Reporting the Truth.
Restoring the Church.
By Mark A. Kellner
David Hughey has stepped down as lead pastor of Geyer Springs First Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, following his divorce, and will remain on staff as director of pastoral care. (Photo courtesy of gsfbc.org)
The newly divorced lead pastor of one of Arkansas’ largest Southern Baptist congregations has stepped down, saying he does not want his personal circumstances to distract from the church’s mission.
David Hughey stepped aside last month as lead pastor of Geyer Springs First Baptist Church in Little Rock. He will remain on staff as director of pastoral care, Mike Perkins, chair of the church personnel committee, told the congregation June 21.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper first reported (paywall) on Hughey’s divorce and change of role at Geyer Springs.
The church averaged 1,129 worshippers in attendance each week in 2024, according to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention’s annual report.
Hughey’s decision was announced two days after Saline County Circuit Court Judge Brent D. Houston signed a divorce decree June 19 ending the pastor’s nearly 40-year marriage to Louanne Hughey. The couple has three adult children, according to the newspaper. Geyer Springs First Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, (Photo courtesy of Google Maps)
Perkins told church members the congregation already had been informed about difficulties in the couple’s marriage.
“From the beginning, Dave’s desire has been reconciliation,” Perkins said in prepared remarks distributed to members. “From the moment this began, Dave has conducted himself with the utmost of integrity and compassion.”
Perkins said the church anticipated the divorce but that its finalization came sooner than expected. He said the church will form a pastoral search committee while its directional team arranges guest preachers.
“Based on the challenging nature of the last months and the changes discussed today, we have encouraged Dave to take some time away to process all of this personally with his family, and to allow the Holy Spirit time and space to minister to him personally,” Perkins said.
After the church’s livestream service ended Sunday, David Hughey addressed the congregation, the newspaper reported.
He recalled telling members last August that “the marriage was in significant distress.” Louanne, he said, had moved to Texas.
“We all prayed toward reconciliation. As the next several months went by, it began to be clear that reconciliation was not a consideration,” he said. “I know this is unsettling, but I feel certain my decision is led by God and best for our body.”
In an email to the newspaper, Hughey said the decision to relinquish the lead pastor role was his alone.
“I have served this church body for over 33 years, the past 10 years as Lead Pastor,” he wrote. “When it became evident that reconciliation was not going to happen, I told leadership that should divorce occur, I did not feel comfortable continuing in the role of Lead Pastor.”
He was not pressured to resign within the church, he said.
“To be clear, no one on our staff or lay leadership teams asked me to step down or suggested that I should,” Hughey wrote. “I spent a lot of time in prayer, seeking the Lord.”
He said remaining as lead pastor would have become “a distraction” despite strong support from the congregation.
“While not preaching and leading each week is something I will miss greatly, I do have the privilege of continuing to love and serve this wonderful church,” he wrote. “I will be in a role of pastoral care and ministry support.”
The divorce case began as a separate maintenance action (court-ordered financial support) before becoming a divorce proceeding. Louanne Hughey filed an amended complaint for divorce in February, alleging she was entitled to a divorce on the ground of “general indignities” and seeking spousal support, attorney’s fees and an unequal division of marital property.
Arkansas recognizes both fault-based and no-fault divorce. Couples who have lived separate and apart for 18 continuous months may obtain a no-fault divorce.
The pastor “would humiliate me, intimidate me through his words,” his wife said in a court deposition. “He would speak derogatorily about my character, and he would be emotional neglect(ful) through a lack of bonding which was ongoing.”
“This has led to my life with the Defendant being intolerable,” she testified.
David Hughey responded in a sworn affidavit filed the following day, rejecting those allegations.
“My wife’s allegations made in her statement are totally untrue, and I did not humiliate her, intimidate her, speak derogatorily about her character, and I was not neglectful emotionally at any time,” he stated.
“We may have had some disagreements and normal marital arguments throughout the marriage, but that was the extent of our problems.”
The parties differed on when they separated. Louanne Hughey testified they had lived apart since Jan. 14, 2025. David Hughey’s amended counterclaim alleged they separated on or about Aug. 4, 2025, through no fault of his own.
The June 19 decree granted the divorce, dismissed David Hughey’s counterclaim and incorporated the couple’s negotiated property settlement. Under the agreement, they divided proceeds from the sale of their marital home, agreed to sell several rental properties, divided retirement accounts and resolved responsibility for marital debts.
The Southern Baptist Convention leaves decisions about pastoral qualifications to its member churches, which are autonomous. It does not categorically prohibit divorced men from serving as senior pastors.
One of the most notable divorce cases within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination involved former SBC president Charles F. Stanley, at the time senior pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta.
He and his wife Anna separated in the 1990s, and the couple’s divorce was finalized in 2000.
Stanley, a noted broadcast evangelist whose “In Touch” programs remain on the air three years after his passing, had promised his congregation that he would step down from his position. That congregation voted to keep him, and he later served as pastor emeritus until his death in 2023.
The marital breakup caused a rift between Stanley and his son, Andy, who worked at a First Baptist Atlanta satellite congregation. Andy Stanley went on to lead North Point Ministries in the Atlanta area and later reconciled with his father.
Mark A. Kellner is a reporter based in Mesquite, Nevada. He most recently covered statewide elections for the New York Post and was for three years the Faith & Family Reporter for The Washington Times. Mark is a graduate of the University of the Cumberlands and also attended Boston University’s College of Communication.
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