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“Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14 (KJV)

Darrell Gilyard — Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church

A pastor who moved from church to church for years as allegations followed him, known to senior Southern Baptist leaders. He pleaded guilty in 2009, served prison time — and returned to a pulpit.

Southern Baptist Pleaded guilty (2009)

Person
Darrell Gilyard
Role
Pastor
Institution
Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, Jacksonville; earlier churches in Texas and Oklahoma
Location
Jacksonville, Florida
Status
Pleaded guilty (2009)
Sentence
3 years in prison plus 3 years' sex-offender probation; lifetime registration

Case in brief

Tier 1 · Court-proven

Darrell Gilyard pastored Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, after earlier churches in Texas and Oklahoma. Sexual allegations followed him for years; he resigned or was dismissed from at least five churches. In 2009 he pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct with two teenage girls he was counseling, was sentenced to 3 years in prison plus 3 years’ sex-offender probation, and must register as a sex offender. After prison he returned to the pulpit — at Christ Tabernacle Baptist and later Mount Ararat Baptist in Jacksonville — over victims’ objections.

The institution

Gilyard’s mentors included Jerry Vines and Paige Patterson, both former Southern Baptist Convention presidents, who knew of allegations against him. Patterson personally investigated allegations and oversaw Gilyard’s 1991 resignation from a Dallas-area church after Gilyard confessed to some allegations. The Guidepost Solutions report (2022) recorded an Executive Committee member’s account that 44 women brought allegations about Gilyard to Vines and Patterson and were, in almost every instance, reportedly shamed for it. A woman who said Gilyard tried to rape her at First Baptist Jacksonville in 1991 said Vines was dismissive and told her it would be embarrassing for her if others knew.

The record

Tier 1 · Court-proven

Status

Conviction of record (2009 plea). Post-prison ministry documented by Baptist Press and the Associated Press.

Attributed allegations — not court findings

Tier 2 · Attributed allegations

The wider allegation history — allegations across multiple churches over years, and the 44-women account — comes from the Houston Chronicle’s “Abuse of Faith” investigation, the Guidepost report, and AP reporting, and is recorded here as documented reporting, not as adjudicated fact beyond the 2009 plea.

Records requested & responses

This archive has not filed records requests in this case. The file rests on the published sources below and will be updated if court or institutional records are obtained, or if that changes.

Sources

Filed October 18, 2026, from the published sources below. Minor victims are never named or identified in this file.

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