Earlier this month, a bombshell report from the religious watchdog group Wartburg Watch roiled one of the largest megachurches in Texas. Robert Morris, the founder and pastor of the influential Southlake-based Gateway Church, had in the 1980s repeatedly sexually abused a child over the course of four years, beginning when the girl was 12 years old, as recounted by the survivor to Wartburg’s Dee Parsons. According to the victim, Cindy Clemishire, the abuse took place in both Oklahoma and Texas.
The public allegations toppled Morris, a highly influential conservative pastor and a key emissary for the religious right in Republican politics. In a statement following the Wartburg report, Morris admitted to “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady.” He resigned as pastor of Gateway on June 18—his name was promptly scrubbed from the Gateway website and those of its many affiliated organizations. The bio of his son, in line to succeed Morris as senior pastor, now lacked any mention of his father.
Before his fall from grace, Morris wielded significant political influence, endorsing candidates and promoting Republican legislative priorities from the pulpit while serving as one of ex-President Donald Trump’s key advisors. Morris has made visits to the White House and even hosted Trump at a Gateway campus in Dallas, where Trump described Morris and his colleague Steve Dulin as “great people with a great reputation.”
