Robert Morris is the senior pastor at Gateway Church in Southlake, one of many largest church buildings within the nation, and has been accused by a girl of sexually abusing her from when she was 12 years previous till she was 16.
The Oklahoma lady, now in her 50s, mentioned Morris abused her on a number of events from 1982 to 1987. The allegations, first publicized Friday within the spiritual watchdog weblog Wartburg Watch, mentioned the abuse occurred in Oklahoma and Texas between 1982 and 1987. The Christian Submit printed a narrative Saturday concerning the allegations.
Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, mentioned Morris was already married with a baby when their households met in 1981. The Dallas Morning Information doesn’t usually title victims of sexual abuse, however Clemishire has allowed her title to be printed.
Morris has not been criminally charged. Lawrence Swicegood, who’s listed on the church web site as government director of Gateway Media, replied by e-mail to The Information late Saturday and mentioned, “At the moment we aren’t granting interviews or offering further statements.”
A press release reportedly despatched to church employees by elders of Gateway posted to X mentioned Morris “has been open and forthright a couple of ethical failure he had over 35 years in the past.” Based on the assertion, Morris’ restoration course of was intently administered by elders and included skilled counseling.
Listed here are 5 issues to learn about pastor Robert Morris following the sexual abuse allegations and the megachurch he based:
Robert Morris based Gateway Church in his front room in 2000
Gateway Church is a nondenominational church that’s “Bible-based, evangelistic, Spirit-empowered,” in line with its web site. Robert Morris based Gateway in 2000 in the lounge of Southlake dwelling with simply 30 folks.
Three years later, Gateway opened a 64,000-square-foot facility with a 600-seat auditorium in Southlake. Just a few years later, Gateway broke floor on its present Southlake campus, which encompasses a 4,000-seat auditorium.
In 2016, Gateway added a campus in Dallas close to Hillcrest Highway and Churchill Means. It additionally operates campuses in Frisco, Grand Prairie, Fort Value, North Richland Hills, Justin and Prosper and counts greater than 100,000 lively attendees, in line with its web site.
Morris is an creator, hosts a radio program and a TV program.
Morris has written quite a few books together with The Blessed Life; Why Hold Praying; Dream to Future; The God I By no means Knew; Really Free and his newest Grace, Interval.
He additionally hosts a radio program, Worship & the Phrase with Pastor Robert, that airs in additional than 6,800 cities, in line with its web site. His tv present, Pastor Robert Morris Ministries, airs on Trinity Broadcasting Community and Daystar and reaches 190 international locations in line with its web site. In Dallas-Fort Value, it airs on KDFW-TV (Channel 4) at 9:30 on Sundays, in line with its web site.
Morris has political ties
Through the 2016 presidential marketing campaign, Morris was named to Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory board. In 2020, Trump visited Gateway Church at its Dallas campus as a part of a visit that included a fundraising dinner. Trump and senior administration officers spoke on the church about a number of points, together with the George Floyd protests, the coronavirus pandemic and the racial disparities they uncovered.
The presidential go to introduced the nationwide highlight to the church.
On the time, Morris advised The Information he not too long ago started to speak to ministers of various ethnicities, “and to listen to the tales of those valuable women and men of God of the racism and prejudice that they confronted and that their households have confronted, their dad and mom, their grandparents, it is going to break your coronary heart.”
Gateway Church hosted a big blood drive after Morris obtained transfusions
In 2018, Morris obtained seven items of blood when he needed to have a number of emergency surgical procedures, The Information reported.
In response, Gateway Church partnered with Carter BloodCare to host neighborhood blood drives at six of Gateways campuses within the Dallas-Fort Value space.
“If the hospital didn’t have blood prepared to provide him,” his son, Pastor Josh Morris, advised the congregation in 2018, “there’s no query he would have died.”
Morris has already deliberate to step down as senior pastor.
Morris has been married to his spouse Debbie for greater than 44 years, in line with the church web site. They’ve a daughter, two sons and 9 grandchildren.
Based on the church’s web site, Morris appointed his son, James, as his successor in February 2022. Later that yr, the church elders accredited James Morris taking on as senior pastor in spring 2025. The web site states Robert Morris would stay the first speaker on the weekends.