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    • Gateway Church in Texas Removes Elders, Helps in Criminal Investigation
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    Gateway Church in Texas Removes Elders, Helps in Criminal Investigation

    Vaseline Posted on

    Gateway Church in Texas announced the removal of several of its elders and employees following a law firm investigation into child sex abuse claims against former senior pastor Robert Morris.

    A Texas megachurch has announced the removal of several of its elders following an independent law firm investigation into child abuse allegations against former pastor Robert Morris, who publicly admitted to “inappropriate sexual conduct with a young lady” 35 years ago.

    Tra Willbanks, an elder at Gateway Church, gave the update to members during a livestreamed service on Sunday. He said Haynes and Boone, the law firm hired by the church, turned over the results of their investigation into 54-year-old Cindy Clemishire’s allegations against Morris to a subcommittee “established to receive and act on this information.” act.”

    “What happened to Cindy Clemishire was heartbreaking and cruel,” Willbanks said during his update. “We condemn sexual abuse in all its forms and feel deep sorrow for those who have been victims of such despicable acts.”

    Willbanks praised Clemishire for her courage in coming forward to talk about Morris’s alleged sexual abuse that began in 1982 when she was just 12 years old. The abuse continued until 1987, Clemishire told USA TODAY in June.

    “(Clemishire) touched countless lives and because of her courage, (the elders) have had several people come to us and tell us they had their own stories of being victims,” Willbanks said. “We continue to pray for healing, not only for her, but for those who have been abused and are part of our family.”

    Morris and Clemishire could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

    Robert Morris admitted to having a ‘sexual affair’ in the late 1980s, but ruled out Cindy Clemishire’s age

    Willbanks discussed Morris’ previous accounts of his actions, including the former senior pastor telling the church he was unfaithful in his marriage in his early 20s. Morris also confessed his sin to apostolic leaders in the late 1980s, many years before Gateway Church was formed, Willbanks said.

    Although Morris resigned from office for two years in the 1980s, he was reinstated by the same apostolic leaders, Willbanks said.

    “We as a church knew what our former senior pastor shared publicly and many people, including myself, simply believed his version of the story,” the elder said. “But on June 14 of this year, Cindy Clemishire shared her story publicly and clearly stated that she was the one referred to in Robert Morris’ story that he had described as a sexual affair.”

    Tra Willbanks: ‘They were deleted’

    During the independent investigation, Haynes and Boone collected 780 gigabytes of data, reviewed thousands of pages of documents and interviewed dozens of individuals, excluding Morris and five others who denied working with the law firm, Willbanks said.

    According to Willbanks, the law firm has not learned of any other allegations of sexual abuse against Morris.

    “At this time, to our knowledge, there are no victims of Robert Morris other than Cindy Clemishire,” the elder said, adding that anyone who is the victim of sexual assault by a Gateway Church elder should report it to police and then share it with him and other leaders.

    The investigation found that several Gateway Church elders and staff knew of Morris’ alleged actions before June 14, including that Clemishire was 12 when the sexual abuse began, Willbanks said. The elder went on to explain that there were two groups: one group who knew without a doubt that Clemishire was 12 at the time of the abuse and another who had plenty of information about Morris’ actions but couldn’t be bothered to ask any more questions.

    “Both groups are fundamentally wrong and simply cannot and will not be tolerated in this church,” Willbanks said. “We can inform you that as of today, no individual in either group is an elder, employed or works at Gateway Church. They have been removed.”

    Gateway Church is cooperating with criminal investigations

    The elder said he could not elaborate on the elders’ removal because of ongoing lawsuits against the church, including from Morris who has made “financial demands.”

    “To be clear, we reject the proposal,” Willbanks said of Morris’ financial demands.

    Gateway Church is cooperating with an ongoing criminal investigation, Willbanks confirmed, but he declined to share more details at this time. He added that the church, nor its current leadership, are subject to this investigation.

    Willbanks called the entire situation the result of a “major failure of governance” and “a failure of accountability” at Gateway Church.

    “If the church focuses only on one pastor, it will lose its way,” he said. “Unfortunately, in recent months we have come to realize that at some point in the past the culture here at Gateway had become one in which power was centralized and the leader at the top was surrounded by people who wanted to protect him, some from them at all costs.”

    Gateway Church leaves in wake of allegations against Robert Morris

    With the exception of Morris and the removed elders, Gateway Church has seen three other significant departures in recent months.

    The church announced the departure of James and Bridget Morris in July when it released the following statement to WFAA-TV:

    “We as elders affirm and believe that God has placed a desire in the hearts of both Pastors James and Bridgette to serve as senior pastors of a church at some point in the future,” the statement said. “We love Pastors James and Bridgette and their children—we care about them deeply and sincerely thank them for investing their lives here at Gateway Church. They have served our congregation and this community faithfully and honorably throughout the years they have been a part of Gateway Church.”

    James Morris’ resignation came a year before Robert Morris planned to hand over leadership of the church to his son, the TV station said.

    Willbanks announced the departure of executive pastor Kemtal Glasgow the following month through a statement on the church’s YouTube page.

    “It recently came to light that Kemtal Glasgow had a moral failing, so we have asked him to step down as pastor at Gateway and devote time to his marriage and family,” the megachurch said. “Although his employment is ending, we remain committed to caring for Kemtal and his family.”

    It is unclear whether Kemtal Glasgow or James and Bridget Morris spoke with Haynes and Boone during the company’s investigation.

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