all decisions concerning the governance of the church are made by the elders, not by the members. There are no congregational votes nor do individual members have a ‘say’ in how things are handled. When you become of a member of Watermark, you are acknowledging that the church is elder-led, and therefore you do not have ‘voting power’ in the church. You are trusting that the elders will do the right thing. What happens when the elders are acting in secrecy and most likely, NOT in the church’s best interest? Not much, probably.
There are formal procedures for removing an elder, but in all likelihood, it would be difficult for the average church member to be privy to or part of that process in any way.
REMOVING AN ELDER
Removing an elder requires a unanimous vote:
“No person can be removed as an Elder except for just cause as determined by a unanimous vote of the Elders (exclusive of the Elder whose removal is being considered).”
According to the WM ‘governance’ page, an elder can be removed for the following reasons:
“Just cause includes, but is not limited to: an Elder being under the care and correction referred to in Article II – Section 4 of this document; events that would disqualify him as set forth in this Article IV – Section 2; or behavior, schedule or stage of life the affects his ability to maintain biblical community with the other Elder members. If any Elder fails to maintain biblical community with the other Elder members, he should be informed and asked to make immediate adjustments to his schedule or voluntarily resign his office. The Elders will accept the written resignation of an Elder whenever submitted.”
When the elder who resigns or is removed is the Pastoral Elder, the other Elders decide whether or not to make an announcement to the church. They are not OBLIGATED to, however.
REMOVAL OF THE PASTORAL ELDER
“When the Pastoral Elder resigns or is removed by the Elders, the Elders may call a meeting to inform the congregation of the reasons for the removal or resignation, so far as is honoring to God, the Pastoral Elder, and the congregation.”
Notice that ‘if’ an announcement of the Pastor Elder is made to the congregation, it comes with a caveat – it will be scripted for the masses to protect the Pastor Elder & church’s reputation. This is why there was virtually no reason given for Todd Wagner’s resignation and the ‘erosion of trust’ that had occurred between him & Leventhal. The elders don’t owe the members an explanation and they aren’t going to give one.
The Leadership Update Statement video posted to Watermark Church’s website on Sunday afternoon offered a LOT of ‘unspoken’ information. David Leventhal looked stiff and stricken as Todd Wagner leaned in to rub his back during Leventhal’s statement. But what you’ll want to notice is at the 24:00 min mark – Todd, with a smirk on his face, tapped Leventhal twice on the leg when elder Kyle Thompson said “no elder has been asked to step down at Watermark“.
I believe Wagner was inferring that there was not a unanimous vote to remove him as an elder, and he’s getting in a jab at Leventhal. Wagner more than likely did something that would require his removal, but instead decided to ‘resign’ to maintain his reputation. Watching the panel of men on that stage was painful – painful because I know they weren’t there to tell the truth. They were there to put the best possible spin on a very bad problem that they were tasked with covering up.
Here's how the spin cycle works
When I worked for multi-site mega church some years ago, I had a front row seat to how information is disseminated to the congregation. My first experience was at my new employee orientation, when I was told that employees were not permitted to speak to the media about church business. If I were to receive a call or email from the media, I was instructed to forward to the communications department, as they handled all PR business for the church. After a couple of promotions, I found myself working in a department that was privy to very sensitive and confidential information. It was during this time that I witnessed something that caused me to lose a tremendous amount of respect for the church leadership.
The church had made a some bad personnel & business decisions, and in order to explain this to the congregation, the story went through the ‘spin cycle’, as I call it. I watched as the senior pastor delivered this heavily scripted speech to the congregation in such a way as to make them believe that what had happened was actually GOOD and would further the kingdom of God. It was quite brilliant, actually. It was also a lie. The senior pastor stood on stage, and with a straight face – lied to the congregation about what had actually happened.
I share this story because I think it’s important for people to take off their rose-colored glasses when it comes to church business – because it IS a business. If your church employs 10 or more employees…you are running a business. Because many livelihoods depend on the salary that the church is paying them, and when the salaries of the employees make up (on average) 50% of the budget, there is a reason to spin stories to the congregation. TO KEEP THE MONEY COMING IN.
Watermark Members – This very reason is why you will likely never get an honest account for what happened with your elders & Todd Wagner. You have entrusted the leadership (by being a member of an elder-led congregation) to make those decisions for you. Those decisions include protecting the reputation of the church so as to not SPOOK YOU – the giving unit – from withholding your tithe. If the church designates upwards of 50% of the yearly budget to salaries, they will do everything in their power to massage the message in order to keep you giving. It’s a fact – it’s not pretty – it’s not spiritual – IT’S JUST BUSINESS.
A member speaks
*Jennifer (pseudonym) reached out to me because she had concerns about the ongoing leadership issues at Watermark, and Sunday’s announcements were deeply troubling to her. She loves her church, her community group and the relationships she has developed at Watermark – but the nagging feeling that something wasn’t right caused her to reach out.
When *Jennifer received that text message that the services were NOT going to be live-streamed the next day, she was alarmed. She knew that the announcement probably wasn’t going to be positive.
*Jennifer is part of community group that is well connected with the ministries and some staff in the church. She said everyone was caught by surprise by the announcement, which she found to be strange. How could NO ONE have known this was coming?
After the announcement was made, *Jennifer reached out to a very trusted staff member and friend on the community team, She asked, “Why I should trust my elders? “ She was told that is what she is expected to do – trust the elders. She stated to me that Watermark has always said, “We will never tell you to show up, shut up, and pay up.”, yet that was EXACTLY what she was being instructed to do. In an email exchange with one of the elders following the resignation announcement, *Jennifer challenged the elder as to why the same level of transparency that is supposedly a hallmark of Watermark’s teachings is not being used in regards to Todd Wagner’s and David Leventhal’s resignation? She was told that because WM is an elder-led church, decisions about what information is given to congregation is at the discretion of the elders, which in this case, involves details that cannot be shared publicly.
In other words – JUST TRUST US AND DON’T ASK QUESTIONS – BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER GET THE TRUTH ANYWAY.
She was also cautioned against looking for other reasons (scandal) surrounding Wagner’s resignation, which of course translates to – we have something to hide, so don’t start digging around for answers.
The glaring question remains – what caused Leventhal’s ‘erosion of trust’ in Wagner’s ability to lead the church?
*Jennifer also related to me some interested facts as to the beginnings of Watermark. In 1998, Todd Wagner was on staff at Northwest Bible Church. His success at a teacher was such that the leadership decided they wanted Todd to be the lead pastor, instead of Howard Clarke, who was the lead pastor at that time. As most church splits go, the guy with all the support wins and usually ends up taking some of the congregation along with him to start a new church. That’s how Watermark was started – a good ol’ classic church split. It’s a story as old as the church itself. She wasn’t sure how much Todd was involved in the actual situation, but I’ve seen enough church splits to know that he more than likely took advantage of the opportunity as it was presented to him.
WHAT IS GOOD FOR THEE IS NOT GOOD FOR ME
It appears that Todd Wagner was put under formal church discipline sometime in 2020. This is evidenced by *Jennifer’s interaction with a prospective elder last Sunday. She was told that elder David Leventhal was ‘instrumental’ in Todd’s church discipline last year.
Why was Todd Wagner put under church discipline?
Like I stated above, Watermark Church prides itself on being ‘authentic’ and ‘transparent’, yet the senior pastor was under church discipline and NO ONE KNEW.
Pure speculation – but could the circumstances of Todd’s need for discipline be the reason for the ‘erosion of trust’ that Leventhal expressed in his statement?
Of course the members DESERVE answers, but the church does not OWE them answers. They can ask and ask away, but the church will never tell them the truth behind what happened with David Leventhal & Todd Wagner. They simply don’t have to.
Where does this leave the members? Well, they can decide to believe the smoke & mirrors story that was presented to them and go about their lives, ignoring the glaring issues with their leadership -OR- they can walk away from Watermark Church and take their money with them. Those are the only two choices the members have.
I feel for *Jennifer and all of the members who are confused, perplexed, and even angry over what is happening with the leadership at Watermark Church. It is a very difficult thing to invest your life and effort into a church, only to find out that you are not being told the truth. It reminds me of a quote from the Netflix series ‘The Crown’, (S1 E7) where the Queen Elizabeth tells Winston Churchill:
“There are two elements of the Constitution – the efficient and the dignified. The monarch is the dignified and the government, the efficient. These two institutions only work when they support each other, trust one another.”
The leadership and the congregational members of a church are in a relationship of TRUST – the leaders are ENTRUSTED to lead well, honestly, and transparently. The congregation responds to that leadership with their TRUST in them. If there is no trust, it is unsustainable. When trust has been broken, it is very difficult to regain. Only through transparency and truthfulness can it be restored.
Cryptic Tweets
Todd Wagner took to social media rather quickly after the announcement with a couple of tweets that could best be described as – well – odd.
Developments at Kanakuk
Todd Wagner’s relationship with Kanakuk goes back decades. He worked there for 10 years and most recently was on the teaching faculty at Kanakuk Institute. I was told Todd & Joe White are long time friends. In light of the recent events surrounding the massive sexual abuse cover-up at Kamp Kanakuk, it would be hard to believe that Wagner was not aware of what went on there. David & Nancy French wrote these recent articles about the cover-up at Kanakuk, specifically by CEO Joe White.
They Aren’t Who You Think They Are
Kanakuk Kamps Tried to Punish a Victim’s Family for Refusing to Sign a Non-Disparagement Agreement
New Witnesses Allege Kanakuk Kamps Tried to Cover Up Child Sex Abuse
I discovered this week that the faculty and Board of Director pages at Kanakuk Institute had been taken down.
Why were the webpages deleted? What is going on over at Kanakuk Institute? Is there a connection to Wagner’s resignation?
What’s next for Todd Wagner? The world is his oyster at this point, I suppose. No doubt he resigned with a nice compensation package. I mean, how is he going to pay the taxes on his $1.5 million dollar home in Highland Park?
I suspect he already has his next venture in process and predict that will see him resurface soon in a new ministry.
You are cancerous tool and an incessant blow hard. You state your own speculations as fact when you know nothing but here say. You repeatedly emphasize that Watermark members themselves are in the dark, yet you clearly see what happened, oh you of impeccable discernment. Your assessment was written neither in the interest of the healing of our church nor the restoration, reconciliation, or edification of anyone one involved. You seek only to hand down your pretentious opinion from your lofty cloud of arrogance. May your spiritual blindness produce physical blindness, may your blindness lead to deafness, may deafness mute… Read more »
I’m really bummed about everything that has happened to WMCC, over the last two and a half years. Reading about this pains me. I was a member and was in a community group for about three years before moving to Mesquite. I did my membership renewal I think 3 times. I never had any issues with Todd, he said some pretty bold stuff but who doesn’t. It was nothing that hit me in foul territory. My roommate invited me to go to his church on my first day living in Dallas, he was a Watermark member. I found this website… Read more »
Once again, male led leadership with no real accountability. The “Elders are in charge” is always a dangerous structure because if they fail, the whole thing fails. People diss denominational churches and yet, they have very specific ways of church oversight which begins with a board of church members who are elected by the congregation to be their representatives. The pastor may facilitate the board meetings and be the spiritual guide for the church, but the business of the church is handled by the board. The pastor is held accountable by the board and by the Personnel committee, again, an… Read more »
I can share some interesting happenings which coincide with Todd’s comment to the congregations at this time regarding “getting them their inheritance” and a former volunteer/member being drugged and hypnotized in a hidden game being played with peoples lives who do not know they are in a game, which is intended to be a fund raiser for certain churches. And the belief there is some connection to sexual activities being the reason the person was drugged and hypnotized both so they would not have memory of the events along with a belief whatever went on must have been outside the… Read more »
I attended WCC for 7 years. I served in an area behind the scenes and closely watched the people and staff at WCC. After Todd was placed on discipline I left. Here are some of my observations and reason why I don’t see myself going back to WCC or a church run by only elders. For reference, I am a person of color and grew up in an Evangelical spirit filled church. In the mega Evangelical churches that I worked at who the senior pastors were the biggest divas ever (you were not allowed to look or speak to them).… Read more »
“the Elders not being transparent about those reasons goes against what the church proclaims and does in the CGs”
This is exactly it. You are supposed to bare your soul, everything that you do and think wrong to your CG without hesitation. But the leaders don’t have to do so? What a crock and I can’t believe more members can’t see this hypocrisy.
What a total crock. Your need to create drama beyond what exists is gross.
Todd Wagner you really should’ve changed BOTH names before posting
That’s just the dumbest thing ever. Look me up on Facebook scooter. I’m real.
I left WM in 2016 after a grueling process of trying to reach out for help in a homeless situation when WM church had always claimed that no member of the church would ever go homeless. Lol. I definitely had my part to play in my situation but can definitely confirm that WM church will write you off if you can’t fix yourself first. I’m willing to tell my story if anyone wants to hear it. Hisforever333@yahoo.com
You article is spot on. You don’t resign from the mega church you started over pride. Either a class action lawsuit, detrimental to the financial stability of the church was in the wings, or Kanakuk is expanding. No way all that abuse was held in silence. The people of Watermark are to blame. You don’t raise up demigods and then expect for them to not abuse you. When you really begin to think you are all that and a bag of chips, the narcissist wolf in sheep’s clothing just moves on to the next gig, leaving the dim witted parishioners… Read more »
I’m late to the game on this one, but better than never, eh? Therefore, a six-month later response to your comment. True, no founder of any church — much less a mega-one — ever steps back to “work on his sin of pride.” And then… just three months later — over the holiday season, don’t you know? — magically come back to one’s position as Senior Pastor — or whatever title for the top-dude is — completely “fixed.” LOL! Moreover, regarding pride, who decides when one has overcome it, or displays sufficient humility to return to one’s job? Hahaha! What… Read more »
Weird. So he’s back. The bleed of $ must have been more than they wanted to bear. All of it is really so far from where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ walked. It so confuses the horizon that our world continues to spin out of control because of no presence of the Body of Christ in the culture. The fat cats have their own millions, all from the pockets of the sheep, and They aren’t doing anything to draw fire. Yet, little kids go to bed hungry in our nation and don’t Have heat or air. THAT is for… Read more »
What do you mean by: Weird. So he’s back. The bleed of $ must have been more than they wanted to bear.
Are you saying Todd’s back?! On staff?? Or head-dude????? What?
I could tell this pastor Todd asshole was full of pride the second I saw one of his “10 min hits”:or whatever his little 10 min. Videos were called where he address an issue that a member has supposedly asked him to address like Breast implants” or “yoga pants”! Because you know, Jesus was all about Lycra! During the yoga pant discussion he implores women to think about why they would want to wear comfortable, stretchy pants during exercise and what message that is sending…apparently he believes you are trying to be super sexual, prideful, etc. All during his admonishment… Read more »
What an eye rolling comment this is.
The way they said things brings more questions than they want. Why not Leventhal simply say “I do not believe God is calling me to be an Elder in this church any longer”, or Wagner say “I believe God is calling me to step aside as Pastoral Elder, so that He can do a ‘fresh work’ in this body through a new leader”. I wonder if the purpose is to see who is going to “ask too many questions” and needs to be placed under “church discipline” for “failure to submit to the Elders” (poor Jennifer*). Thereby culling the herd… Read more »
You’re right — things could have been handled completely differently, as you suggested, for example, but weren’t. Why not? In having this “special meeting” for WM members and the scripted performance by the men on stage, the whole nine yards smacks of fire. Maybe they realize whatever it is may become public knowledge, and they don’t want to appear like they didn’t address it by taking the road you suggested. And why would it be so bad if it became public knowledge? Lawsuits. They’re laying the groundwork for potential future lawsuits against WM. At least, that’s how they’re making it… Read more »
The issue isn’t elder-run…all churches are “elder run” (you just may have different names for the elders. In traditional congregationalist churches, there is only ONE elder (the pastor). Watermark is a hybrid congregational/Presbyterian model, which is what most “Bible” churches are. The issue is lack of upstream authority. The pastors/elders have no one holding them accountable. So, no presbyteries, no bishops, no church courts or councils. So, you get massive cults of personalities. It goes with the territory.
Personally (and this admittedly is fraught with problems too), give me bishops (and I am a Presbyterian!).
Nice article, very well-written.
Not all churches are Elder lead…for all their screwiness since the conservatives took over, Southern Baptist churches are congregation lead. There are deacons, but they are accountable to the congregation, as is the pastor. The individual churches own or lease their buildings and land, not the denomination. The downsides this type of organization in a church is as you note…it opens the situation up to being taken over by a “cult of personality “ as we have seen numerous times.
I recently left an “Elder-Rule” church. Though the two elders of the church I left are (as far as I know – and I consider both to be friends) good guys who haven’t done anything even remotely close to being disqualified, I found the lack of independent accountability unacceptable. I didn’t read the bylaws until about 6 years in, and then it was like a lightbulb went off. There’s simply no independent accountability – these leaders appoint themselves and are accountable to themselves – no one else. Our non-profit laws allow this to happen – go ahead and form a… Read more »
Excellent post! https://twitter.com/edenelsewhereno/status/1388881818422845447?s=21
Baptism not required for membership? An infallible bible – but only in the “original manuscripts”? A cursory reading of the website convinces me that Watermark is not a Christian Church.
Most Evangelical churches hold to infallibility in the original manuscripts only. They recognize copying errors over the years. The IFB crowd is the exception due to their KJV-only stance, believing it to be the “preserved Word of God”.
Interesting article, thanks.
This article makes me sick in two different ways. The celebratory tone the writer has towards the fall of this Church. As true Followers of Christ, not as Cultural Christians, it should sadden us and break our hearts. We should usher in prayer for any Church against Spiritual Warfare not write blogs to get noticed or have an “uh huh see” moment for ourselves. The second way this makes me sick is what the truth might be behind it all. I hate to see fallible people fall but we all do, we ALL do. I breaks God’s heart, therefore it… Read more »
Given that this church is becoming indistinguishable from Scientology (in terms of practice), maybe it needs to fall.
Thank you for giving us a perfect example of bearing a false witness. Speaking of pride……..
Hi Derek – Nothing in this post is untrue, and was provided by a MEMBER of Watermark. I would like to know your thoughts on why Todd Wagner is now no longer listed as Elder Emeritus & his son Connor is no longer on staff? Also he has been removed from Kanakuk Institute faculty page?
Didn’t the ‘leadership’ say on stage that things were great with Todd and that he was going to be Elder Emeritus and work with Dave Leventhal in that capacity? Sounds like you need to look at the glaring issues with WM leadership.
You reported the facts mostly but do you feel free of the ability to put your own spin and bias on the facts? There has been absolutely nothing anywhere indicating that Todd was caught up in the Kannakuk scandal but you heavily implied that he was. Heres a thought, perhaps Watermark is healthier than you think which is why Todd was asked to step back in the first place for something as simple as pride(a huge issue for a senior pastor). I am a member of WCC and I too had issues with feeling like we weren’t getting the full… Read more »
“Indistinguishable from Scientology” seems hyperbolic. Watermark member here. I’m very happy to say that has not been my experience at all.
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
This post isn’t “corrupting talk”, it’s warning people about an abusive congregation.
I agree
Excellent. Well done Anna. This saddens deeply me but doesn’t surprise me. I learned some difficult lessons during my time there and still believe that there are many great things being done there. But the leadership model MUST change because once trust is lost it is hard to get back. My trust was broken and this further confirms it was justified. Prayers for my many friends still there and for what is to come. God can fix this but many proud and arrogant men will have to humble themselves (hopefully by choice and not by indictment) and get out of… Read more »
I did hear a lot of them are training for full time prison ministry
There is no big secret. No huge scandal. Todd Wagner is telling the truth. He is prideful. What does this mean? He has spoken to people in a prideful and ugly manner unbecoming of a pastor on a more or less regular basis. That’s all? His position depends on maintaining Godly relationships with family, friends and at work. If one can not release temperament to the Lord and trust Him for all things … then eventually all will deteriorate. He was not held accountable over the years, even though he preaches full accountability toward the community groups. This again is… Read more »
He abused his position. He called an employer of a member who was having marital problems and possible affair. Totally inappropriate.