According to recent reports, multiple elders at Gateway Church, a megachurch based in Southlake, Texas, after a scandal from earlier this year. The move follows a fourth-month investigation into the church after allegations surfaced against founder Robert Morris, claiming he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a minor over several years in the 1980s.
The removal of the elders was announced during a service at Gateway Church this weekend, during which Elder Tra Willbanks explained the investigation from the law firm Haynes & Boone into the allegations against Morris. The founder of Gateway Church had previously resigned and stepped down from the ministry he founded in June.
Willbanks said on Sunday, “We now know that there were elders and employees at Gateway who knew before June 14, 2024, that Cindy was 12 at the time of the abuse. Both groups are fundamentally wrong and simply cannot and will not be tolerated at Gateway Church.”
The church leader explained that there were several elders who knew about the allegations before they were made public or “failed to inquire further” about them. These individuals were removed. “We have decided to draw a very bright line here based on biblical and moral values and the values of our church family, and we can report to you that as of today, no individual in either group serves as an elder, is employed by or works at Gateway Church. They have been removed,” Willbanks continued.
For context, the allegations against Morris were brought forth by 54-year-old Cindy Clemishire, who accused Morris of sexually assaulting her for over four years beginning on Christmas Day 1982 when she was 12. “What happened to Cindy was heartbreaking and vile, and we denounce any sexual abuse in all of its forms,” he stated. “We feel deep sorrow for those who have been victimized by such despicable actions, but I do want to take a minute, and I just want to appreciate Cindy for her bravery and for telling her story for helping bring some awareness to this issue. She has positively impacted countless lives.”
Morris had supposedly confessed to the sinful relationship in the 1980s. However, Willbanks said, “According to this version, Robert confessed his sin to apostolic leaders in the late 1980s, many years before Gateway Church was formed. He stepped down from ministry for two years and then was restored back into ministry with the blessing of those same apostolic leaders. We as a church knew what our former senior pastor had shared publicly. Many people, including myself, simply believed his version of the story.”
“On that same evening of June 14th, Robert Morris directed Gateway employees to release a statement that intended to minimize the severity of Cindy’s claims in one final attempt to hide the truth,” Willbanks said. “As you know, our Gateway Church family was rocked by these revelations. Over the next 48 hours, the elders were able to independently verify critical elements of Cindy’s story, enabling us to move swiftly to confront Robert Morris. When we insisted on meeting with him, he immediately resigned. Despite his resignation, we knew that further investigation was needed.”
Featured image credit: Jared Stump, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gateway_Church_NRH.jpg