Gateway Church elders apologize to woman who accused Pastor Robert Morris of sexual assault

SOUTHLAKE – The elders of the Gateway Church apologized on Saturday at a Woman who publicly accused Pastor Robert Morris of sexually abusing her as a child.

The church also welcomed well-known pastor Max Lucado.

All this happened during the first services since Pastor James Morris has resigned. His father, Founding pastor Robert Morris also resigned last month after the woman – Cindy Clemishire – said he sexually abused her when she was only 12 years old.

For the first time, the elders of Gateway reached out directly to Clemishire.

“Cindy, if you’re watching, we want to apologize to you again on behalf of our entire church for the years of pain you have endured,” said Trey Wilbanks, a Gateway elder. “To be clear, we believe this was sexual abuse of a child. Any description that doesn’t fit that does not reflect our position. I’m sorry we misunderstood that communication. We are in no way trying to cover up or trivialize this situation. In fact, I want to say to you, Cindy, ‘Thank you for coming forward.'”

CBS News Texas met with Gateway Church member Valentina Hansen after Saturday’s service.

“I have to say that I am very proud of the church elders who apologized to Cindy Clemishire,” Hansen said. “I thought that was very important because as a victim, it is important to recognize that they are survivors of traumatic abuse.”

Meanwhile, church elders have hired independent investigators to look into the allegations. Gateway officials plan to present the results soon and plan to improve communication with church members in the future.

“There are good leaders in Gateway Church and I just hope that Gateway will do a complete cleansing of those who are not following the biblical foundations,” Hansen said.

In the meantime, Lucado, an author and former pastor from San Antonio, has joined Gateway temporarily as a teaching pastor.