A lawsuit claiming Gateway Church and its former founding pastor Robert Morris mishandled church donations can proceed, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Gateway and Robert Morris' motions to be dismissed from the suit were denied, which were filed last November. The judge also allowed a request to add more former members to the suit.
"We think the judge made the right decision in his rulings," Lance Livingston, an attorney for the former church members, wrote in a statement to KERA News Friday. "It'll allow us to start moving the case forward with discovery and start working towards getting justice for the former church members."
KERA News reached out to Gateway and will update this story with any response.
The suit, filed Oct. 4, alleges Morris and other Gateway leaders told their congregation 15%, or $15 million of its $100 million annual church revenue, would be distributed to global missions and Jewish ministry partners. But the former church members claim that promise wasn’t upheld and don’t know where those tithes went.
An unnamed church member and public accountant for Gateway alleged only $3 million of annual revenue was given to global missions and ministries — and it’s unclear where the rest of the tithes went.
The suit claims Morris also previously promised in sermons congregants could get their money back if they were unhappy, and that this promise created a contract under Texas law — the terms of which were not upheld.
Gateway in November argued they should be dismissed from the suit because, among several claims, the former church members did not make a legitimate claim in their suit. It pointed to the ongoing sexual abuse case against Morris as a reason for former members' dissatisfaction.
"Disgruntled by misconduct allegations that came to light this summer, Plaintiffs lashed out at Gateway and its former elders, seeking to claw back their freely given tithing donations," court documents read.
It also claimed courts could not involve themselves in church matters or how they spend tithes under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine — a legal principle derived from the First Amendment protecting religious institutions from government interference.
But Wednesday's order found Gateway has not proven the church donations in dispute were approved by a committee based on the religious doctrine, nor has the megachurch said where the donations went at all.
In June 2024, Morris was accused of sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s for more than four years. He now faces criminal charges along with a civil lawsuit from his accuser, Cindy Clemishire, on those claims. Gateway and its elders were also named in that suit for allegedly covering up the abuse for years and defaming Clemishire.
Gateway saw a drop in attendance and church tithes following the scandal against its now disgraced founding pastor. The megachurch said last November tithes were down between 35% and 40% at that time.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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