4 Gateway Church elders to take leave of absence during investigation into abuse claims against founder
SOUTHLAKE, Texas - Four members of the Gateway Church Board of Elders will take a temporary leave of absence during an investigation into founder Robert Morris.
Morris resigned from his role as senior pastor at the Southlake church after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her beginning when she was just 12 years old.
Gateway hired an outside legal team to investigate the claims and what the church knew about them at the time.
The firm, Haynes and Boone, recommended that any Gateway Church Elder with a potential conflict of interest temporarily step down, including those who were on the Board from 2005 to 2007.
Elders Kevin Grove, Steve Dulin, and Gayland Lawshe were members of the Board of Elders from 2005 to 2007. Pastor James Morris, who is related to Robert Morris, volunteered to take a temporary leave of absence.
"A leave of absence in no way whatsoever assumes or implies that any Elder had any knowledge of the true facts related to this situation," the church wrote in a public letter to the congregation.
The church says all four of the Elders taking a leave of absence have clearly stated that they had "no knowledge of the true facts of this situation."
Gateway Church founder Robert Morris resigns over abuse allegations
In the past, Morris has admitted to an extramarital relationship with a "young lady." Tuesday, the Southlake church’s board of elders said they weren't aware that the "young lady" in question may have been 12 years old.
Morris' accuser, who is now 54, says she brought up her allegations more than once to Gateway Church leaders.
FOX 4 does not typically name alleged sex assault victims, but Cindy Clemishire wants people to know her identity. She claims Morris allegedly started sexually abusing her in 1982.
Clemishire says she contacted Gateway Church in 2005 about the allegations.
"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. 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," read a statement from the church shortly after the allegations came to light earlier this month.
Gateway Church opened its doors in 2000 and has grown into one of the largest church communities in the country, with nine campuses in Texas, one in Wyoming and another in Missouri.
No criminal charges have been filed.