Well-known Texas pastor Robert Morris steps down after admitting to abusing a child.
A week after acknowledging that he had molested a young girl for four years in the 1980s, a Texas megachurch pastor resigned.Earlier this week, Robert Morris, the senior pastor of the Gateway Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, announced his resignation. Morris started the church in 1999. According to the New York Times, the church has recruited a legal company to carry out an independent inquiry into the abuse, according to a statement issued by the Board of Elders on Tuesday. The allegations of assaults were first made public in a report published by Wartburg Watch, a website that specializes in revealing accounts of abuse within the Christian community, last week. Morris, 62, is not facing any criminal charges.
With an average weekly attendance of almost 100,000 people, Gateway Church, a nondenominational Christian megachurch in Southlake, Texas, is regarded by some as the largest church of its sort in the United States. Morris has advised politicians on matters of faith, such as former President Donald Trump and Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
Morris acknowledged assaulting the 12-year-old child in a statement to the Christian Post that was released earlier this week. In 1987, "this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed and repented of," he affirmed after the behavior had happened multiple times between 1982 and 1987.
"It was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong," Morris stated in the statement. He also mentioned that, with the victim's father's approval, he returned to the ministry following two years of therapy. Cindy Clemishire, the victim, has refuted reports that her father approved of Morris's return to religious worship. She has further challenged the church's assertions that it was unaware of the severity of the abuse, stating in a statement that she approached the institution for the first time with her account in 2005, as reported by the Dallas Morning News.
The church said that Morris had been "open and forthright about a moral failure he had over 35 years ago" in an internal memo that was obtained by DMN after the initial Wartburg Watch report. The church also said that the pastor went through a two-year "restoration process" that was "closely administered" by elders at Shady Grove Church in Grand Prairie, which subsequently became Gateway's Grand Prairie campus.
Church elders said they "did not have all the facts" surrounding Morris' mistreatment of Clemishire in a new statement that was made public on Tuesday.
"Regretfully, before June 14, the elders did not have all the facts of the inappropriate relationship between Morris and the victim, including her age at the time and the length of the abuse," said the press statement. "The elders had previously believed that Morris's extramarital affair, which he had frequently disclosed during his ministry, was with a young woman rather than a 12-year-old child. As church leaders, we regret not having the information that we do today, even though it happened many years before Gateway was founded."
"Regretfully, before June 14, the elders did not have all the facts of the inappropriate relationship between Morris and the victim, including her age at the time and the length of the abuse," said the press statement. "The elders had previously believed that Morris's extramarital affair, which he had frequently disclosed during his ministry, was with a young woman rather than a 12-year-old child. As church leaders, we regret not having the information that we do today, even though it happened many years before Gateway was founded."
The now-54-year-old Clemishire claims that she first encountered Morris in 1981 while the pastor was traveling as an evangelist at a youth revival in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His wife and son, as well as her family, grew close and frequently went on vacations together. When Morris was staying at Clemishire's parents' house on Christmas Eve 1982, Clemishire was twelve years old, and the abuse started.
Morris asked Clemishire to come to his room, where he touched her breasts and other intimate areas, she told The Wartburg Watch. He further warned her against telling anyone because it would "ruin everything."
According to Clemishire, the abuse persisted until 1987 on several occasions. She claimed that Morris would frequently try to have sex with her when she turned sixteen. After Clemishire told a friend about the abuse, the friend urged her to tell her parents and the abuse ceased.
According to Clemishire, the abuse persisted until 1987 on several occasions. She claimed that Morris would frequently try to have sex with her when she turned sixteen. After Clemishire told a friend about the abuse, the friend urged her to tell her parents and the abuse ceased.
In 2005, Clemishire engaged an attorney to sue Morris for therapy charges, claiming that she had spoken to him about the assault on multiple occasions. She claimed that Morris' attorney implied that Clemishire was to blame for the abuse and demanded that she sign a non-disclosure agreement. She declined.
Even though Clemishire has forgiven Morris, she believes he should still be held accountable, she told the Christian Post.
Even though Clemishire has forgiven Morris, she believes he should still be held accountable, she told the Christian Post.
"I don't think he ever should have been allowed to be in the ministry," Clemishire stated. If someone had engaged in these activities, we would never permit them to work as a teacher in a school, a childcare provider, or a doctor. And I find it really hard to accept that I'm the only one."
Morris has been taken off the leadership staff page of Gateway Church in the meantime. James Morris, the assistant senior pastor, is his son and the only employee currently classified as "senior leadership."
Morris has been taken off the leadership staff page of Gateway Church in the meantime. James Morris, the assistant senior pastor, is his son and the only employee currently classified as "senior leadership."
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