What to know: Gateway Church removes 4 elders after law firm's report

Gateway Church announced Saturday that a law firm it hired to conduct an internal investigation into its founder Robert Morris’ alleged sexual abuse of a 12-year-old girl had finished its report.

In response to the findings of Haynes Boone’s report, the church said Saturday it was making significant changes, including removing several of its top leaders and updating its governance structure.

Related:Woman who accused Gateway Church founder of sexual abuse says recovery has been ‘lifelong’

The Dallas Morning News has attempted to reach Morris at multiple phone numbers and has mailed letters to four addresses listed for him in public records but has not heard back.

Here’s what we know so far about the law firm’s report and how Gateway Church is responding.

Gateway removes 4 elders, says they had information about Morris’ abuse allegations

During service, church elder Tra Willbanks said that all but three of the church’s elders prior to Saturday either knew former senior pastor Robert Morris had sexual contact with a 12-year-old or received some information about the situation and “failed to inquire further.”

“We have decided to draw a very bright line here based on Biblical and moral values and the values of our church family, and we can report to you that as of today, no individuals in either group serves as an elder, is employed by or works at Gateway Church,” Willbanks said to claps from the audience at the megachurch’s Southlake campus.

Related:As attendance slides, remaining Gateway attendees put faith in church, not Robert Morris

Haynes Boone delivered a report to a subcommittee of elders including Willbanks, Kenneth Fambro and Dane Minor, Willbanks said.

Elders Thomas Miller, Gayland Lawshe, Kevin Grove and Jeremy Carrasco were not shown on Gateway’s elder page on the church’s website as of Saturday afternoon.

Gateway is cooperating with a criminal investigation

Willbanks said the church is cooperating with a criminal investigation. “I can share that neither the church nor its current leadership are subjects of this criminal investigation,” he said.

The church did not say which law enforcement agency is handling the investigation.

Gateway is revising its governance structure

The church will be revising its bylaws and governance structure, Willbanks said. In the past, the church was controlled by a group of elders made up of both those on staff at the church in other roles and those with full-time jobs somewhere else. Going forward, all voting members of Gateway’s elder board will be non-staffers, Willbanks said.

“We must bring this level of independence and objectivity to our eldership, and it has been lacking in the years past,” he said.

Willbanks said staff will no longer serve as elders, with the exception of the church’s future senior pastor and possibly an executive pastor. Willbanks said both of these positions would be non-voting elders.

“The truth is, the events of these last several months have demonstrated that there was a massive governance and accountability failure here at Gateway Church,” Willbanks said near the end of his remarks. “It was a failure of culture, and we must be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that our culture allowed this truth to be buried for too long.”

Related:Gateway elder addresses fraud suit, says church is joining financial accountability groupGateway condemns founder Robert Morris

During its Saturday service, Willbanks condemned Morris in the strongest words the church has used so far.

He said Gateway’s culture had become centralized around Morris, which allowed the truth to be hidden for years.

“When a church becomes centered around one pastor alone, it’s lost its way,” Willbanks said. “Unfortunately, we have come to the realization over the last several months that at some point in the past, the culture at Gateway became one where power was centralized and the leader at the top was surrounded by people who wanted to protect it, some of them at all cost.”

Willbanks said that on the day Cindy Clemishire came forward with allegations that Morris had abused her in the 1980s, Morris directed church staff to release a statement intending to minimize her claims.

He said elders were able to independently verify elements of Clemishire’s story and asked to meet with Morris, but Morris resigned without meeting with elders.

“To date, there have been six individuals who have declined to meet in person with Haynes and Boone, including Robert Morris,” Willbanks said.

Morris founded Gateway Church in 2000. Over nearly 25 years, the Southlake-based megachurch grew to 100,000 members and nine D-FW campuses, according to the church.

Morris served as an adviser to former President Donald Trump, wrote the influential book The Blessed Life and hosted a TV program that aired in over 190 countries, according to an archived version of Morris’ website.