Gateway Church has fired a lead pastor, the latest high-profile departure at the Southlake-based megachurch.
Kemtal Glasgow, who served as an executive pastor at the Southlake campus, was fired after a “moral issue,” church elder Tra Willbanks said in a video posted Wednesday.
Willbanks said Glasgow was removed from his position on Monday.
“We were informed last week of a moral issue which we believe as elders disqualify him from serving in the role he had at Gateway,” Willbanks said.
The church didn’t offer further details.
“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,” Willbanks said.
He said Frisco campus pastor Adana Wilson will replace Glasgow in overseeing the megachurch’s campuses across North Texas. Glasgow has also been removed from Gateway’s Church Leadership page as of Wednesday.
Glasgow’s firing comes after founding pastor Robert Morris resigned in June after child sexual abuse allegations surfaced. His accuser, Cindy Clemshire, said the abuse began in 1982 when she was 12 years old and continued for nearly five years. Church elders have since launched an internal investigation.
Morris’s son and wife stepped down from their positions shortly after Morris resigned, along with three church elders.
Founding elder Steve Dulin also resigned from his position in late July but didn’t give a reason for leaving. Church elders said they “decided to go in a different direction” from Dulin.
The church has also been named in multiple lawsuits, the most recent from a woman who said she was groomed and sexually assaulted during youth group by another member when she 13 years old.
The woman said the church did nothing to prevent the series of assaults over the span of three months despite multiple surveillance cameras in the area in which the abuse occurred.
Penelope Rivera is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Penelope at privera@kera.org.
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