Wolves Among the Sheep > Gateway removes Elders who failed their calling

 

Well done, Gateway. It's right to expect more from your elders.

Gateway Church removes multiple elders as

Robert Morris abuse investigation concludes

By CP Staff, Sunday, November 03, 2024

Gateway Church in Texas has removed multiple elders as the result of a four-month investigation into allegations the church's founder, Robert Morris, sexually assaulted a minor female for years beginning when she was 12 in the 1980s. 

During a Saturday afternoon service in Southlake, Gateway Elder Tra Willbanks provided an overview of the internal investigation led by the law firm Haynes & Boone related to Morris, launched after his resignation in June following allegations from 54-year-old Cindy Clemishire that he sexually abused her for more than four years beginning on Dec. 25, 1982.

According to Willbanks, all but three of the Gateway elders had some knowledge about Morris' encounter with Clemishire and "failed to inquire further," and some allegedly knew before allegations became public that Clemishire was a child when the abuse occurred. 

"We now know that there were elders and employees at Gateway who knew before June 14, 2024, that Cindy was 12 at the time of the abuse," Willbanks said. "Both groups are fundamentally wrong and simply cannot and will not be tolerated at Gateway Church."

Willbanks didn't disclose the names of elders or employees removed from their positions due to the investigation. However, the photographs of elders Kevin Grove, Thomas Miller, Jeremy Carrasco and Gayland Lawshe are no longer displayed on the Gateway elders webpage as of Sunday afternoon. 

"We have decided to draw a very bright line here based on biblical and moral values and the values of our church family, and we can report to you that as of today, no individual in either group serves as an elder, is employed by or works at Gateway Church," Willbanks said. "They have been removed." 

Willbanks, Dane Minor and Kenneth Fambro continue to serve as elders. All three had not heard of any sexual abuse allegations against Morris until the middle of June when they became public, Willbanks said. 

The Haynes & Boone investigation was completed a few weeks ago, and results were initially presented to a subcommittee of elders formed to receive and act on the findings. 

"What happened to Cindy was heartbreaking and vile, and we denounce any sexual abuse in all of its forms," he said. "We feel deep sorrow for those who have been victimized by such despicable actions, but I do want to take a minute, and I just want to appreciate Cindy for her bravery and for telling her story for helping bring some awareness to this issue. She has positively impacted countless lives."

Willbanks said that over the years, Morris has shared versions of a story that he was "unfaithful in his marriage while he was in his early 20s."

"According to this version, Robert confessed his sin to apostolic leaders in the late 1980s, many years before Gateway Church was formed. He stepped down from ministry for two years and then was restored back into ministry with the blessing of those same apostolic leaders," Willbanks said. "We as a church knew what our former senior pastor had shared publicly. Many people, including myself, simply believed his version of the story."

The elder said Morris had described his story as a "sexual affair." It wasn't until Clemishire shared her story publicly on June 14 that many became aware that Morris' misconduct involved a child as young as 12. 

"On that same evening of June 14th, Robert Morris directed Gateway employees to release a statement that intended to minimize the severity of Cindy's claims in one final attempt to hide the truth," Willbanks said. "As you know, our Gateway Church family was rocked by these revelations. Over the next 48 hours, the elders were able to independently verify critical elements of Cindy's story, enabling us to move swiftly to confront Robert Morris. When we insisted on meeting with him, he immediately resigned. Despite his resignation, we knew that further investigation was needed."

Investigators were given full access to Gateway staff and internal communications. However, the investigation had "certain limitations" as several former senior leaders transitioned out of the church over the last 24 years and were not required to participate in the investigation.

Six individuals declined to meet in person with Haynes & Boone, including Morris.

"In the course of their investigation, Haynes and Boone didn't learn of "any other allegations of sexual assault by Robert Morris," Willbanks said.

In late June, three Gateway elders — Grove, Lawshe and Steve Dulin — voluntarily took a leave of absence. Morris' son, James, also left the church and plans to launch a new church called Passage Church. 

Willbanks told the congregation that Gateway is working on "very significant changes" to the church bylaws. Though it is still a work in progress, the church will no longer have "apostolic elders" because the elders have concluded that "this office of apostolic Elders as designed did not function properly."

"We will no longer have staff members serve as elders with the exception of our future senior pastor and potentially an executive pastor, both of whom might serve in some capacity, but it would be a nonvoting capacity," Willbanks added. 

Willbanks shared that Gateway Church is also dealing with various pending and or threatened litigation matters, as well as financial demands from Robert Morris that it plans to reject. Gateway is also cooperating with a criminal investigation.

Wolves Among the Sheep > Watching a megachurch in self-destruct mode

 

Gateway Church Executive Pastor Kemtal Glasgow

fired for ‘moral issue’ elders won’t disclose

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, August 22, 2024

Kemtal Glasgow, Gateway Church’s executive pastor who provided leadership and oversight to all of the megachurch’s campuses and gathering locations, has been fired due to a “moral issue,” the Southlake, Texas-based church announced Wednesday.

Tra Willbanks, a longtime Gateway Church elder, made the announcement in a video posted on YouTube.

“As of Monday this week, Kemtal Glasgow is no longer employed at Gateway. We were informed last week of a moral issue which we believe, as elders, disqualifies him from serving in the role that he had at Gateway,” Willbanks said.

“We love his family. We love his wife and his kids, and we want to come alongside them during this difficult time and help them find restoration and healing that they need as a family,” he added. “We would ask that you, as a church, would pray for them as well.”

Adana Wilson, the campus pastor of Gateway Church Frisco, will take over Glasgow’s role, Willbanks said.

Are you sure you want to do this, Adana?

When asked to clarify Glasgow’s “moral issue,” Lawrence Swicegood, Gateway Church’s executive director, was quick to point out that it has “nothing to do with the departure of Robert Morris nor related to those circumstances.” 

“At Gateway, it’s our deepest desire for every staff member to lead a life of integrity, both in their personal and professional lives. It recently came to light that Kemtal Glasgow had a moral failure, so we’ve asked him to step down as a pastor at Gateway and devote time to his marriage and family,” Swicegood told The Christian Post on Thursday.

Since Morris’ resignation, Gateway Church has undertaken an independent investigation into the allegations made against him and several key leaders of the church have followed him out the door.

These include founding elder Steve Dulin, who is alleged to have been fired due to financial abuse and bullying. Morris’ son, James Morris, who had taken the reigns of the megachurch after his father’s resignation, also stepped down last month after spending just weeks in the role. Both James Morris and his wife, Bridgette, left the church.

Gateway elders said they sought the "advice of many well-respected pastors and ministry leaders" about the decision to cut ties with the Morrises, while noting they are confident they will serve as senior leaders of a church in the future.

"We as elders affirm and believe that God has placed a desire in both Pastors James and Bridgette's hearts to serve as senior pastors of a church at some point in the future," the elders said in their statement. "We love Pastors James and Bridgette and their children. We deeply care about them and sincerely thank them for investing their lives here at Gateway Church. They have faithfully and honorably served our congregation and this community through all the years that they have been part of Gateway Church."

Wolves Among the Sheep > Woman recovers memories of CSA by church deacon at age 3; Gateway Church hit with new lawsuit

 

Some people question the validity of repressed memories, but I am not one of them as I remembered suddenly in my mid-thirties being sexually abused at age three. And there was lots of evidence since then that confirms my memories.

Woman recalls alleged sexual abuse at age 3

in Michigan church, lawsuit says

The woman said psychotherapy in her teens helped her recover traumatic memories from when she attended her family’s church in Michigan and on a mission trip.

Aug. 12, 2024, 10:51 AM PDT / Updated Aug. 13, 2024, 2:22 PM PDT

By Erik Ortiz

As a young girl, Marian Ippel was consumed by recurring thoughts and dreams of herself and other children being raped. Her yearly physical provoked fear.

It wasn’t until 2020, after months of therapy to address her anxiety and depression, that the inexplicable feeling of dread began to click: Then 17, she recovered memories, she said, of sexual assault by fellow church members abusing her when she was around 3 and 4 years old.

Now 21, Ippel is accusing her Grand Rapids, Michigan, church of creating a culture that fostered alleged abuse in a lawsuit that is not typical: Her complaint, filed Monday in Kent County Circuit Court, claims harm was done to her at such a young age, while hinging on memories that she says she retrieved later in life.

“Even though it happened almost 20 years ago, it has had a devastating effect on me since then,” Ippel told NBC News, “and that is a big reason why I feel so confident stating the facts and the extensive therapy I’ve gone through.”

Marian Ippel says therapy helped her to recover memories of abuse when she was 3 and 4.Courtesy Marian Ippel

Her lawsuit names as defendants the Grace Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids and affiliates, including the Christian Reformed Church in North America, a Protestant Calvinist Christian denomination also based in Grand Rapids. The suit says the church was responsible for preventing abuse and accuses it of creating an environment that Ippel believes gave a deacon “unfettered access to one-on-one meetings with young children including Plaintiff, who trusted him and Defendants to provide a safe environment for their education and counseling.”

Ippel is seeking a jury trial, damages and court orders that would require the church to investigate others who may have been harmed by her alleged abusers, overhaul its practices and policies, and secure “proper training” for those in positions of authority and who are responsible for minors and other vulnerable people.

“Churches are places where people are supposed to be safe,” she said.

The Grace Christian Reformed Church said in a response Tuesday that it could not provide further detail into ongoing litigation but said it was actively investigating Ippel's case "as we believe all abuse is unacceptable" and "these allegations are deeply troubling to Grace Church and the entire congregation."

The Christian Reformed Church in North America also did not comment specifically about Ippel’s allegations but said in a separate response that it has “developed strict policies and procedures” meant to keep children safe and encourage prompt reporting of abuse.

Lynne Cadigan, an Arizona attorney who has represented victims in Mormon and Catholic church-related sex abuse lawsuits, said recovered memory cases can test the bounds of such litigation because they require judges and juries to scrutinize an accuser’s credibility.

While Ippel is the only person to have come forward publicly against those accused in her suit, her lawyer believes that there are people who have had similar experiences or can help corroborate her account.

“Recovered memory cases are difficult because you may need corroborating evidence, particularly when a child is very young,” Cadigan, who is not associated with Ippel’s case, said. “It requires a lot of investigation into the perpetrator, finding out if there were other victims, other witness statements and could the perpetrator have had the opportunity to do this.”

Abuse allegations

Ippel says the repression of traumatic memories from her childhood was not a conscious decision. She grew up excelling in school, surrounded by a loving family.

“I was an example of someone you thought was a very good kid,” she said.

But inside, the anxiety was overwhelming, according to her lawsuit. She told no one that she felt suicidal. When she was 16, she said, she began counseling. It was through psychotherapy, including an approach known as “Lifespan Integration” therapy, which involves a person going through a timeline of their memories to heal from past trauma, that she says she pieced together what happened.

In her complaint, she alleges how a deacon led her by the hand to the church basement after a Sunday children’s worship service in 2006. She wore a pink, green and white summer dress, according to the lawsuit. The deacon allegedly sexually assaulted her before having her return upstairs alone, where her parents were distracted.

According to the suit, Ippel’s parents gave her a cookie after church. “Around this same time, Marian’s mother remembers finding blood in Marian’s underwear,” the suit says, “but could not fathom why this was so.”

The deacon named in the complaint died in 2010 at age 66.

For more on this story please link to:

The Christian Reformed Church in North America

Gateway Church hit with new lawsuit alleging

child sex abuse of youth group member

By S.E. Jenkins

Updated on: August 15, 2024 / 7:50 PM CDT / CBS Texas

TARRANT COUNTY — The North Texas megachurch embroiled in controversy over its founder's alleged child sex abuse is facing another lawsuit involving accusations of abuse by a youth group member.

Gateway Church recently settled a 2020 lawsuit alleging child sex abuse.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Tarrant County accuses a member of the Gateway Church youth group of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl repeatedly on church grounds. The lawsuit alleges the assaults began in 2016.

According to the lawsuit, the then 13-year-old regularly attended youth group meetings at The King's University in Southlake with roughly 200 other members ranging in age from 11 years old to 18 years old. One of those members was then 17-year-old Gabriel Snyder, according to the lawsuit.

In late 2016, the lawsuit alleges Snyder began grooming the child during youth group meetings, using "biblical beliefs and teachings of ... Gateway's pastor and ministers" to convince the 13-year-old that it was God's will she submit to him as a female.

The lawsuit claims Snyder sexually assaulted the child multiple times in December 2016, taking her "into the darkness outside The King's University." 

The assaults on the campus continued into February 2017, where surveillance cameras were in place on the building above the areas where the assaults allegedly took place, according to the lawsuit. By this time, Snyder had turned 18 years old.   

No one ever came to the child's aid, the suit alleges.

The child, who is now an adult, and her parents are suing Snyder and Gateway Church for over $1 million for assault, negligence and damages.

They claim Gateway was negligent as a provider of youth services and failed to safeguard against child abuse. The lawsuit also claims that as "devout and active members" of the church, a "special" or "confidential" relationship was established between the family and Gateway. According to the suit, Gateway breached that relationship with twisted behavior, causing emotional and mental damage.

The church's behavior also constitutes fraud, the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit alleges the girl was not Snyder's only victim within the youth group. He is currently serving prison time at the Hightower Unit in Dayton, Texas, for the sexual assault of a child. 

Snyder has not been charged criminally in relation to this lawsuit.

A trial by jury was requested.

CBS News Texas reached out to Gateway Church and Snyder's lawyer and are waiting for a response.

The King's University was founded by the late Dr. Jack Hayford, who also served as an apostolic elder of Gateway Church, the university's website states, and it partnered with Gateway Church.

Continue reading this story at the following link:

Gateway Church's 2020 lawsuit