Founder of Gateway Church in the United States, Pastor Robert Morris, has resigned following accusations of sexual abuse involving a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.
Robert Morris, the senior pastor of Gateway Church in North Texas, confessed to “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s and resigned.
Church elders approved his resignation on Tuesday, June 18.
The church has since engaged a law firm to investigate the allegations of past abuse.
A statement from the Board of Elders of Gateway Church confirmed the acceptance of Morris’s resignation.
“Regretfully, prior to Friday, 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,” the statement said.
“The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with “a young lady” and not abuse of a 12-year-old child,” it added.
The allegations surfaced last Friday on the religious watchdog blog Wartburg Watch and were later covered by The Christian Post.
An Oklahoma woman claimed that Morris abused her on multiple occasions in both Oklahoma and Texas from Christmas Day 1982 to 1987.
Before his resignation, Morris had sent an internal statement to the staff, indicating he had stepped away from ministry and sought counseling, returning to ministry two years later in 1989.
“Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area,” Morris stated.
Morris founded Gateway Church in 2000 as a ‘Bible-based, evangelistic, spirit-empowered church’ and established several locations in North Texas, including Southlake, Grand Prairie, Plano, and Fort Worth.
In 2016, Morris joined former President Donald Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board, providing advisory support on issues significant to Evangelicals and other faith-based communities.
Local politicians have reacted to the allegations. John Huffman, former mayor of Southlake, where Gateway Church has a campus, commented on the scandal.
“The scandal caused by the exposure of the sin committed by Pastor Robert Morris demands a response,” Huffman said in a social media post. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned after two decades of executive leadership, it’s this: leaders should be held to a higher standard. Certain types of leaders, like pastors, should be held to the HIGHEST standard.”
Texas Representative, Giovanni Capriglione, who represents Southlake, expressed his distress over the accusations against Morris.
“His confession of criminal activity and moral failure is shocking and unacceptable,” he said in a social media post.
He emphasized that Morris should face accountability for his actions.
The Gateway Church Board of Elders has hired Haynes & Boone, LLP to perform an independent and thorough review of the sexual abuse report.
“We are heartbroken and appalled by what has come to light over the past few days, and we express our deep sympathy to the victim and her family,” the Board stated. “For the sake of the victim, we are thankful this situation has been exposed.”
