Religion · Cincinnati, OH Metro · August 21, 2026
Crossroads Church Suspends Founding Pastor Brian Tome Amid Misconduct Probe
Crossroads Church, a multi-site congregation based in Cincinnati with locations in Ohio and Kentucky, has suspended founding pastor Brian Tome, 60, pending an independent investigation, according to The Roys Report. In a Feb. 27 email, the church told members Tome was relieved of all responsibilities. Board chairman Brian Wells later told congregants that a man alleges Tome rubbed his crotch with a riding crop in Tome's office and said, "Oh yeah, you like that?" Crossroads investigated the same incident internally in 2024, reprimanding Tome and considering the matter resolved. The accuser returned to church leadership after Crossroads separately fired a youth minister for secretly filming women at a gym, saying he did not believe the 2024 process was fair. Leaders then hired a third-party investigator. Tome, in a video message, said he supports the inquiry: "I'm in and I'm going along with it. … The most important thing is we get to truth and we honor Jesus and the church in the midst of it." Crossroads, founded in the mid-1990s, now draws roughly 34,000 weekly attendees and is known for its men's ministry, including the "Man Camp" retreat.
Source: The Roys Report
Why Bible-Believing Christians Should Care
Scripture sets a high bar for those who lead God's people and requires that accusations against elders be handled with particular seriousness, not quietly resolved to protect an institution's reputation. Tome himself has publicly argued that leaders should welcome public accountability rather than avoid it — a standard now being tested. When a first internal review is reopened only after the accuser persists, Christians should ask hard questions about whether earlier processes were adequate, and whether large ministries can investigate their own founders impartially. This is not a doctrinal departure story, but it is a governance and accountability story that touches every megachurch model built heavily around one visible personality.
Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. — 1 Timothy 5:19-20
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