(RNS) — Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts, co-leader of the Dallas megachurch founded by her father, Bishop T.D. Jakes, is recovering after suffering a neck fracture that she said almost paralyzed her in mid-April.
Jakes Roberts, 37, a popular conference speaker, author and co-senior pastor with her husband at The Potter’s House church, posted on social media that she was injured during an accident while playing with her daughter on a trampoline and was hospitalized.
“Last night was scary. I was almost paralyzed, but God didn’t see fit to let that be my story,” Jakes Roberts said in identical posts on Facebook and Instagram on April 19. “I was playing a game with my Ella on the trampoline and landed on my neck. Instantly, I heard several pops in my neck.”
On Sunday (April 26), Pastor Touré Roberts, her husband and co-senior pastor at The Potter’s House, expressed his concern for his wife.
“I love Sarah with all my heart,” he told T.D. Jakes as they began a previously scheduled on-stage discussion at the church about Roberts’ soon-to-be-released book “Knowing: The Journey to Certainty in an Uncertain World.”
“It is absolutely impossible for me to be OK when she is not. So I’m not OK, I’ll be honest with you. I’m not OK. But I am well, well in the sense that I’m grateful to God for delivering her and saving her,” he said.
Pastors Sarah Jakes Roberts, left, and Touré Roberts. (Video screen grab)
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Jakes summed up what he called the start of a “difficult several days” for their family.
“In case you don’t know, Pastor Sarah was playing with the kids on the trampoline, bounced up on the trampoline, came down from the trampoline, hit her neck, pretty much broke her neck, crushed — the doctor used the term ‘crushed’ — her neck,” he said.
He recounted the family’s wait for word on his daughter’s prognosis.
“There we sat for hours and hours waiting to get some determination as concerning her well-being and her mobility or whether she might ultimately pass away,” he said.
In her social media posts, Jakes Roberts said she had to travel to a second hospital for treatment.
“One disc up or one disc lower, and this would’ve been a different testimony,” she said. “Instead, I’ll be wearing this brace for 4-6 weeks to keep my neck stable and avoid further damage. Rest and recovery will give my body a chance to heal.”
@realsarahjakesrobertsLiving in the tension of gratitude and pain. Allowing myself to move slowly and be held. Grateful that though fragile, I haven’t been alone. ❤️♬ оригинальный звук – Itsmemoldir
In a news release dated April 20, The Potter’s House said Jakes Roberts “is currently under strict medical guidance and is expected to make a full recovery in time.” It described the incident as an accident, said she was “in strong spirits” and noted that some of her upcoming engagements might be shifted.
“Surrounded by family, leadership, and an incredible care team, Pastor Sarah is focused on recovery and looks forward to returning in due time,” the church stated, expressing gratitude for the prayers and encouragement it has received.
Jakes Roberts and her husband were installed as co-senior pastors on July 6, months after her father suffered a massive heart attack in front of his congregation in November 2024.
The leadership transition for Jakes also came months after lawyers filed a defamation lawsuit on his behalf on the day after he fell ill. The suit argued Pennsylvania minister Duane Youngblood had falsely accused Jakes of attempted sexual assault. In October 2025, Jakes informed the Pennsylvania federal district court where the case was filed that it had been voluntarily dismissed “by consent of all parties” involved in the litigation.
Jakes’ daughter and son-in-law previously were pastors of ONE LA, a California-based ministry that is part of The Potter’s House.
In an hourlong sermon the Sunday before her injury, Jakes Roberts preached about the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth and concluded with a prayer that mentioned people dealing with changes in their physical bodies.
“Lastly, I want to pray for those of you who are in this room and you can’t show up in your body the way you used to,” she said, as she walked back and forth on the stage. “You have equated strength with your physical presence and discounted what God can do in your current condition.”
In 2023, Jakes Roberts was named to the Time100 Next list of up-and-coming leaders. She hosts a Woman Evolve conference that has drawn tens of thousands of women to hear her speak.
“When your father is T.D. Jakes and you follow his footsteps into the world of ministry, there’s a lot of pressure to find your own voice,” wrote producer and philanthropist Tyler Perry in the Time magazine tribute to Jakes Roberts, whom he had known for decades. “Her lived experience using the grace of prayer to find a way through personal pain and tragedy resonates deeply with so many.”
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