As Gateway Church church reels over child sex abuse scandal, Houston offshoot changes name

The Houston-area offshoot of Gateway Church will change its name as its parent congregation in Southlake grapples with explosive allegations of child sex abuse levied against its founding pastor.
Gateway Houston, which has churches in the suburbs of Katy and Magnolia, is becoming Newlands Church, the church announced in a video posted to social media over the weekend.
“We believe the best is yet to come, and we can’t wait to see what God has in store as we go on a journey to know God, belong to family, discover purpose, and build the Kingdom,” the church wrote on Facebook.
The name change comes two months after Gateway founding pastor Robert Morris resigned over allegations that he sexually abused an Oklahoma woman, now in her 50s, when she was between the ages of 12 and 17. Morris had previously admitted to a “moral failure” and “inappropriate sexual behavior” early in his marriage and ministry, but church leaders said they thought Morris had engaged in a consensual affair. They have said they did not know how young the woman, Cindy Clemishire, was at the time of the alleged abuse.
Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.
Or with:
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Morris’ daughter and son-in-law, Elaine and Ethan Fisher, opened Gateway Church in 2020 in an old, rundown Toys “R” Us store in Katy. They opened a second location in Magnolia, about a 45-minute drive northwest of Houston.
Neither church leaders in Houston nor Southlake responded to emails or phone calls seeking more information Monday morning, but the Houston church said in the video that it has been considering a name change for the past year and a half.
“As we launched Gateway Houston, it was full of the legacy and heritage of those who have gone before us, and I am truly grateful,” the narrator in the video says. But “God has been speaking to us about creating a distinct, localized identity.”
This is the latest in a string of developments as the Southlake church navigates what church leaders have elders have called “the most challenging time in Gateway’s history.” Earlier this month, the church canceled its annual conference, which typically draws thousands who attend seminars and participate in table talks and workshops.
“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 church wrote in a statement.
Morris’ son, James Morris, previously anointed to lead the church, resigned in July, and at least one founding elder parted ways with the church the same month. Other elders have temporarily stepped down, at the recommendation of a law firm hired to investigate the allegations.
Robert Morris is a prominent televangelist and has been politically active. In 2016, Morris was named as a member of an advisory board — called the Evangelical Executive Advisory Board — for then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The 25-member board was created to advise Trump on “issues important to Evangelicals and other people of faith in America,” according to a Trump campaign news release at the time.
He founded Gateway in 2000, and the church expanded to nine campuses across the Dallas-Fort Worth area and services online. The church has about 100,000 attendees each weekend, according to its website.