Gateway Church cutting services amid decreased attendance and challenges with founder Robert Morris
On Tuesday, CBS News Texas learned that Gateway had begun telling volunteers it will start eliminating the Saturday services at the end of the month. In an email obtained by CBS News Texas, the Southlake-based megachurch said the change comes in part due to decreased attendance and the desire to consolidate Sunday services.
The church is also dealing with a drop in donations after Morris' resignation.
CBS News Texas has reached out to the church for a statement but has not yet received one.
Gateway Church announces staff layoffs
Gateway previously said it would lay off some staff, which could begin later this month.
In a letter to the congregation, Gateway elders said tithing "has not mirrored attendance" due to the issues with Morris.
The letter assured members that despite the challenges, the church maintains strong financial and accounting records. But after church leadership evaluated the situation, they determined "restructuring of our staff is necessary, requiring the tough but necessary step of staff reduction."
Sexual abuse allegations against Morris
In March 2025, Oklahoma prosecutors charged Morris with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child stemming from the allegations made by the victim, Clemishire. Morris has since pleaded not guilty.
Clemishire claims Morris abused her from the age of 12 to 17. Morris was a traveling evangelist in his 20s and had become close to Clemishire's family.
When the story broke, Gateway church elders said Morris disclosed to them he'd had an extramarital affair, but not that he had allegedly abused a young girl. Morris and the church had also said that Morris underwent "a two-year restoration process" that included him "stepping out of the ministry during that period."
On June 12, Clemishire and her father filed a lawsuit against Morris, his wife and several current and former Gateway leaders, alleging that they knew about Morris' deceit.
"For almost 40 years, Robert Morris and the leadership at Gateway have tried to blame me and put this in a flippant light of a relationship instead of what it was-a brutal crime against a 12-year-old child," said Clemishire. "My childhood and the woman I would have become died that day in 1982. The person who abused me and the people who blatantly covered it up deserve to be held accountable. My hope is that bringing awareness to my case will help other victims and survivors feel hope, because the person who did this to me-and the people who enabled him and covered it up for decades-are being held accountable."
Legal battle between Gateway and Morris
Legal documents filed in May revealed that 63-year-old Morris is demanding millions of dollars in payment and retirement benefits from the church following his 2024 resignation. He stepped away after allegations resurfaced that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl, identified as Cindy Clemishire, in the 1980s.
Church lawyers wrote in the court filing that "amid the chaos of his conduct had unleashed upon Gateway and his community, Morris was laser-focused on securing his financial future."
In September 2024, Morris' attorney sent a letter to Gateway that included a demand of more than $1 million that had accrued in Morris's retirement account, and claimed that the elders verbally promised him a retirement benefit of $800,000 per year until he turned 70.
However, according to a retirement compensation agreement included in the court filing, the church would pay Morris $170,000 per year for 20 years.
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