SOUTHLAKE (TX)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
August 16, 2024
By Julie Roys
Texas megachurch Gateway Church has canceled its popular annual conference in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal involving its founder Robert Morris.
The church announced on Wednesday that the Gateway Conference 2024, scheduled to be held at its Southlake campus, has been cancelled.
The conference has been a mainstay of Gateway for more than a decade, drawing “thousands of church pastors, leaders and staff . . . to bless, empower and equip the local church,” according to the event’s Facebook page.
However, in June, Morris resigned from the church he founded in 2000, after a 54-year-old Oklahoma woman alleged she was sexually molested by the preacher between 1982 and 1987, as reported by The Roys Report (TRR).
Cindy Clemishire was 12-years old, when Morris, then a 21-year-old traveling evangelist, allegedly molested the preteen on Christmas Day 1982.
Also recently resigning from Gateway was Morris’ son, James Morris, who was destined to take over Gateway in 2025, and three Gateway Church elders.
“Our congregation and staff are in the midst of navigating Robert Morris’ resignation and the emotions surrounding it,” Gateway said in a statement. “We are deeply sorry for the pain this situation caused the survivor, other survivors of abuse, and the Church at large.
“As we seek to navigate this season in a healthy way and in a manner that promotes healing for everyone affected, we believe it best to not hold Gateway Conference this year.”
The statement adds that full refunds would be issued.
YouTube shows sermons from the conference dating back to 2012.
In 2014, the conference made headlines for platforming Mark Driscoll, who had recently resigned from Mars Hill Church after an internal investigation found Driscoll guilty of “arrogance, responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading . . . in a domineering manner.”
At the conference, Morris affirmed Driscoll and told attendees “most of what you read is not true.”
Past Gateway Conferences also frequently included leaders from the Association of Related Churches (ARC), which maintained a close relationship with Morris. ARC Lead Team Member and Church of the Highlands (COTH) Pastor Chris Hodges, regularly spoke at Gateway Conferences. Other ARC Lead Team members, like Todd Mullins and Miles McPherson, were also featured at past Gateway Conferences.
ARC has been embroiled in numerous sexual scandals over the years. And as recently as 2021, ARC platformed both Morris and Driscoll at an ARC Preaching Conference. Morris served as an overseer COTH but resigned in the wake of his sex abuse scandal.
Past Gateway Conferences have also featured many top charismatic speakers like Christine Caine, Joyce Meyer, and Bethel Church Pastor Bill Johnson.
Louie Giglio of Passion City Church, Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick, and Life.Church Pastor Craig Groeschel have also spoken at prior conferences, as has Tony Evans, who recently resigned from his church “due to sin.”
Sheila Stogsdill contributed to this report.