Leadership Changes Shake Gateway Church Amid Donation Decline
Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas is undergoing significant changes as it navigates financial challenges and leadership upheaval. Following the resignation of its founder, Robert Morris, the church has experienced a substantial decrease in donations, prompting internal restructuring.
Last week, Elder Kenneth Fambro delivered a financial update via a video message, revealing a 35% to 40% drop in giving. This downturn has necessitated a reevaluation of the church’s staffing needs. Fambro’s message, which was shared online by the church watchdog blog Watchkeep and confirmed by WFAA, stressed the need for transparency during this transition. “As leadership, we want to be as clear and transparent as possible as we walk everyone through this process,” Fambro stated.
Staff layoffs are impending, with Fambro assuring that affected employees will receive a severance package equivalent to one month of service per year, up to four months. He emphasized the church’s intent to handle these changes with more sensitivity than in the past. “My heart goes out to everyone who is processing this right now,” Fambro added. “We want you to be exactly where God wants.”
The resignation of Robert Morris in June, following accusations of sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s, has further complicated the church’s situation. Morris faced allegations of abusing a teenage girl, Cindy Clemishire, beginning when she was 12. An investigation by the law firm Haynes & Boone uncovered that most of Gateway’s elders had prior knowledge of the abuse, leading to the removal of several church leaders.
Elder Tra Willbanks addressed the congregation, acknowledging that both elders and employees were aware of the abuse before it became public. “We now know that there were elders and employees at Gateway who knew before June 14, 2024, that Cindy was 12 at the time of the abuse,” Willbanks stated. He criticized both groups’ actions as unacceptable for the church.
Willbanks recounted Morris’ previous admissions of infidelity in his early twenties and his subsequent restoration into ministry. “Many people, including myself, simply believed his version of the story,” Willbanks noted. In response to these revelations, Gateway Church is enacting significant bylaw revisions, including a policy to prevent staff members from serving as elders.
Adding to these challenges, Gateway is facing a class-action lawsuit concerning its Global Ministries fund. Plaintiffs allege that the church’s leadership misrepresented and mismanaged funds, failing to allocate the promised 15% of tithes to the global ministry efforts. The lawsuit accuses the church of “misrepresentation, fraud, and breach of contract” in soliciting donations.
This article was originally written by www.christianpost.com
