Pastor Arrested For Drunk Driving And Carrying An Unlicensed Firearm With A Minor In The Car

After being detained in Tarrant County, Texas, two days earlier on suspicion of carrying an unauthorized weapon and operating a vehicle while intoxicated with a child under the age of 15, Drew Erickson, the lead teaching pastor at Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, abruptly announced his resignation March 5.

“Over the last 12 months and more recently, it has become clear that there are things I need to work on personally, and I believe causes me to need a season of rest from the responsibilities of ministry,” he wrote in a brief resignation letter.

That letter was distributed to church members with an unsigned introduction that said: “It is with great sadness that we inform you that our lead teaching pastor, Drew Erickson, has resigned, effective immediately. We assure you that Drew was not fired and that no improprieties have occurred at TABC. We love him, as you do, and we will miss him terribly.”

Erickson was called to the role at the historic Fort Worth church in October 2019. A native of Canton, Texas, he was ordained in 2009 at Travis Avenue, where he previously served as student minister.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Dallas Baptist University and a master of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he currently is a Ph.D. candidate.

The history between Southwestern Seminary and Travis Avenue is long and deep.

The tall-steeple church is located about 2 miles from the seminary campus, and throughout the years many students, faculty and staff have been members there. Until MacGorman Chapel was built on campus, the seminary held its commencement ceremonies at Travis Avenue.

Erickson has been an adjunct preaching professor at Southwestern and has preached in chapel services there.

One of the seminary’s beloved former presidents, Robert Naylor, came to that role from the pastorate at Travis Avenue. Later, Joel Gregory was pastor at Travis Avenue before he briefly succeeded W.A. Criswell as pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas. Erickson followed Michael Dean, who served as pastor there from 1991 to 2019, until his retirement.