Earlier in 2024, the Christian community was rocked to its core by the news concerning Pastor Robert Morris, the founder of Gateway Church in the state of Texas, a megachurch which has had a massive impact on faith-based culture. And that scandal is still leaving those who are part of Gateway’s congregation, staff, and the Christian community as a whole, devastated. It’s one of the many reasons that the Word of God provides an extensive and extremely high standard to hold our leaders to when they are chosen to watch over Christ’s flock.
“A former employee of the Southlake, Texas church anonymously spoke to the Christian Post about the impacts the scandal has had on her and her family. When asked if she would ever worship at a megachurch again, she decisively said, ‘No,'” The Christian Tribune reported. ”
What happened at Gateway was so awful and had such a massive impact on the former church employee’s family that none of them are currently attending an organized church. What a damaging witness to the institution established by Christ. It’s already hard enough to get folks to want to come to church just due to battles with their own sin. Now, the scandal with Morris, someone who claimed to be a pastor, has thrown another stumbling block in the path.
“In fact, I’ll be honest with you, there’s no one in my family … that attends church anymore of any kind. It has destroyed our family,” she remarked. Pray for this family. We might not know their names, but God knows. And they desperately need the people of God to intercede for them.
Morris had adamantly maintained earlier this year that he had repented from his past sins, which involved an inappropriate sexual relationship with a young girl in the 1980s. However, the anonymous employee wasn’t buying it. “No, never, absolutely not, because he was still lying and giving his narrative of the story all the way to the bitter end. It was horrible,” she said. “You just look back and go, you know, like I’ve watched so many sermons from the past now — clips and things that people post on social media — and you go, ‘Oh, my God, I heard that sermon. Why did I not get up and walk out [of the church]. He was telling us who he was. … And you’re like, ‘How was I so blind? How did I not see it? How did I not hear it? How did I justify this?’” she said, illustrating how Morris’ legacy is forever damaged.
The anonymous source added that things at Gateway were abusive before the scandal. “Even before this came out, all of the different things that went on at Gateway, the different kinds of spiritual abuse and everything that everyone endured. Once you get any distance from it, you step out from it a little bit, your eyes begin to be opened and you’re like, ‘Oh my God; oh my God,’” she continued. “It’s a business,” she said, criticizing the megachurch structure. “We had to grapple with it for years. We were like, this is changing. It’s not a ministry; it’s a corporation, it’s a business. We have a job. We don’t have a ministry; we have a job and a career. And it was disgusting.”
Even though she tried to attend smaller churches, the effort fell short of helping her to get past her barrier. “I went to a small church before I came to Gateway, and that small church, I was spiritually abused there, and found out later on that that pastor had molested someone. And you know he was living a double life,” she stated.
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The former employee is now doing worship that is much smaller in scope and is oriented toward families. “I know so many people who have traumas and things from being a part of that small church. So I don’t know, I don’t know what the answer is. We’ve tried different things at home, trying to just have family time where we worship together and things like that.”
The report concluded by saying, “The scandal involving Robert Morris, and other like it that have impacted other ministries around the country this year, inflict enormous damage. As described in 1 Timothy 3:1-10, those who hold leadership roles must be held to high standards and set examples for their congregation.”