Texas megachurch Gateway Church has canceled its popular annual conference in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal involving its founder Robert Morris.
The church announced on Wednesday that the Gateway Conference 2024, scheduled to be held at its Southlake campus, has been cancelled.
The conference has been a mainstay of Gateway for more than a decade, drawing “thousands of church pastors, leaders and staff . . . to bless, empower and equip the local church,” according to the event’s Facebook page.
However, in June, Morris resigned from the church he founded in 2000, after a 54-year-old Oklahoma woman alleged she was sexually molested by the preacher between 1982 and 1987, as reported by The Roys Report (TRR).
Cindy Clemishire was 12-years old, when Morris, then a 21-year-old traveling evangelist, allegedly molested the preteen on Christmas Day 1982.
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Also recently resigning from Gateway was Morris’ son, James Morris, who was destined to take over Gateway in 2025, and three Gateway Church elders.
“Our congregation and staff are in the midst of navigating Robert Morris’ resignation and the emotions surrounding it,” Gateway said in a statement. “We are deeply sorry for the pain this situation caused the survivor, other survivors of abuse, and the Church at large.
“As we seek to navigate this season in a healthy way and in a manner that promotes healing for everyone affected, we believe it best to not hold Gateway Conference this year.”
The statement adds that full refunds would be issued.
YouTube shows sermons from the conference dating back to 2012.
In 2014, the conference made headlines for platforming Mark Driscoll, who had recently resigned from Mars Hill Church after an internal investigation found Driscoll guilty of “arrogance, responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading . . . in a domineering manner.”
At the conference, Morris affirmed Driscoll and told attendees “most of what you read is not true.”

Past Gateway Conferences also frequently included leaders from the Association of Related Churches (ARC), which maintained a close relationship with Morris. ARC Lead Team Member and Church of the Highlands (COTH) Pastor Chris Hodges, regularly spoke at Gateway Conferences. Other ARC Lead Team members, like Todd Mullins and Miles McPherson, were also featured at past Gateway Conferences.
ARC has been embroiled in numerous sexual scandals over the years. And as recently as 2021, ARC platformed both Morris and Driscoll at an ARC Preaching Conference. Morris served as an overseer COTH but resigned in the wake of his sex abuse scandal.
Past Gateway Conferences have also featured many top charismatic speakers like Christine Caine, Joyce Meyer, and Bethel Church Pastor Bill Johnson.
Louie Giglio of Passion City Church, Elevation Church Pastor Steven Furtick, and Life.Church Pastor Craig Groeschel have also spoken at prior conferences, as has Tony Evans, who recently resigned from his church “due to sin.”
Sheila Stogsdill contributed to this report.
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
7 Responses
This “church” just needs to stop existing. Period. Its a Mammon based cult. No real Jesus has ever been allowed. He does attend that which is run by child molesters. To suggest otherwise is simply pure heresy.
It could be worse, but we’d almost have to be trying to make it so. Christian leaders need alone time with their wives ONLY!! That’s unless you count their kids, their mama or grandma. Maybe include all ladies over 80? Make that 90. We’ve become a laughing stock for the whole world. Self discipline will work…IF we want it to. That’s a HUGE if. Have every man agree to never be alone with a woman, and this will NEVER happen again. It’s easy, but we won’t fix it. Will we?
I’ve followed this website long enough to know that you are adamant about the “Billy Graham Rule.” Here are some different thoughts on that issue that might be worth considering. https://baremarriage.com/2023/08/why-the-billy-graham-rule-can-be-harmful-for-women/
The Billy Graham rule is degrading to both men and women, and reduces men to ONLY a sexual urge and women to ONLY a sexual temptation.
Instead of hiring people for ministry who are unable to be alone with members of the sex they are attracted to without lusting after them, how about we start hiring people with some self control, who are able to be alone with ANYONE and not consider them an object to be lusted after? Seems like a better, more biblical, plan.
Self control is a choice, Jen, and some people are going to make the choice to not to develop any self control or they will expect others to accommodate their choice to not do anything. We’ve removed accountability from culture and replaced it with accommodation, so why should anyone do anything that they do not want to do?
The real question is what do we about people who are unable or unwilling to exercise self control? What then? It’s their choice, is it not?
In the original comment, Eric Drexil Holland is advocating the Billy Graham Rule be required for Christian leaders.
Frank Wunder – are you saying that Christian leaders are making a choice to not develop any self control? Isn’t self control a fruit of the Spirit? Why would we expect a Christian leader to not have self control?
I was struck by the list of “celebrity” pastors that came to speak at Gateway. I hope our religious culture works more and more to step away from the megachurch. Yes, some pastors want to be platformed. There are also people in the pews who want to be entertained. I think we have all gotten it somewhat wrong. Here’s hoping we will someday return to smaller, caring churches with good teaching that aren’t entertainment factories or wealth-building machines (or political rallies, but that’s a separate discussion.)