According to a letter to members, Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco terminated Tony Cammarota this week over a “moral failure.” NBC 5’s Meredith Yeomans has more on the questions that are being raised about the firing.
Another pastor of a north Texas megachurch is out of a job.
According to a letter to members, Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco terminated Tony Cammarota on Sunday after he, “confessed to church leadership of a moral failure. He is deeply remorseful but his sin disqualifies him from serving on our staff as a pastor,” stated the letter.
They also asked for prayers and advised members to, "guard against giving the devil any foothold for more damage to our church through unnecessary speech and speculation."
The letter was obtained by Southlake blogger and advocate Amy Smith.
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“I was stunned at the warning at the end of the statement,” said Smith. “Had it just simply been a termination for moral failure, without a warning not to talk about it, I'm not sure it would've created such a public stir.”
The letter doesn't describe the nature of the ”moral failure.”
Cammarota was an associate pastor who worked at Stonebriar for 17 years.
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Last month in Southlake, Gateway Church Pastor Robert Morris resigned, admitting to “moral failure” after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl for several years in the 1980s.
“That word, moral failure, in this climate in Dallas/Fort Worth with what just happened with Robert Morris at Gateway, that term moral failure is triggering and honestly, I think it's quite tone deaf,” said Smith.
NBC 5 asked Stonebriar Community Church to elaborate on the "moral failure" and whether it involved a possible crime.
NBC 5 called and emailed the church for comment but so far, have received no response.
Cammarota didn't respond to a request for comment either.
Frisco police say there's been no report filed about the matter.
Smith questions Stonebriar's message to members.
“It’s an emotional and spiritual manipulation to tell people that if they do have questions about the moral failure, that would be giving the devil a foothold,” said Smith.
