Robert Morris' million-dollar demand sparks backlash from Gateway Church members
Former Gateway Church pastor and founder Robert Morris is demanding millions of dollars from the church for retirement payments, but it's not the only legal fight church is currently facing.
Members of the congregation say they're still waiting for answers —and questioning transparency amid other church disputes.
Gateway member speaks out as Robert Morris seeks massive payout
Gateway Church member Katherine Leach said she was shocked to learn that Morris is now demanding millions from Gateway Church after resigning in 2024. Morris stepped away from the church after allegations resurfaced that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.
"I've said it before, I'll say it again: I'm appalled," Leach said.
In October of 2024, Leach and other church members filed a lawsuit demanding refunds for the tithing money they had given to the church; Morris had offered refunds to the congregation for years, the lawsuit claims.
"If you are not fully satisfied at the end of that year, I will give you your money back," Morris previously said during a recorded sermon.
"There is no way to tell where that money is going," Leach said. "And there is no way to confirm that Robert Morris is fully gone from Gateway Church. And until they prove that there is no connection to Robert Morris, then why would people continue to give?"
Gateway refutes Morris' claims, church members seek transparency
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, 63-year-old Morris claimed Gateway elders verbally agreed to pay him $800,000 until he reached the age of 70, then $600,000 as long as he and his wife are living. Gateway said it is refusing Morris' demands.
"It does seem ironic that Gateway is fighting paying Mr. Morris in one forum, while simultaneously in another forum refusing to honor the commitments to refund tithes that Mr. Morris gave to the members multiple times," Micah Dortch, the lead attorney in the class-action lawsuit connected to tithes, said in a statement.
In October 2024, Gateway Church elder Tra Willbanks announced the church had hired an outside firm to look into its financial ethics. Dortch said the church will not give him those audits.
Meanwhile, members of the congregation looking for a refund are still waiting for answers.
"All we're asking for is transparency," Leach said.
Gateway said it has no record of agreeing to pay the amount of money Morris is seeking. The church also said there is a written agreement that calls for "no benefits to be paid if Morris' departure is related to a felony conviction or plea."
Sexual abuse accusations against Robert Morris
The court filing comes days after Morris appeared in an Oklahoma courtroom for sexual abuse accusations.
In March, Oklahoma prosecutors charged Morris with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child stemming from the allegations made by the victim, Cindy Clemishire. Morris has pleaded not guilty.
Morris made an initial appearance in an Osage County, Oklahoma courtroom last week. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for September.
Clemishire's claims of sexual abuse resurfaced last June, when Clemishire told a church watchdog blog that Morris abused her from when she was 12 until she was 17. Morris was a traveling Evangelist in his 20s and had become close with her family.
When the story came out, church elders said Morris disclosed to them he'd had an extramarital affair, but not that he had allegedly abused a 12-year-old. Morris and the church had also claimed he underwent "a two-year restoration process" that included him "stepping out of the ministry during that period."
The September letter Morris' attorneys sent to the church alleges that Gateway elders had known the facts of the allegations as far back as 2005 and knew the victim's age in 2011. The letter also claims that a recording exists of Morris from early 2024 when he "recounted the details of his encounters with Ms. Clemishire – including her age – to multiple Gateway employees, including at least one elder."
