Texas megachurch accepts the senior pastor’s resignation over allegations of inappropriate relationships with an unidentified minor
A megachurch in Dallas was able to accept the resignation of the senior Pastor Robert Morris on Tuesday after accusations of an inappropriate relationship with a 12-year-old were revealed this week.
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Jun 19, 2024 03:16 PM
CNN —
A megachurch in the Dallas area has accepted the resignation of its the senior pastor Robert Morris on Tuesday following allegations of a previous inappropriate relationship with a 12-year-old were revealed in the last week.
The Board of Elders of Gateway Church stated in a press release Tuesday that before June 14, they did not know all the details of the abusing.
“The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ‘a young lady’ and not abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the statement states.
“Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have.”
The elders expressed their sadness and said they felt “heartbroken and appalled” and offered their condolences to the family of the victim.
“When I reached my twenties and early twenties I got involved with sexually inappropriate behaviour with a young woman at the home I was living. It was a kiss and petting and was not intercourse, however it was a violation of the law. The same behavior was observed on numerous occasions in the following months,” the pastor said in an declaration.
The victim, Cindy Clemishire she said to WFAA the incident began at Christmas Day in 1982 and continued until 1987 when she reported it to her parents. It was the Wartburg Watch, a church watchdog website, first reportedher account on Friday.
Clemishire shares mixed emotions over the announcement of Morris the resignation of Morris she wrote in a statement made public by her lawyer.
“Though I am grateful that he is no longer a pastor at Gateway, I am disappointed that the Board of Elders allowed him to resign,” she added.
“He should have been terminated.”
Morris’s conduct had been “brought to light” in 1987 when he was a minister in Shady Grove which was located in Grand Prairie, which has since been one of the Gateway Church’s eleven churches, WFAA reported.
“In April of 1987 the situation was exposed and the incident was subsequently confessed and confessed to. I voluntarily resigned my self to Elders from Shady Grove Church and the young lady’s father. They requested that I quit ministry and seek counselling and the freedom program. I took it. Since then I’ve been walking in a clean and accountable manner in this field,” Morris said in his declaration, stating that his wife and he had a meeting with the survivor as well as her family in 1989.
“I asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me,” he added.
Clemishire revealed to WFAA that, even though her family forgiven Morris, they did not support Morris returning to the ministry.
“I believe leaders can be caught up in their thinking and believe that it’s our duty to safeguard God and not. Our obligation is to protect our people” the speaker said. “God is bigger than all of that.”
CNN’s Jamiel Lynch and Andy Rose contributed to this report.
