Christian author Phillip Yancey has announced that he will step down from ministry, following an extramarital affair.

The author of What’s So Amazing About Grace and The Jesus I Never Knew has been married to his wife Janet for 55 years.

Yancey broke the news to Christianity Today, whom he has written for since the early days of Campus Life magazine in 1971.

“To my great shame, I confess that for eight years I wilfully engaged in a sinful affair with a married woman,” he wrote. “I have confessed my sin before God and my wife, and have committed myself to a professional counselling and accountability program.”

Yancey apologised to the readers of his books, adding that the affair was at odds with his views on marriage. 

“I have failed morally and spiritually, and I grieve over the devastation I have caused," he said. "I realize that my actions will disillusion readers who have previously trusted in my writing.”

“Worst of all, my sin has brought dishonour to God,” Yancey said. “I am filled with remorse and repentance, and I have nothing to stand on except God’s mercy and grace.”

Yancey has stepped down from speaking and ministry, and has also deleted his social media pages.

“I need to spend my remaining years living up to the words I have already written,” he concluded.

Janet has also released a statement, speaking of her “trauma and devastation” at the news.

Since 2023, she has acted as a carer for her husband after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

“I made a sacred and binding marriage vow 55½ years ago, and I will not break that promise,” Janet wrote. “I accept and understand that God through Jesus has paid for and forgiven the sins of the world, including Philip’s. God grant me the grace to forgive also, despite my unfathomable trauma. Please pray for us."