A Texas pastor accused of sexually abusing a church member is celebrated as he returns to the pulpit

The senior pastor of a Texas church returned to the pulpit three months after he turned himself in over alleged sexual assault of a female member of his church – and was warmly greeted by parishioners as he told them that he had never left his saint resigned from office.

Arlington police arrested 51-year-old Ronnie Goines in late July after a female parishioner at Koinonia Christian Church accused him of attempting to kiss and touch her during two encounters in March 2023.

Goines controversially returned to a Bible study at the Arlington, Texas, church on Thursday and another service this Sunday.

“I have been praying for this revival and have been looking forward to it for weeks,” Goines said in a video from Sunday’s service.

A hype video announcing the founding pastor's comeback showed churchgoers praying for Goines as he knelt on the ground with his arms outstretched.

“I was never fired, I never resigned from my position as pastor,” Goines told KERA, denying the allegations against him.

“It’s just something I didn’t do,” he said. “Not guilty, [I am] innocent.”

The unidentified church attendee accused Goines of kissing her neck, rubbing her legs and finally exposing her by pulling down her top, according to his affidavit obtained by WFAA.

She went back to his apartment the next day after an event at a local theater, and he again began kissing her neck and trying to remove her clothes while she repeatedly told him “no,” according to the document.

Goines turned himself in to the Tarrant County Jail in July after being charged with indecent assault and another count of sexual assault in connection with the incident

According to his arrest warrant, Goines told police that he “did not force himself on the woman in any way.”

However, the accuser gave police a recording in which the priest allegedly told her, “The bottom line is that you were uncomfortable, I caused it and I'm sorry.” Period,” according to WFAA.

Goines stopped preaching and was replaced by interim pastor James Ray Taylor after his arrest. Taylor announced his resignation last week, the outlet said.

“I love you, I honor you and I thank you because for seven weeks you did what not too many people could do. They held it down from that pulpit,” Goines told the Taylor congregation during Sunday’s service.

Goines was released from jail in July after posting $23,000 bail on the two charges, court records show.