Gateway Church’s board of elders launched a assertion on Friday (June 28), informing the congregation that Robert Morris‘ son, James, together with elders Kevin Grove, Steve Dulin, and Gayland Lawshe, have “volunteered to take temporary leaves of absence from the Board.”
The information comes just a little over every week after the board accepted the resignation of Robert Morris, the church’s founder and senior pastor, after it grew to become identified he allegedly sexually abused 12-year-old Cindy Clemishire for a number of years within the Nineteen Eighties.
Morris’ son is affiliate senior pastor, an elder, and the one one at present listed as senior management workers at Gateway Church.
RELATED: Robert Morris Resigns as Gateway Church’s Senior Pastor Following Sexual Abuse Allegations
In a earlier assertion, the elders knowledgeable the church that the regulation agency Haynes and Boone, LLP would conduct an unbiased inquiry associated to Morris’ previous.
After the elders thanked the congregation for its “grace, prayers, and support” and reiterated their dedication to steer Gateway Church with “integrity and humility,” they stated that Haynes and Boone, LLP “recommended that any Gateway Church Elder with a potential conflict of interest take a temporary leave of absence from the Board of Elders.”
“This includes any Elder with a relational conflict and those Elders who were on the Board from 2005–2007,” the elders added. “Haynes and Boone made this recommendation consistent with best practices for inquiries of this nature. A leave of absence in no way whatsoever assumes or implies that any Elder had any knowledge of the true facts related to this situation.”
RELATED: Gateway Church Elder Expresses ‘Personal Compassion’ to Cindy Clemishire Following Robert Morris’ Resignation
The regulation agency’s suggestion instantly impacts three of Gateway Church’s present elders, however the elders made it clear that none of them served “on the Gateway Church staff in 2005, only on the Board of Elders during the time period of 2005–2007.”
Nonetheless, these elders are “wholly committed to doing what is best for Gateway Church,” the assertion stated.
The elders named Govt International Pastor Kevin Gove, Govt Pastor of Kingdom Enterprise Leaders Steve Dulin, and Church Community Pastor Gayland Lawshe because the three who’ve “volunteered to take temporary leaves of absence from the Board.” The elders described the three as “men of integrity who have served Gateway Church with distinction” and acknowledged that each one of them claimed that that they had “no knowledge of the true facts” of Robert Morris’ sexual abuse.
James, one of many church’s latest elders, was really helpful to “also take a temporary leave of absence from the Gateway Board of Elders” by Haynes and Boone, LLP as a result of he’s Morris’ son.
“Well bless their hearts.”
