When Valentina Hansen walked up to the glass doors of Gateway Church near Fort Worth on the evening of Sept. 7, they were waiting for her.
She was there to hear Gospel artist CeCe Winans speak. But the men, with guns holstered to their hips, wearing dark navy pants and shirts, with the letters SECURITY emblazoned in silver on their backs, barred the way.
“Have you seen the email that the elders sent to you?” a security guard said on Hansen’s video of the encounter.
“Yeah, but it didn’t say I can’t attend church,” Hansen replied.
Eddie Miles, Gateway’s campus operations director, approached her to say, “We’re going to ask you not to come in.”
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Hansen said she shook Miles’ hand, then asked him to pass a message to church elder Tra Willbanks and Pastor Lorena Valle to send her a letter clarifying whether she can still attend church at Gateway. She said Miles told her he would pass on the message, but she never received a response.
Then Hansen spotted a police car from Southlake, the suburb where the 25,805-member Texas church is located. She wondered if the church has some method of tracking her movements with her cell phone. She videotaped herself approaching the police officer in the car, her recording catching a shadow of her slim figure in a dress, her long hair blowing in the breeze.
“Did they really call y’all about little old me?” Hansen asked the cop.
“Notably, the #Southlake Police Department was present, having been contacted by Gateway Church in anticipation of an escalation,” she later wrote on Facebook. “I regret that their time was diverted from potentially more critical situations.”
Hansen tells The Roys Report (TRR) the Texas megachurch is retaliating against her for a series of social media posts calling for accountability at the church. Not only was she booted from church membership for “continuing to sow discord,” but she was also barred from the building after she publicly called for an investigation into the church’s finances and mandatory reporting practices on child sexual abuse.
The breaking point may have been a Sept. 4 post on Hansen’s Facebook page where she announced that an investigative reporter from an unnamed publication wanted information on current and former staff. She invited members to secretly contact her. She told TRR that in the last 90 days, her posts have reached 450,000 people.
“The Bible is very clear about what the biblical requirements are for deacons, pastors, and elders, and if they’re not above approach, we as Christians and members of the bride of Christ. . . we’re called to advocate for her honor,” Hansen said. “There were many times I felt like I’m one person advocating for so many people that don’t feel that they’re strong enough to do this.”
On Sept. 6, the church told her to leave.
‘Difficult’ decision
Hansen’s activism began June 19, one day after Gateway’s founding pastor Robert Morris resigned amid accusations he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl beginning in 1982. Questions remain as to what the Gateway elders knew and when.
The news was barely out before Hansen, who ushered at the church while holding down a daytime job as a federal law enforcement official, began regularly linking to news stories about the scandal on her Facebook page. She usually posts about Bible studies, working out, and references to her work with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Right after her June 20 post asking why the church had hired a registered sex offender as one of its pastors, Gateway blocked her from its Facebook page. (TRR published a story on that pastor, Stephen Wilson, several months ago, and now his page has been removed from Gateway’s website. Gateway did not respond to our requests for clarification about Wilson’s current status.)
Things went downhill from there. On June 29, Hansen posted that Gateway Pastor Kendra Hunt approached Hansen while Hansen was ushering at Gateway and accused Hansen of being a “spy” because of her social media posts.
In a face-to-face meeting with Associate Pastor Joseph Tenney a few days later, he asked Hansen if she was acting as an “investigative reporter” at church in this recorded meeting. Tenney also suggested her behavior struck some at the church as predatory, which Hansen told him was an inappropriate characterization, given that she deals with actual predators for her job for the U.S. Department of Justice.
In the recording, Hansen told Tenney she comes to church to worship and volunteers to serve people, but if she sees injustice, she believes she should speak up about it in a “professional” way that states facts.
TRR reached out to both Tenney and Hunt for comment through their Gateway phone numbers, but didn’t receive a response.
A week later, Hansen posted that Gateway had changed her volunteering duties from interacting with the public to an upstairs and more out-of-the-way location in the church that is “away from my community.”
“I believe this decision contradicts biblical principles (Leviticus 19:15, Isaiah 1:17) and undermines the church’s commitment to transparency and accountability (Matthew 25:21, 1 Corinthians 3:11),” Hansen wrote.
Hansen continued to post generous amounts of research into the church’s finances, calling into question Morris’s ownership of a mansion, the church’s financial transparency, and the church’s compliance with mandatory reporting laws.
On July 6, Hansen upped the ante by saying she has requested the Texas attorney general’s office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and the Texas Department of Family and Protection Services to investigate Gateway, its elders, and Morris.
“Based on my research and credible sources, I have reasonable cause to believe that the church’s financial bookkeeping may reveal: – Misappropriation of funds – Mishandling of local and international funds, outreach, and donations – Failure to report child sexual abuse to authorities,” Hansen posted on Facebook.
Then Hansen posted that she – along with church member Katherine Leach – met with Gateway elder Tra Willbanks and Gateway Pastor Lorena Valle on Aug. 22 about these concerns. At that meeting, Hansen said she asked about the church’s finances and the church’s care of Morris’s alleged victim Cindy Clemishire, now 54. Leach, who confirmed Hansen’s recollection of the meeting, called Hansen’s questions “direct” but “professional.”
TRR reached out to Willbanks and Valle for comment, but they didn’t respond. Hansen posted on Aug. 27 that after the meeting, Valle blocked her on Facebook.
On Sept.6, two days after her announcement about the investigative reporter, Hansen posted she got an email from Gateway’s elders to tell her she could no longer be a member or volunteer.
“Despite our sincere attempts to walk with you down the path towards understanding and reconciliation, the Board believes that you have violated Biblical requirements by continuing to sow discord and conflict,” the elders wrote in a letter to Hansen.
The elders wrote that the decision was “difficult.”
“Bearing in mind the wisdom of Titus 3:10 and pursuant to our roles as the highest ecclesiastical authority of Gateway Church as set forth in the Church’s Bylaws, it is with heavy hearts that we accordingly now inform you that we believe it is necessary to make the difficult decision to dismiss you from our church membership volunteer services at this time,” the elders wrote. But the letter didn’t say Hansen couldn’t continue to attend services.
In response, Hansen wrote to the elders that she was given no prior warning or chance for correction before they revoked her membership.
“This is in direct contradiction to the principles outlined in Titus 3:10, which emphasizes the importance of addressing divisive behavior through direct conversations and warnings,” Hansen wrote.
Hansen posted an email she wrote to Gateway leaders requesting a copy of the church’s bylaws, but told TRR the church hasn’t responded. TRR also requested a copy of the bylaws from the church, with no response.
‘That is not God’s heart’
Additionally, Leach, the member who along with Hansen met with Gateway leaders in August, asked Gateway Church on Sept. 9 to return her tithe money, pointing to Gateway’s lack of integrity in handling the abuse scandal.
“God’s reputation—his good reputation—is everything to me,” Leach told TRR. “When there’s a question surrounding transparency or accountability, abuse, things like that, that’s where I get really concerned.”
Leach said she believes Hansen’s membership removal was retaliatory.
“The only threat that Valentina Hansen poses to Gateway Church is she asks questions that they don’t like being asked,” Leach said. “That is not God’s heart. . . . He is not pleased with that kind of behavior.”
Over the past few months, Hansen has also spoken to news media about her concerns of how Gateway is responding to the scandal. She also attended a protest in support of Clemishire. She publicly supported Leach in requesting a return of Leach’s tithes.
On Facebook, Leach posted videos from 2012, 2014, and 2022, of Morris promising to return people’s tithe money if they’re not “fully satisfied” at the end of the year. Leach told TRR that Gateway has not responded to her request.
“I’m a voice for all of those who are currently being abused that feel silent,” Hansen told TRR. “I’m a voice for all of those survivors who still don’t understand the magnitude of abuse that they’ve gone through because their mind hasn’t allowed them to understand that it was abuse similar to Cindy Clemishire. And I’m a voice for those who do realize the abuse that they’ve endured but aren’t comfortable being vocal about it.”
Update 9/25: On Sept. 13, Gateway Church elders sent Valentina Hansen an email barring her from entering any Gateway Church property. She discovered the email, which went to her spam folder, on Sept. 24 after this story was published. Details regarding Hansen’s employment have been updated.
Julia Duin contributed to this report.
Rebecca Hopkins is a journalist based in Colorado.
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27 Responses
Once upon a time, I was friends with many of these leaders; some are still there. Some are staff, and some are even elders that I knew at CFNI College in Dallas. I find it odd that they excommunicated Ms. Hansen for asking them to be held accountable. If only they had held Mr. Morris to that same level of accountability. It’s very sad to see people so deceived.
This behavior shows that the INSTITUTION is more important than the people of God who ARE the church by the work of Christ. This is COMMON INSTITUTION practice. When you ARE an institution you are NOT A BODY OR FAMILY by the work of Christ. It is an alternative IDENTITY.
Just a reminder that the cover-up is usually as bad or worse than the crime. This speaks loud and clear about the leaders at Gateway. How many religious people are in ministry yet they know not the Lord.
Those women are heroines in my humble opinion. Speaking truth to power is never easy, but how grateful we all should be that there are people like Hansen and Leach (and Julie Roys) who are willing to step up to the plate.
Mobsters? Tough guys with guards? No resemblance of God’s Kingdom.
Oh my goodness. Alison’s story is MY story!!?! The similarities and parallels are unbelievable. Can I set up an appt with her?
Hansen has more than made her point and exposed the huge lack of accountability at Gateway. Asking publicly for the return of tithe money attacks the financial foundation of the church. She will never get it back. She should just find another church.
Tyrone, I think you might be missing the point(s). First, I highly doubt they are holding their breath that they’ll get their money back–they are making the point that the “guarantee” was meaningless and just another fraud perpetrated on the people in the church. Second, that’s what most people do when something ugly is going down, “just find another church” and that’s why leaders like the ones at Gateway get away with junk for decades. She should be commended for not rushing to find another church but staying long enough to hold this one accountable. That’s what’s expected in her job, does the church deserve less?
I did not request a refund. You should read the article again…
My question is that if she is employed by the DOJ, does she not have an obligation to report to DOJ or other jurisdiction, that based upon reason and belief, that a crime has been committed.
Armed security preventing people from entering the church building, eh? These churches have essentially become the Jewish religious establishment that controlled the temple during the time of Christ. No wonder Jesus cleansed the temple back then, and no wonder he’s doing it again now. Get out your whip, Jesus!
Looks like Morris and his crime family had his his goons (aka “SECURITY”) to keep his criminal racket going. And like all bullies and his GI Joes cosplayers, they can only push around defenseless uppity women. Let’s see how Gateway’s JBTs react when real people show up with guns. Being in Texas, I suspect they will run away like those “heroes” in Uvalde.
I believe and stand with Valentina Hansen. The rot must surely run deep at that church. May God protect and guide her!
Most large or mega churches in America operate under the principles and procedures of their state’s non-profit business statutes. Why? Because those laws are more protective, relevant, and useful for non-profit leadership than any Classical Antiquity text from the 1st or 2nd Century CE (i.e. The Bible). This is why I think American churches over a certain income threshold should not be exempt from annually filing IRS Form 990s.
Any member of these churches who thinks the leaders of a modern American non-profit corporation are going to bend their knees to the ways of leadership outlined 2,000 years ago by a few rebellious Jews in a backwater Levantine province, are going to find out, but quick, that they have been deluded. Just like Ms. Hansen is now finding out. Best of luck to her, but she’s fighting a Quixotic battle that isn’t backed by any legal authority. I mean, the cops and security weren’t there on her behalf, were they?
No large or mega church in America got to where it is by following–actually and really–the principles of love taught by Rabbi Jesus and the principles of servant leadership taught by the Apostle Paul. Rather, they got to where they are by following non-profit business leadership, contribution, marketing, and membership principles taught in modern American business schools.
This is what I have been saying for years. If you have a Megachurch, you are doing it wrong. You are not teaching the Bible in it’s fullness, and you are not teaching The Gospel. If you were simply teaching the true Gospel of Christ, you would not have 1000’s of people in your church because the Gospel is offensive to most people. And if you have leader, after leader, after leader falling into a ditch every few weeks because of various scandals, you have a significantly flawed organization. And these organizations always follow the same course. Deny the accusations. Circle the wagons. Punish the victims. Withhold information. Refuse to answer questions. Exile anyone who asks questions and expects accountability. That’s the way the world does it. So this should not surprise us because the majority of these Cult of Personality “churchs” are simply worldly organizations covered by a thin veneer of pseudo christianity.
“The Gospel is offensive to most people.” Amen. And so is the Real Jesus Christ in heaven about to break open a seal. When this real Jesus falls on these leaders and crushes them, as the Word says He will do, it will be far uglier than what any of us could do to these snakes.
I’m with Valentina on this, but i do want to say Morris has written several bestselling books, so he could very well afford a mansion with the funds from those books.
It bothers me a lot when the one who wants to do the right thing is punished! It makes one wonder what else are they covering up right now? Remember
Num32:23! Their sin will find you out!
So Eddie Miles (Per the video) came and greeted her with a big smile on his face and told her she was not welcomed How strange.
So odd this happened to her even though she’s involved in law enforcement according to her Linkedin account.
How dare anyone question the leadership at gateway and want answers.
This is something that has always bothered me about gateway no transparency. It is run as a business for one family the Morris family. If you follow the money trail it leads to this family. James was the only one nominated by his dad Robert to lead the church. According to Robert he was the only one qualified no one else. The elders went along with this. What sheep. The elders gave Robert Morris a 50 thousand dollar raise . He was already being paid 300 thousand a year. James resigned months ago and is still being paid by gateway. When Ethan and James sister resigned they were still on the payroll
Robert Morris is worth over 100 million. What did Jesus tell the rich man?
I stand with and behind everything that Valentina Hansen has been doing since the pedophile in the pulpit- Robert Morris was exposed. Since June other sexual abuse criminals at Gateway were exposed as well. GW continues to condone, pay off, hide truth and condemn/BULLY anyone asking for truth in the handling of finances or pedophilia/sexual abuse of CHILDREN. Her concerns are valid and all Gateway is doing is what they do best….trying to silence people and hide the filthy truth. Their behaviors condone pedophilia, they hush up anyone asking valid questions about transparency & accountability. Their actions are non biblical despite what they’re telling people in continued gaslighting & manipulation tactics. JESUS SURELY WOULD BE FLIPPING TABLES IN THIS GATEWAY CESSPOOL!
It is sad that individuals hide behind the cloth and the Church to hide their mischievous actions. Unfortunately, this scenario has played out many times, I’m not aware of any that were vindicated. I follow the Mica Miller story from Myrtle Beach. The actions of some clergy and church members is beyond reprehensible. Thank you for standing up for right and calling for this investigation.
I’m pretty sure I drove by this church once on a vacation, and thought “Gateway to what?”
The whole “if you’re not satisfied, we’ll return your tithe” is a gimmick. The IRS doesn’t allow voluntary donations to ANY organization to be returned except in rare cases (such as if the donation was made fraudulently). Otherwise, all donations are presumed to be voluntary and irrevocable.
So, everyone needs to know how to turn OFF automatic donations to ANY organization, secular or religious. If the organization balks, notify your financial institution.
Why are we deceiving ourselves?
Have we forgotten The Lord, Jesus Christ? Professing faith but having hearts not truly believing He is Lord? Where then is the fear of the Lord? Can we no longer differentiate between the church of Christ & the ‘man made’ church’? Who is your brother? Math 12.48-50? Not yielding to the Word of Christ leads to 2Tim 3:7?
John 8:31-32.
Be brave Christians, Return & Yield to Christ only & His Word. He will teach us. Let’s humble ourselves & ask.
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Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary ..Poor shepherds..The atmosphere was filled with poverty..The reliance was upon God to supply the daily needs..Jesus and his followers were poor ..Even though Jesus could create anything ..John the baptist. Paul,Stephen the first martyr had little or no funds..The reliance was not upon money but upon God..The churches with big overhead protect there fund stream..And are not following The teachings of the bible..Yes money is needed.to run a church..But to horde and hide it..Then exposed for the luxurious spending and abuse of funds is sad to see..Hopefully the other members see and realize what is happening..