Gateway Church didn’t address allegations of past abuse—or “moral failure”—by its senior pastor, Robert Morris, when it gathered to worship this weekend, just a pair days after a girl who said he molested her starting at age 12 within the Eighties shared her account online.
The Southlake, Texas–based megachurch made a last-minute change in order that its executive pastor, Kemtal Glasgow, could take the stage as an alternative of the guest speaker, Albert Tate, who was scheduled as a component of Gateway’s summer series and who was himself placed on leave last 12 months by his church in California over inappropriate text messaging.
Glasgow, who said he was on his technique to church when he got the decision that he can be filling in that day, preached about patience, listening, and waiting on the Lord. His message was broadcast across Gateway’s 10 campuses, which draw around 25,000 people in-person each week. He didn’t mention Morris or any abuse allegations.
Morris, 62, founded Gateway in 2000, and it has grown to turn into considered one of the largest megachurches within the US. He also has a world following, due to his programs broadcast on Christian TV and radio. Morris formerly served as a faith advisor to President Trump and had been an advisor for Mark Driscoll’s latest church.
Nondenominational and charismatic, Gateway is considered one of the highest producers of evangelical worship music, with singer Kari Jobe having served as its previous worship leader. Gateway Worship music was streamed over 300 million times last 12 months alone. On Sunday, the congregation opened with considered one of its own hits, singing “Praise the Lord.”
Southlake’s campus pastor, Lorena Valle, also didn’t bring up the scandal when she spoke to the congregation. A recording of Sunday’s service was posted on the church’s YouTube channel. Comments were disabled.
Gateway did acknowledge the accusations in a press release to media including The Christian Post, saying the church had known of the allegations. Elders wrote that Morris had “been open and forthright a couple of moral failure he had over 35 years ago when he was in his twenties and prior to him starting Gateway Church.”
The statement got here after an Oklahoma woman, Cindy Clemishire, shared her story on The Wartburg Watch on Friday. She told the blog that Morris stayed along with her family in Tulsa while working as a youth evangelist and preacher in his early 20s and that he invited her into his room and touched her under her clothing and underwear when she was 12.
Clemishire said that the behavior continued over a four-year span and escalated to an try and have intercourse in his automotive when she was 16. Morris was married on the time and had a toddler.
In a press release to The Christian Post, Morris said, “When I used to be in my early twenties, I used to be involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a house where I used to be staying. It was kissing and petting and never intercourse, but it surely was flawed. This behavior happened on several occasions over the subsequent few years.”
According to Morris, he confessed and repented in 1987, when he was on staff at Shady Grove Church, which later became a part of Gateway. Gateway stated that Morris had been subject to a two-year restoration process, including “skilled counseling and freedom ministry counseling,” and that since implementing accountability measures, there have been “no other moral failures” in his life.
Clemishire said her father was offended at Morris when she told him in regards to the situation and that he demanded the young pastor get out of ministry. According to her story in The Wartburg Watch, she said she later sought a settlement in 2005 to assist cover counseling costs but refused the offer from Morris’s attorney because it included an NDA.
A former pastor at Gateway spoke out on X to induce the church to look beyond Morris’s alleged behavior to the larger pattern of abuse by Christian leaders.
“The cycle is one that could be a much larger picture than simply ‘moral failures’ and the controversy about ‘restoration.’ It is a cycle of uncontrolled power dynamics, and manipulation,” wrote Bob Hamp, a licensed therapist who served as the chief pastor of pastoral care at Gateway over a decade ago. “It is a cycle about belief systems within the church and the culture which set us as much as support abusive people.”
Morris hasn’t shared a response together with his congregation or on social media; he hasn’t posted since Clemishire’s story was published. CT has reached out to each Gateway and Morris for further comment.
The church has not indicated that Morris can be subject to additional review or discipline in consequence of Clemishire’s disclosure. Elders believed “the matter has been properly disclosed to church leadership” and referred to it as resolved.
The allegations are much like recent accusations against Mike Bickle, founding father of International House of Prayer Kansas City. Earlier this 12 months, a girl got here forward with allegations that Bickle began to abuse her within the Eighties when she was 14. The ministry cut ties with Bickle in late 2023 and has since closed.
In many places, the statute of limitations prevents criminal cases from going forward when victims disclose decades-old abuse, but more states—like Louisiana and Washington—are amending laws to permit civil suits from victims of kid abuse.
Experts say victims of sexual abuse often take the guilt upon themselves and can’t see themselves as victims until years later. Young women and girls have historically risked being blamed for tempting ministers; Clemishire says she was “forgiven” by Morris’s wife after the story got here to light.
Children cannot consent to sexual intercourse, nevertheless. And there’s an additional power dynamic when clergy are involved. More experts view the relationships that were once deemed “affairs” as nonconsensual and abusive.
The way we speak about abuse by pastors is important, according Hamp, the previous Gateway pastor.
“Take these three dynamics: the special leader, the mishandling of sin, and the minimizing labels laden with inaccurate implication, and all the culture will fight about who was flawed and who needs to be forgiven and in doing will leave the damaging dynamics in place. And it can occur again. And it can occur again. And it can occur again,” he said.
“Paul makes it clear that predators needs to be put out of the church. He doesn’t distinguish which of them should and shouldn’t be based on position or popularity.”
