Paxton’s Hypocrisy on Display as He Attacks Others’ Faith — But Appears Not to Have Gone to Church in “Years”
AUSTIN, TX — Holy hypocrisy! Self-described MAGA faith warrior Ken Paxton, who infamously is now facing divorce “on biblical grounds,” reportedly won’t say where or if he goes to church regularly, according to shocking new reporting by the Houston Chronicle.
Paxton did not respond to questions from the newspaper and “has not said what church he attends, or if he attends one regularly.” According to Paxton’s own senior staff, he stopped going to his previous church and “hadn’t attended ‘in years.’” Paxton ally Mitch Little also said “he didn’t know where Paxton has been attending.”
Read more for yourself:
Houston Chronicle: As Ken Paxton attacks James Talarico on faith, his church remains a mystery
October 11, 2026
By Haajrah Gilani, Casey Murray
As Ken Paxton stood on stage at Vintage Church in Harker Heights last month, his son-in-law, Pastor Daniel Hayworth, prayed the U.S. Senate Republican candidate had what he needed to “continue fighting for the faith.”
That faith is more central to this year’s Senate race than perhaps any in recent memory. Paxton’s Democratic opponent, James Talarico, is a seminarian who openly talks about his Christian beliefs.
The Republican attorney general has said he’s on a God-given assignment to protect Texas from the political left, and his supporters see him as a true believer whose record pushing Christianity into public life speaks for itself.
But little is known about Paxton’s personal relationship with religion. He has not said what church he attends, or if he attends one regularly.
Democrats have chastised Paxton for his recent high-profile divorce, in which his estranged wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, accused him of adultery. Even some Christian conservatives have been disappointed by Paxton’s reticence to publicly address his actions or open up more about his faith journey.
Texas Values Action, a Christian conservative political group that has long supported Paxton, initially pulled its endorsement of him for the Senate when it said he refused to meet about his divorce.
Rick Scarborough, a former Southern Baptist pastor from Pearland who runs an organization that paved the way for pastors to bring politics to the pulpit, said Paxton had been a great ally to Christian voters, but “suddenly, he's departed” from the religion’s tenets.
“If he would make a return, then we would see the church rally to his assistance, and I, for one, would do all I could to make sure that the Christian community knew about the repentance,” Scarborough said. He has taken issue with some of the scandals surrounding Paxton’s private life, and said Paxton should address those issues directly. “But thus far, I've not been able to get Ken to do that.”
He described Paxton’s divorce and rumors about his romantic life as something that could “suppress Christians even voting.”
What Paxton has shared about his belief system reflects his conservative views. He’s said the U.S. is a Christian nation, and he’s used Christian teachings to support his political views, like his anti-abortion stances.
Paxton previously attended Prestonwood Baptist Church, a politically active megachurch in Plano affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and led by an ally to President Donald Trump, pastor Jack Graham. Paxton has not commented on his departure from the church or the exact timeframe. His longtime adviser Michelle Smith said in a March X post that he hadn’t attended “in years.” Jack Graham, who is not related to the late Billy Graham, joined U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s faith council ahead of the runoff.
In 1998, Paxton was among the founders of Stonebriar Community Church, a nondenominational evangelical megachurch in Frisco. The pastor at the time was Chuck Swindoll, an influential and well respected pastor among evangelicals who has generally refrained from bringing politics to his pulpit.
Both churches subscribe to teaching Biblical literalism, which means conveying the text as a historical record. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas, said pastors at both of Paxton’s previous churches ascribe to traditional, conservative evangelical teachings.
As attorney general, Paxton has actively pushed to expand Christianity in schools and public life. He has defended a new state law that mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools, saying they are “indisputably a cornerstone of America’s moral and legal heritage.”
“Now more than ever, these timeless principles are needed in our classrooms,” Paxton said in a statement in October 2025.
In an interview for Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s podcast, Paxton expressed that God “delivered” him from impeachment, not because he’s a great person, but “because God is sovereign and he does what he wants to do.” He’s also previously said that scientific theories about the creation of the universe, like the Big Bang, make “no sense” to him, indicating he ascribes to Christian, creationist ideas about the beginning of life.
State Rep. Mitch Little, who was a lawyer on Ken Paxton’s impeachment defense team, said Paxton visited his church, Sojourn in Carrollton, over the summer.
Little said he didn’t know where Paxton has been attending, but understood that his faith was important to him. Paxton “definitely has deep and meaningful faith,” he said. When Little was considering running for office, he said he asked Paxton for advice.
“He made it very clear to me that he relied on God to make sure that his family was provided for and that he could meet all of his work obligations at the same time he was serving in the Legislature,” Little said. “He and I have had many, many conversations about faith over the years.”
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