It’s been a very busy few days since the news broke last Friday that a woman has come forward sharing her story that Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris had sexually abused her in the 1980s when she was a child for over 4 years, beginning at the age of 12. The church to my knowledge still has not informed the church members via formal communication. The weekend church services proceeded as normal, even as news stories began to spread locally and nationally. The statement that news outlets have been sharing came from an internal church staff memo released in the afternoon the day that the story broke.
The Christian Post reported today that despite statements from elders of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, and their founding Pastor Robert Morris suggesting that he stepped away from ministry for two years to undergo a carefully monitored restoration process following a “moral failure” — sexually abusing a girl over multiple years in the 1980s beginning when she was 12 — he was back in ministry just one month after he was confronted about the abuse.
Al.com reported today that Robert Morris resigned his position on the Church of the Highlands board of overseers: “After being made aware of the disturbing media reports, Highlands trustees and overseers immediately initiated a due diligence process that included reaching out to Gateway’s elders. Before the scheduled follow-up meeting to determine changes in our governance structure, Pastor Morris resigned.”
Details of Robert Morris’ history before Gateway Church:
I have been receiving numerous messages sharing more information about Gateway Church. I really appreciate the collective effort to gather and share information. We learned that Gateway Church has a prison ministries campus pastor, Stephen Wilson, who spent a year in prison for a child sex crime. I am told that the congregation probably is not aware of the nature of his conviction.
Where is David Smith?
I have seen people asking about another former Gateway Church pastor, David Smith. It seems that David had a sudden departure from the church in about 2015, and no one seems to know why or where he went. He was an associate senior pastor.
I have seen speculation that perhaps it was something of a financial nature. But over the weekend, a former Gateway employee reached out to me via my blog. We spoke on the phone this morning at length. She shared with me details of the 2015 staff meeting in which the announcement was made that David Smith would no longer be on staff. She said the meeting was led by pastor Robert Morris and about 600 people were in attendance.
Robert Morris explained that David had needed to turn his laptop in to the IT department due to some issues. It was discovered that David had been engaging in inappropriate sexual content online and would need to enter a period of restoration. Did the inappropriate content involve children? The staff wasn’t told that it did. I have concerns though, given what we have seen this week from this church.
At the end of the announcement, Robert Morris informed the staff that David Smith, who wasn’t in attendance in person, was listening in remotely. Morris then instructed the staff to stand and give David a round of applause.
If anyone in that meeting would like to share more information with me, please reach out. You can remain anonymous.
6/19/24 UPDATE
I have discovered that David Smith is living in Glen Rose, Texas. On April 14, 2024, he was arrested for DUI in Florida.
