Gateway Church fires elders following investigation into sexual abuse allegations by Robert Morris

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – Gateway Church says it has removed several elders who knew about the abuse allegations against founder Robert Morris. The Southlake-based church is also cooperating with an ongoing criminal investigation.

Morris resigned from the church in June of this year after a woman, Cindy Cleminshire, alleged that Morris sexually abused her between 1982 and 1987, beginning when she was 12 years old.

Cleminshire, now 54, said she has made her allegations to Gateway Church leaders more than once.

When the allegations became public, the Southlake church's board of elders said they were unaware that the “young lady” in question may have been 12 years old.

The church hired the law firm Haynes and Boone to investigate what church elders knew about the allegations before June of this year.

According to the church, six people, including Morris, refused to speak to investigators.

The law firm said it found that there was a group of employees and elders who knew Cleminshire was 12 at the time of the reported abuse, and another group who knew about the allegations against Morris, but had no further questions presented.

The church says elders who belonged to either group were fired and other staff members who knew were not allowed to become elders.

Gateway leaders say the investigation found a “failure of culture” at the church.

“We need to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that our culture has allowed this truth to be buried for too long,” said Tra Willbanks, an elder at Gateway Church. “At some point in the past, Gateway's culture evolved into one where power was centralized and the leader at the top was surrounded by people who wanted to protect him. Some of them at any cost.”

The church says it is rewriting its bylaws and changing its leadership structure to prevent similar problems in the future.

Gateway said it found no other allegations of sexual assault against Morris.

Currently, Morris is not facing charges in connection with the sexual abuse allegations, but the church said a criminal investigation is underway.

“You should also know that Gateway Church is currently cooperating fully with an ongoing criminal investigation, the details of which we cannot share with you at this time,” Willbanks said.

Gateway says neither the church itself nor its current leadership are the subject of the criminal investigation.

The church says it received financial demands from Morris, but declined.