Gateway leaders face church members for first time since Morris resignation

At the first service since Gateway Church announced the resignation of senior pastor Robert Morris following allegations of sexual abuse, a church elder asked congregants to pray for Morris and his accuser as a small group of about 15 protested outside the Southlake megachurch.

Elder Tra Willbanks, at times becoming emotional, told the packed service that church elders never had the full details of Morris’ alleged abuse of a 12-year-old girl, which Morris had previously discussed as a “moral failure” and implied had been an extramarital affair with a “young lady.” Willbanks asked congregants to pray for Morris’ accuser and her family, for the entire Morris family and for Gateway Church staff and members.

While many current and former Gateway church members said they were outraged by the sexual abuse allegations that came to light recently, many also said they forgave Morris and that he had taken the proper steps to repent and redeem himself.

Morris,the founder of the Southlake-based megachurch, resigned as senior pastor Tuesday, several days after allegations that he sexually abused an Oklahoma woman when she was between the ages of 12 and 16 gained wide notice. Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, told the Dallas Morning News last weekend that Morris, a family friend, began sexually abusing her in 1982.

The News does not typically name victims of sexual abuse, but Clemishire has allowed her name to be published. Morris, 62, has not been criminally charged, and the statute of limitations for both a criminal and civil case may have passed.

Following Morris’ resignation, mention of him on Gateway’s website was removed, and his social media pages appear to have been taken down. His books were also removed from the bookstore inside Gateway’s Southlake campus.

At an all-staff meeting Tuesday, elders announced Morris’ resignation, said they did not have all of the facts regarding Morris’ inappropriate relationship with Clemishire prior to last weekend, and said they never knew her age. In a statement, elders also said they had retained the law firm Haynes and Boone to fully investigate what happened between 1982 and 1987.

But until Friday, Gateway had not directly addressed church goers regarding the allegations. An email was sent to congregants Friday afternoon, then later posted on social media.

Valentina Hansen, a Grapevine woman and Gateway attendee for two years, told The News she and many other church members were disappointed by how long it took for Gateway to make a statement. She said the church should have informed congregants about the allegations, instead of letting members find out through social media or the news.

“Lots of people tithe and give money to the church, you would expect the church to respect members enough to let us know our senior pastor committed serious crime against a young child,” Hansen said. “Gateway church could have handled it better. I think every elder needs to be investigated.”

Hansen said she is conflicted about continuing to attend Gateway. While she said the elders need to be replaced, she said many staff at Gateway are genuine followers of Christ and strive to do good within the church.

Protest at Gateway Church on Saturday

During the service, a small group of about 15 protestors gathered near Gateway’s Southlake campus entrance, holding signs with statements such as “She was 12″ and “Protect Children not Predators.”

Anita and Nicole Ishee, who joined the protest, said they attended Gateway’s Frisco campus for six years, but would no longer. They said they were shocked to hear about the allegations against Morris and said his initial description of Clemishire as a young lady when she was 12 years old were an attempt to minimize the alleged abuse.

“His response and saying, ‘Well, she was a young lady and it was a moral failure’ — it’s a crime,” Anita Ishee said. “I mean, a 12 year old is not a young lady.”

Nicole Ishee also said the church should have been more transparent with members.

“It just seemed crazy to me that a church should not inform the congregation there’s allegations,” Nicole Ishee said. “It should be understood that if someone is being investigated, you tell us.”

‘We’re still a church!’

At the Southlake campus, the church’s main campus which livestreams its sermons to the other eight campuses in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the church’s 4,000 seat auditorium was nearly full.

As the service began, Plano campus pastor Jelani Lewis walked on stage, and the congregants rose to their feet in thunderous applause.

“That’s right, we’re still a church!” Lewis said after about a half-minute of applause. “I want to say, as we begin today, first, I just want to say I’m sorry. I know that many of you have come into this place in different places. Some of you, you come in today and you’re heartbroken. Some of you, you come into this place and you’re angry. Some of you, you come into this place and your hope has never been more sure. And we’re all in different places.”

During the service, Willbanks came onstage and addressed Morris’ resignation. Willbanks said as a father of seven, what has happened within the last week extremely upset to him.

“On behalf of the Gateway elders, I really wish that I could sit down with each one of you individually and talk to you one on one,” Willbanks said. “Standing before you right now may be the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Willbanks asked congregants to put their trust in Jesus moving forward.

At the end of the service, the church announced anyone who wanted to talk to a pastor about what happened could sign up in the lobby.

Some saying goodbye

Emily High of North Richland Hills, said she has been a Gateway member for 17 years but would no longer be attending the church because of what happened. She and her friend Michelle Beatty came to the church Saturday, but said they stood in the lobby and did not go inside for the service.

High and Beatty said they wanted to see congregants’ reactions to what happened, and also see how the church addressed the situation. Now, High said she is even more mad.

“The last thing they said is, ‘If anybody has anything to say, you can sit down with the pastor with a sign-up sheet,’” High said. “No. Every pastor, every elder on staff at this campus should be at every service today and all weekend in the lobby to address it.”

High said there has been no open dialogue between the church and members, as many of the church’s Facebook pages have limited commenting and scrubbed their websites of any mention of Morris.

High said all current church leadership needs to step down for Gateway to survive.

“Everybody needs to be gone,” High said. “I don’t see how it can survive if people are on staff that have been here for years, because everybody’s going to question, ‘Well, did you know, or did you not know? There’s always going to be that question.”

Liz Oliver of McKinney, said she has attended Gateway for about eight or nine years and drove 37 miles Saturday to attend the service at the Southlake campus. Oliver said she forgave Morris and said everyone should be able to be redeemed through Christ, no matter what they have done.

“This is a church for broken people, and we’re all broken,” Oliver said. “I’m broken, but I’m redeemed. Pastor Robert, I don’t know. I don’t have all the questions, I don’t have all the answers, but I believe he’s redeemed.”

Oliver said she enjoyed Saturday’s service, but was disappointed there was no outreach to Morris.

“I was disappointed in that there wasn’t reaching out to Pastor Morris that we love you, you failed, but you know what? We love you,” Oliver said.

Several other attendees Saturday declined comment when asked for an interview by The News.