RED OAK (TX)
Christian Post [Washington DC]
February 24, 2025
By Leonardo Blair
Tim Somers, a youth pastor with Steven Furtick’s Elevation Church in North Carolina, was fired from his role after he was accused of engaging in inappropriate conduct with former students at Oaks Church in Texas, where he served as an intern and staff member more than 10 years ago.
“Recently, allegations were brought forward about Tim Somers’ conduct while serving at a church in Texas approximately 12 years ago,” a spokesperson for Elevation Church told The Christian Post Monday.
“As soon as Elevation learned about these allegations, we reached out to local Texas authorities and immediately placed Tim on leave. No charges have been filed. But Tim understands how impactful these allegations are for his role in ministry and we have agreed he will no longer serve on staff.”
In a statement to CP Monday, Red Oaks Police Department Chief of Police Garland Wolf confirmed that no charges have yet been filed against Somers, but he has been named in their ongoing investigation of “serious allegations that can or will impact a person’s life for many years.”
“We are still attempting to narrow down the timeline of events, the actual location of the offense(s), who may have been involved as suspects, and who may have been involved as victims. Further, the investigation is being conducted to determine what and if anything occurred on church property or in the jurisdiction of Red Oak, Texas,” Wolf said.
CP reached out to Somers for comment on the allegations. A response is pending.
The investigation of Somers is connected to last month’s firing of Jerry Nickerson from his role as the student pastor of Hope Fellowship’s Frisco West Campus after he voluntarily confessed to engaging in “inappropriate contact with a minor” 10 years earlier at Oaks Church.
Shortly after Nickerson’s confession, Oaks Church confirmed in an email sent to congregants on Jan. 11 that Nickerson’s abuse was connected to his time with the congregation.
“This week, we became aware of a situation that was disclosed by a former youth ministry intern who served at Oaks Church,” said an email to the church from pastors Chris and Cara Railey.
“[T]his former intern, who was serving as youth pastor at another church, disclosed to that church’s leadership that he had inappropriate contact with a minor who attended Oaks Youth at the time,” the email continued. “To ensure the matter is properly investigated, we quickly reported the matter to the Red Oak Police Department.”
Lt. Jason Esquibel, public information officer for the Red Oak Police Department, told The Dallas Morning News last month that a representative from Oaks Church made a report to his department. Following Nickerson’s confession and their Jan. 11 email to Oaks Church congregants, pastors Chris and Cara Railey shared more about the abuse allegations during a worship service on Jan. 19.
“We were devastated to learn this. Since that time (Nickerson’s confession) additional students have come forward to share their experiences from the same time period approximately 10 years ago. The experiences they shared with us range from inappropriate text messages to inappropriate contact between youth leaders and youth students and we immediately reported this to the authorities,” Cara Railey said. “To the Red Oak Police Department, we are very grateful for the thoroughness and the dedication that the police department has shown as we’ve given them this information.”
An Oaks Church spokesperson confirmed with CP that Somers served as an intern at the church from 2009-2011 and then worked on staff from 2011 to 2013.
Following the additional allegations after Nickerson’s confession, a source who asked not to be identified told CP that Somers had been accused of inappropriate conduct and the police had been notified. Survivor advocate Amy Smith reported last Thursday that Somers had been fired for allegations of sexual abuse.
While noting that they expect to move forward with their case soon, Chief Wolf made it clear that the investigation remains ongoing and they will be “thorough.”
“Mr. Tim Somers’s name has come up but no charges against him have been filed at this time, and as previously stated, this is an ongoing investigation,” he said.
“Our detectives are working and have been working diligently to gather facts and statements to further our investigation which we hope will lead to an ultimate resolution of the allegations against several persons. I cannot speak to what information the Oaks Church is putting out to their congregation or the public or where they have derived their information,” he added.
“These are serious allegations that can or will impact a person’s life for many years. We are doing what we need to do to seek justice for the victims, prosecute the offenders, and exonerate the innocent as maybe the case. We are scheduling meetings with persons who have come forward and we are conducting interviews and taking statements from those who want to cooperate with our investigation. We hope to move forward soon.”
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