Just over five years ago, we published an article about a United Pentecostal Church minister in Colorado who had been alleged to have sexually abused several boys. Robert Anthony “Tony” Langston was working as a youth pastor in a large well known UPCI church, Landmark Tabernacle in Denver. He is the former pastor and founder of Tapestry Church in New Jersey, where he has been since the early 2000s, and no longer holds license with the UPCI.
Back in 2000, we made two blogs about this, though no names were mentioned at the time as no arrests or charges had been made. You may want to read Colorado United Pentecostal Sex Abuse Cases Part 3 and Colorado United Pentecostal Sex Abuse Cases Part 4 for additional information.
Tony Langston was arrested on July 23, 2025 in Colorado and charged with two CSA crimes which happened while he was the youth pastor of Landmark Tabernacle in the late 1990s. Billy Hale was the pastor and Colorado District Superintendent during the time in question. This is case number 25CR03894 in Denver County.
Instead of taking appropriate action, where Langston should have been made to forfeit his license and been reported to the police, he was permitted to retain his UPCI license for at least ten more years, all because it was internally handled by Billy Hale.
On June 29, 2025, Robert Anthony “Tony” Langston announced that as of that day he had retired from being the lead pastor of Tapestry Church in Jersey City, New Jersey, though he claimed he was not retiring from ministry. Tony stated for the past six months the church leaders have been meeting with him about this change.
The timing of Langston’s resignation came as no surprise to those of us who heard he was being investigated in both New Jersey and Colorado.
The church is now called Freedom Church Jersey City and replacing Tony Langston as lead pastor is Wade Haskins of Freedom Church. Haskins, who moved to Maryland in 1998, is also a former UPCI minister. Freedom Church has multiple locations, mainly in Maryland, but also in North Carolina, Arkansas and Nairobi, Kenya. Tony and Wade Haskins have been friends for over two decades.
Tony stated that he was not leaving the church and would continue to attend when he was not traveling. He hoped to mentor other pastors. (He and the church have been affiliated with Rod Parsley’s City Harvest Network since January of 2022.)
He also shared that he and his wife planned to go backpacking in Europe in September and were still deciding on what to do the following two months as they make this transition.
Tony’s letter to fellow pastors
On July 12, 2025, Tony Langston, or “PA” as many of the members of Tapestry Church in Jersey City, NJ called him, sent the following letter to a number of pastors. There was nary a mention or hint that he was under investigation for CSA crimes.
Dear friends,
I pray this message finds you well and blessed. I wanted to take a moment to share some personal news with you, as brothers and sisters in ministry whom I deeply cherish and respect.
After much prayer, reflection, and consideration, June 29th marked the end of my 29 years of active service in pastoral ministry.
This has not been an easy decision, but one that I believe is the right step for my family and me as I transition into a new season of ministry.
As most of you know, 22 years ago, we dreamed of a great revival in Jersey City. We declared a diverse, relevant, spirit filled community when it was just five of us in a living room . To say that God has blessed our efforts is an understatement. We stand in awe every Sunday as we watch happy hundreds vibrantly worshiping service after service.
The vision that God placed in my heart was a membership of 10,000 and 100 church plants.
We are well on our way to the first part of that vision but alas, I will not be at the helm for its completion. I recognize that I lack the skill set necessary for the growth ahead. And for that reason, I am so thankful for my dear friend Wade Haskins of Freedom Church, who has demonstrated an expertise in church planting and church growth. I’ve actually been following his lead for many years and our churches are already aligned in every way.
So Tapestry Church will become a campus of Freedom Church. Pastor Wade Haskins will become our lead pastor. Pastors Markus and Stephanie Robinson will become our campus pastors. Tanya, Brooklynn, Josh and baby Langston will remain on staff at Freedom Church Jersey City and I will attend when I am not out of town.
But the cry for church planting is still strong in my spirit. I hope in this next season to wrestle with the second half of that vision to mentor and manage church planters and pastors to see New York and New Jersey shaken with the gospel, not to mention your city should God choose to link us together.
This process started for me 15 months ago. I felt like God was transitioning me, although I didn’t know what that would look like.
In January, we started meeting with our leaders, overseers, and board to see what the next season would look like. And after much prayer, fasting and counsel I decided it was time to retire from this phase of ministry.
My primary focus after retirement will be to dedicate myself to mentoring and supporting other pastors and church leaders. I believe strongly in the importance of nurturing leadership, encouraging spiritual growth, and helping churches thrive in their mission. My desire is to be a source of encouragement, wisdom, and practical help for those who are called to lead God’s people, especially during these challenging and rapidly changing times. Phil and Darlene Bishop Driscoll prophesied to me last year that God was raising me up to show other pastors how to experience the kind of revival that we have experienced in Jersey City.
A youth culture revival with an 84% conversion rate while still maintaining a spiritual church culture with a focus on emotional healing. I hope that is true. I claim it in Faith. I do love the body of Christ!
All that said, I intend to take a brain break for the next several months. Do some traveling. Rest. Breathe. And Inquire of the Lord and really seek His face about the future. Please keep me in your prayers.
Thank you for your friendship
Love
Anthony Langston
Freedom Church Scrubs Social Media
Not long after Tony’s resignation, the church hid the video of his retirement announcement service and then later they temporarily hid their YouTube channel, brought it back up after they’d scrubbed it, changing the playlists and video descriptions. They have hidden other videos.
They also changed the links for the church Facebook Page and Instagram accounts, and the website, along with removing many posts which mention Tony or show his picture or videos.
More information will be shared in future articles.
I originally posted about this on June 23, 2025, June 29, 2025 (includes video clips from his retirement service), July 24, 2025 and July 27, 2025 on our Facebook Page.
You will find a complete list of articles in this series by clicking here.
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And today the case was DISMISSED!!!!
It is important when announcing something like this to at least get a basic fact correct. This was not dismissed on February 9, but rather on February 7, 2026. It was also dismissed without prejudice, which means that he can be charged again in the future. On January 30, 2026, the State submitted a motion to dismiss in which it was stated, “After further review and investigation, the People are unable to prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt at this time.” Readers may access our Facebook post on this at https://www.facebook.com/SpiritualAbuseOrg/posts/pfbid028WomZ1vor27mwa9fPLY2Hi53YNtTCbv5HUFgN7PnjcbNSWLmQnkZLUXygYmN5ogRl
How has the weather been in Montana? Has it been stormy?