FORT WORTH (TX)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
February 26, 2025
By Rebecca Scott
Apologist Michael Brown, who’s under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct, was honored with a standing ovation at a conference last weekend at Mercy Culture Church, where Brown serves as an apostolic elder.
In his message at the Presence Driven Church Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, Mercy Culture Pastor Landon Schott equated the allegations against Brown with “gossip and slander.”
Schott also warned pastors that an “accuser of the brethren is going after men of God that have given their lives to build the kingdom.”
Then, directly addressing Brown, who was sitting in the first row, Schott exclaimed, “Dr. Brown, we honor you! We celebrate you! And this Presence Driven Church and community of pastors is behind you!”
The approximately 1,500 pastors and attendees in the room rose to their feet cheered for Brown for nearly a minute.
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Brown has been accused of crossing physical boundaries in the early 2000s with a former secretary, by holding her hand, kissing her on the lips, and slapping her bottom.
Brown has denied any sexual component to the relationship but said he lacked judgment.
Brown also has been accused of engaging in an “inappropriate” relationship with a married congregant. Brown has denied committing adultery, but said he had an “emotional, not a physical, tie” with her.
The three-day Presence Driven conference, held Feb. 23-25, also featured Texas megachurch pastor Josh Howerton as a speaker. Howerton has been accused of plagiarism and misogynistic preaching.
Due to the allegations against him, Brown’s speaking ministry, The Line of Fire, has hired Firefly Investigators to conduct a third-party investigation. Firefly is also the group that recently investigated sexual misconduct at the International House of Prayer-Kansas City.
Brown’s board also recently required Brown to step back from public ministry during the investigation.
Brown told The Roys Report (TRR) he wasn’t a speaker at Mercy Culture’s conference, so being there doesn’t violate the “sabbatical” he’s taking.
“In keeping with my board’s request, I am continuing my sabbatical until the investigation is completed,” Brown wrote in an email to TRR. “I am attending the conference as a guest and doing no ministry as is readily apparent by the conference schedule.”
TRR also asked Brown if his role as an apostolic elder at Mercy Culture violates the board’s mandate to take time off.
“(F)rom day one, I have been in full compliance with the board’s request to take a sabbatical until the investigation could be carried out and completed,” Brown wrote in response.
The Line of Fire Board Spokesperson Jonathan Bernis told TRR in a statement, “Dr. Brown is not in violation of his agreement to refrain from ministry during the investigation. He is free to travel and seek refreshment from friends and attend any church or conference he wishes to.”
Bernis added: “He is not under ‘House arrest’ and we do not feel the need to monitor his vacations or travel. He is cooperating fully and has gone above and beyond our requests.”
Brown recently was accused of promoting his new memoir during his required time off and posting introductions to pre-recorded videos online.
Schott calls TRR ‘Jezebel Report’
Schott has recently come under fire for calling neighbors of his megachurch “evil” and “witches” and for opposing the church’s plan to build a 100-bed facility for victims of sex trafficking. When TRR published a story about the controversy, Schott came after TRR Founder Julie Roys, calling her an “accuser of the brethren.”
Schott likewise told the conference that God recently had told him the church is entering a season in which an accuser will be taking out righteous pastors along with unrighteous ones.
“I want to warn every single pastor friend that I have in this place, we are walking into a place where there’s been a demonic spirit that’s been loosed in our nation. And this demonic spirit is called the accuser of the brethren,” Schott said.
Schott said God gave him this message just a week before TRR published its article on the controversy involving Mercy Culture.
“It wasn’t a week later that a national article trying to assassinate my character comes out,” Schott said. “I was like, ‘Whoo! We were waiting for you.’ It’s called the Jezebel Report.”
Schott added, “This is the Jezebel spirit if I’ve ever seen a Jezebel spirit before. And you can hide behind PhDs . . . . You can hide behind reporters. You can hide behind whatever you want. But at the end of the day, it’s a spirit, and our battle is not against flesh and blood. We’re not battling against people. We’re battling against dark forces.”
Schott also warned pastors at the conference they could be the accuser’s next target.
“I am warning you tonight, the accuser of the brethren, it’s not just coming to Mercy Culture,” Schott said. “It’s not just coming to Dr. Michael Brown. But it’s coming to Presence Driven Churches all over America that will stand for truth in this hour.”
Julie Roys addressed Schott’s previous allegations in her recent talk at the Restore Conference. To hear that message, click the link below.