We reported over the weekend that Pastor Robert Morris of Gateway Church in Texas had been outed as having sexually abused a child from age 12 through 16, back in the 1980s, when he was a married pastor at the church which would become his current empire. Morris has been reviled by discernment ministries as a horrific false teacher and one of the leading tithing teacher abusers of the flock. He designed the "God will curse your money" theology if you do not give your tithe before even paying for medical needs.
We pointed out that the portrayal provided by Charisma News, Morris' handpicked elders and even a Morris statement seemed pretty shady on the facts and designed to try and sweep this away as quickly as possible. Morris and the elders referred to the 12-year-old victim as a "young lady" and Morris' account of having confessed, repented and stepped down submitting to restoration was devoid of the truth. He was forced to step down after the girl's father had threatened the church leadership to remove him or face the sheriff. It seems that it took a couple extra days but the truth now has caught up to Morris, who has stepped down from Gateway and Charisma was forced to publish the above, very sparse, article. Let us briefly catch-up beloved.
'The statement came from the Board of Elders of Gateway Church: Today, 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." The statement noted that the "elders did not have all the facts of the inappropriate relationship between Morris and the victim, including her age at the time and the length of the abuse."' - Charisma News
That's odd because over the weekend the elders said that Morris had been "forthright" about a moral failure and that he had shared about it publicly from the pulpit and took a "lengthy" restoration process. Oh, and that he has walked in purity ever since sexually abusing a 12-year-old for four years when he was a married pastor at Shady Grove Church. Turns out the elders issued that statement without knowing that the moral failure was actually the assault of a child. We also pointed out from the reporting done by the Wartburg Watch, that in Morris' book, he referred to the failure as "pride issues." So, it seems, we have another puppet board, appointed by the cult of personality pastor, that released a statement defending a predator without bothering to check. But wait it gets worse.
"With previous references to a "young lady," the board did not realize Morris' "extramarital relationship" was actually the abuse of a child. We are heartbroken and appalled by what has come to light over the past few days, and we express our deep sympathy to the victim and her family. For the sake of the victim, we are thankful this situation has been exposed. We know many have been affected by this, we understand that you are hurting, and we are very sorry. It is our prayer that, in time, healing for all those affected can occur." This news comes right after Morris stepped away from his position as overseer at Church of the Highlands." - Charisma News
Did you catch that? So, Morris told them that he had an extramarital affair but failed to disclose that it was four years, oh and that it really was not an affair as much as a felony. I am glad the elders realized they had been duped and appear to be honest about that now. I pray that they never allow themselves to be used by a pastor again. Eldership in God's church is not meant to be a rubber stamp. It is meant to be accountability and to serve the body of Christ. It is important to recognize that Gateway and the Morris legacy of teachings we now know to be completely fraudulent. Do not allow Charisma, Strang or Dr. Brown come along and start talking about how God still used Robert Morris. He did no such thing. Morris built a false teaching empire on the bones of least this one victim. He has become a multi-millionaire many times over by robbing the sheep of the Lord. Nobody in the world is going to want to listen to what we say about Christ if we keep pretending these things are somehow normal, or even vaguely representative of the gospel.
