Latest news with #megachurch
The Independent
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Gateway megachurch announces it is cutting services as it continues to face blowback from Robert Morris sex-abuse allegations
A Texas megachurch that has been losing members and facing mass layoffs amid allegations that its pastor sexually abused a young girl for years, announced it would be cutting services. Gateway Church, which once regularly drew over 100,000 worshippers, says it will be cutting Saturday services at nearly all of its locations, excluding its main Southlake campus. "As we continue to strengthen our relationship with the Gateway Church family and community, we're making a shift at several of our DFW campuses by hosting our church services on Sundays only," a church spokesperson told WFAA. "This adjustment will allow us to minister to and love our congregation well while prioritizing the needs of our individual campus communities. Throughout all our locations, our commitment to loving God and loving people remains unchanged." The church, one of the largest American megachurches, has previously acknowledged decreased attendance and financial issues, which it said last month would soon amount to mass layoffs of staff. The church did not specify how many people would lose their jobs. Turmoil at the church comes after a grand jury indicted its pastor, Robert Morris, in March on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child. Morris, who founded Gateway Church 25 years ago, is currently out on bond while awaiting trial. The pastor has pleaded not guilty but stepped down from his role at the church in June 2024. Morris' alleged abuse began in 1982 when his accuser, Cindy Clemishire, was 12 years old and Morris was a traveling evangelist staying with her family in Hominy, Oklahoma. Clemishire alleges that the abuse spanned years. She filed a lawsuit last month against Morris, seeking at least $1 million for slander, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress in the years following his abuse. Morris has acknowledged he had been 'sexually immoral' when he was younger, but in the past year has continued to claim his alleged abuse of Clemishire was an 'extramarital affair.' The former pastor, who served on President Donald Trump's spiritual advisory board in 2016 during his first presidential campaign, has filed a lawsuit against Gateway for over $1 million in deferred compensation and intellectual rights to his books, sermons and social media.
CBS News
01-07-2025
- CBS News
Gateway Church cutting services amid decreased attendance and challenges with founder Robert Morris
Gateway Church will eliminate Saturday services at most of its campuses as it continues to navigate its future after founder Robert Morris' resignation amid a child sex abuse investigation, according to information and documents obtained by CBS News Texas. On Tuesday, CBS News Texas learned that Gateway had begun telling volunteers it will start eliminating the Saturday services at the end of the month. In an email obtained by CBS News Texas, the Southlake-based megachurch said the change comes in part due to decreased attendance and the desire to consolidate Sunday services. The church is also dealing with a drop in donations after Morris' resignation. CBS News Texas has reached out to the church for a statement but has not yet received one. Gateway Church announces staff layoffs Gateway previously said it would lay off some staff, which could begin later this month. In a letter to the congregation, Gateway elders said tithing "has not mirrored attendance" due to the issues with Morris. The letter assured members that despite the challenges, the church maintains strong financial and accounting records. But after church leadership evaluated the situation, they determined "restructuring of our staff is necessary, requiring the tough but necessary step of staff reduction." Sexual abuse allegations against Morris In March 2025, Oklahoma prosecutors charged Morris with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child stemming from the allegations made by the victim, Clemishire. Morris has since pleaded not guilty. Clemishire claims Morris abused her from the age of 12 to 17. Morris was a traveling evangelist in his 20s and had become close to Clemishire's family. When the story broke, Gateway church elders said Morris disclosed to them he'd had an extramarital affair, but not that he had allegedly abused a young girl. Morris and the church had also said that Morris underwent "a two-year restoration process" that included him "stepping out of the ministry during that period." On June 12, Clemishire and her father filed a lawsuit against Morris, his wife and several current and former Gateway leaders, alleging that they knew about Morris' deceit. "For almost 40 years, Robert Morris and the leadership at Gateway have tried to blame me and put this in a flippant light of a relationship instead of what it was-a brutal crime against a 12-year-old child," said Clemishire. "My childhood and the woman I would have become died that day in 1982. The person who abused me and the people who blatantly covered it up deserve to be held accountable. My hope is that bringing awareness to my case will help other victims and survivors feel hope, because the person who did this to me-and the people who enabled him and covered it up for decades-are being held accountable." Legal battle between Gateway and Morris Legal documents filed in May revealed that 63-year-old Morris is demanding millions of dollars in payment and retirement benefits from the church following his 2024 resignation. He stepped away after allegations resurfaced that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl, identified as Cindy Clemishire, in the 1980s. Church lawyers wrote in the court filing that "amid the chaos of his conduct had unleashed upon Gateway and his community, Morris was laser-focused on securing his financial future." In September 2024, Morris' attorney sent a letter to Gateway that included a demand of more than $1 million that had accrued in Morris's retirement account, and claimed that the elders verbally promised him a retirement benefit of $800,000 per year until he turned 70. However, according to a retirement compensation agreement included in the court filing, the church would pay Morris $170,000 per year for 20 years.
CNN
29-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
Vance Says Crypto Has 'Ally' In WH As Trump Family Gains Billions - Erin Burnett OutFront - Podcast on CNN Audio
Vance Says Crypto Has 'Ally' In WH As Trump Family Gains Billions Erin Burnett OutFront 52 mins Trump, his administration, and his family are all in on crypto and make billions while making sure no rules apply. Plus, first he took on Target and tonight he announced a nationwide boycott targeting an even bigger chain. The megachurch pastor who is confronting companies that roll back DEI joins to discuss.
