{"id":22944,"date":"2024-06-20T09:42:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=22944"},"modified":"2024-06-20T09:42:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:42:00","slug":"pastor-robert-morris-resigns-after-shocking-abuse-claims-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/06\/pastor-robert-morris-resigns-after-shocking-abuse-claims-emerge","title":{"rendered":"Pastor Robert Morris Resigns After Shocking Abuse Claims Emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CBS Texas\/YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Board of Elders of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, recently announced that the megachurch\u2019s founder, Robert Morris, has resigned, and they\u2019ve retained a law firm to investigate a claim made by a woman who alleges Morris sexually abused her over multiple years in the 1980s starting when she was 12 years old. The board said in a statement to The Christian Post, \u201cToday, June 18, the Board of Elders of Gateway Church accepted the resignation of Robert Morris, the senior pastor. In addition, the Board has retained the law firm of Haynes & Boone, LLP, to conduct an independent, thorough, and professional review of the report of past abuse to ensure we have a complete understanding of the events from 1982-1987.<\/p>\n

Morris\u2019 resignation comes after the woman, 54-year-old grandmother Cindy Clemishire,\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that the megachurch pastor began sexually abusing her on Dec. 25, 1982, and continued with the abuse for four-and-a-half years after that. Without naming Clemishire, Morris admitted to CP in an earlier statement that he had engaged in \u201cinappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady\u201d while he was a pastor in his early 20s. Morris said, \u201cWhen I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and petting and not\u00a0intercourse,\u00a0but it was wrong. This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris added, \u201cIn March of 1987,\u00a0this situation was brought to light, and\u00a0it was confessed and repented of. I submitted myself to the Elders of Shady Grove Church and the young lady\u2019s father. They asked me to step out of ministry and receive counseling and freedom ministry, which I did. Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area.\u201d However, accuser Cindy Clemishire pushed back on a number of Morris\u2019 claims, specifically his assertion she was a \u201cyoung lady\u201d at the time of the alleged abuse.<\/p>\n