“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses
2005: Gateway Church was allegedly notified that Cindy Clemishire was 12 years old when Robert Morris molested her.
(I use allegedly for the lawyers. However, I believe Cindy Clemishire.)
On 6/18/24, I posted A Statement by Cindy Clemishire in Response to Yesterday’s Elders’ Statement from Gateway. Cindy made the following statement:
The leadership at Gateway received actual notice of this crime in 2005 when I sent an email directly to Robert Morris’ Gateway email address. Former Gateway elder, Tom Lane, received and responded to my email, acknowledging that the sexual abuse began on December 25, 1982, when I was 12 years old. Again in 2007, my then attorney Gentner Drummond (the current Attorney General of Oklahoma) sent a letter to Robert Morris with the hope that he would help reimburse me for the thousands of dollars I had expended in counseling as a result of this abuse. His attorney acknowledged the dates as well and then attempted to blame me for the abuse. At the very least, both the Gateway pastor and at least one elder had specific notice that I was sexually abused beginning when I was 12 years old. Gateway had the information but intentionally decided to embrace the false narrative Robert Morris wanted them to believe.
In this statement, we learn that notice of the crime was allegedly sent to Robert Morris. Tom Lane, an elder, received and responded to this email. I want to know if Tom Lane handled messy or upsetting emails for Robert Morris.
2009: Andrea allegedly attempted to speak with Robert Morris about chat group messages from Cindy about being molested as a child but got Tom Lane and the now missing David Smith instead. Tom Lane to the rescue once again, maybe?
The following is a chronological account provided by a former member of Gateway. Since she wishes to be anonymous in this post, I will call her Andrea. In 2009, Andrea saw the following comment on the Oprah Winfrey message board: “clmccaleb” was Cindy Clemishire, and “lucy77777” was Andrea, a member of Gateway. Andrea quickly understood that Cindy was speaking about a pastor at Gateway.
Andrea claimed she was disturbed by Cindy’s disclosure that she was molested by this pastor and asked her to clarify which pastor abused her. Was it the senior pastor, or was it another pastor on staff?
Cindy quickly clarified that she was speaking about Andrea’s senior pastor at Gateway, Robert Morris.
Andrea attempted to contact Robert Morris but got no response from him. She sent him a screenshot from the above chat.
From:
To: “robert@gatewaypeople.com” <robert@gatewaypeople.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 12:58:40 PM CST
Subject: Private — message for Pastor Morris from Gateway member
Pastor Robert,
My husband and I are Gateway members, and this has been my church home for the past 6 years. I want to first thank you for your Bible-based, practical teaching and for helping to build such a dynamic, Christ-centered church. We absolutely love it here.
Because of my respect for you and Gateway, I was very surprised to read a post on an Internet message board in response to the Ted Haggard appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show yesterday. This person made some off-hand comments involving you that I was very taken aback by. I have no desire to listen to false rumors, so I wanted to ask you directly about this. (See attached PDF document for the correspondence. There are 3 pages — one post/e-mail per page.)
Of course, I don’t want to believe that these comments are true. I remember you mentioning that you had a dark past before getting saved, but these events supposedly happened after that. Usually, when I read something negative about someone I respect, I am able to gloss over it, assuming that it’s false. However, having read these person’s comments and explanation, I’m having a hard time figuring out what to think about this information. It doesn’t seem to be someone who is out to slander Gateway, as they didn’t mention you by name until they sent me a private message in response to my inquiry.
Obviously, the private details of your life are your own business. But this was something that I felt I had to share with you, because — as I’m sure you understand — reading this about your pastor and leader is hard to swallow. And just forgetting about it without coming to some kind of conclusion is impossible. In addition, I think it’s important that you know someone is saying this about you in a forum that is widely read (message boards on Oprah’s Web site).
I look forward to your reply. Again, I’m just trying to make heads or tails of this. That’s why I contacted you directly and privately. Thank you again for your awesome preaching and leadership of Gateway.
Blessings,
(name redacted)
She allegedly heard from Steve Dulin, who is currently an elder, but her husband became sick, and they needed to reschedule. Tom Lane stepped in and said he and David Smith would meet with them instead.
Sent: Sunday, February 8, 2009 at 04:03:05 PM CST
Subject: Re: Time to meet
I have us down for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14, per our phone conversation. My husband and I will meet you under the overhang/drive-thru entrance that faces 1709.
Thanks for taking the time to meet with us. We really appreciate it. Have a good week, and we’ll see you then.
— On Sat, 2/7/09, Tom Lane <tom.lane@gatewaystaff.com> wrote:
From: Tom Lane
Subject: Time to meet
To: gg
Date: Saturday, February 7, 2009, 1:45 PM(name redacted),
I understand that you had a time set to meet with Steve Dulin last weekend but your husband got sick. I am sorry that it is Saturday and I now contacting you. Are you planning on being at services this weekend and if so would you like to set a time to meet while you are in town for the services. I think Steve mentioned that he would have me contact you to set a time to meet. Let me know what service you are coming to and I will try and set a time to meet around that so it is convenient for you.
Blessings,
Tom LaneExecutive Senior Pastor
Gateway Church
Andrea, who was in her 20s, became concerned when the elders claimed that they did not know Cindy’s age at the time of the molestation.
In the statement, the elders claim they did not have all the facts relating to the alleged sexual assault, including Clemishire’s age at the time and the length of the abuse.
“The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ‘a young lady’ and not [the] abuse of a 12-year-old child,” the statement reads. “We are heartbroken and appalled by what has come to light over the past few days, and we express our deep sympathy to the victim and her family. For the sake of the victim, we are thankful this situation has been exposed.
She shared her concerns on social media, and I contacted her. She graciously agreed to speak with me.
Andrea’s recollection of this meeting: It was a consensual relationship.
The following are the allegations she made in our discussion. I believe her.
- They claimed that the church was aware of the claims, which they said “popped up” every few years.
- They implied that Morris and Cindy were young, but she was slightly younger, but this was a consensual relationship.
- Pastor Robert reportedly wanted to share about this immoral incident.
- Lane and Smith felt it was not necessary to share about this situation.
- She suspected something was up when Tom Lane and David Smith wanted to meet with her since they were very high up in the organization. Along with Steve Dulin, they were among the top 3-4 folks under Morris.
- She was young and not well known at the church, so she believed they were pretty concerned about her interest in the matter.
- She and her husband left believing Cindy was old enough to consent to a relationship with Morris.
Who is telling the truth?
Cindy allegedly contacted Robert Morris and the elders of Gateway in 2005, telling them about her molestation and stressing that she was 12 when the molestation began. She claims to have received an email from Tom Lane acknowledging her age. I wouldn’t be surprised that the ever-willing stand-in, Tom Lane, may have known about Cindy’s lawyer’s contact again in 2007, asking Morris for what seems to be a paltry sum of money to pay for her counseling sessions. This was refused by Morris, who, according to the attorney, claimed that Cindy was “flirtatious.”
The elders claim they knew nothing about her age. Why don’t I believe them?
Finally
Cindy was clear that Tom Lane, at the minimum, knew about her age in 2005. Yet, in 2009, he allegedly told Andrea that she was older. I think he appears to be a good company man. I wonder how he feels about that late at night. But maybe he, too, has been walking in “purity.”
Andrea showed genuine love and concern for Cindy’s welfare. She expressed to me that back then, she was “brainwashed” to respect and submit to authority. It did not cross her mind that they might not be telling her the truth.
I think Andrea showed more guts than the elders in this narrative. I believe Andrea, and I believe Cindy. As for Tom Lane and Robert Morris, well, I think you get my drift.
