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   CNN   
    —   
   A Dallas-area megachurch accepted the resignation of senior pastor Robert   
   Morris on Tuesday after allegations of a past inappropriate relationship   
   with a 12-year-old surfaced last week.   
      
   In a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WFAA, the Board of Elders of   
   Gateway Church said that prior to June 14, they didn’t have all the facts of   
   the abuse.   
      
   The board said it has retained a law firm to conduct an independent review   
   of the report of past abuse to fully understand the events that took place   
   from 1982-1987.   
      
   “The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital   
   relationship, which he discussed many times throughout his ministry, was   
   with ‘a young lady’ and not abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the statement   
   reads.   
      
   “Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as   
   leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that   
   we now have.”   
      
   The elders said they were “heartbroken and appalled” and expressed sympathy   
   to the victim and her family.   
      
   The woman, Cindy Clemishire, told WFAA the abuse started on Christmas Day in   
   1982 and continued until 1987, when she told her parents. The Wartburg   
   Watch, a church watchdog blog, first reported her account Friday.   
      
   “When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in inappropriate sexual   
   behavior with a young lady in a home where I was staying. It was kissing and   
   petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. This behavior happened on   
   several occasions over the next few years,” the pastor said in a statement.   
      
   Morris’ behavior was “brought to light” in 1987 while he was a pastor at   
   Shady Grove Church in Grand Prairie, which has since become one of Gateway   
   Church’s 11 locations, WFAA reported.   
      
   “In March of 1987, this situation was brought to light, and it was confessed   
   and repented of. I submitted myself to the Elders of Shady Grove Church and   
   the young lady’s father. They asked me to step out of ministry and receive   
   counseling and freedom ministry, which I did. Since that time, I have walked   
   in purity and accountability in this area,” Morris said in his statement,   
   adding he and his wife met with the survivor and her family in 1989.   
      
   “I asked their forgiveness, and they graciously forgave me,” he said.   
      
   Clemishire told WFAA that though her family forgave him, they never   
   supported Morris returning to the ministry.   
      
   “I think leaders can get caught up and think it’s our responsibility to   
   protect God and it’s not. Our responsibility is to protect the people,” she   
   added. “God is bigger than all of that.”   
      
   https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/18/us/robert-morris-gateway-church-sexual-   
   abuse-allegations-resignation/index.html   
      
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