Former Gateway Church members are asking an appellate court to reverse a previous decision dismissing their financial fraud lawsuit against the megachurch, according to recent court records.
Attorneys for those church members requested a motion to appeal July 17 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, court filings show.
The federal suit accused Gateway, former founding pastor Robert Morris and former senior pastor Steve Dulin of mishandling up to $15 million in church donations, or tithes.
“Just as we were confident that the trial court would dismiss the case because courts of law have no business adjudicating matters of the church and church business, we’re equally confident that the court of appeals will do the same,” Bill Mateja, an attorney for Morris, said in an email to KERA News Thursday.
KERA News reached out to attorneys for the church members and Gateway and will update this story with any response.
The suit was filed in October 2024 by a group of church members claiming Morris and Dulin told congregants 15% of its $100 million annual church revenue would be distributed to global missions and Jewish ministry partners. The former church members claimed that wasn't true and don't know where their donations went.
But a federal judge in June agreed with Gateway and Morris' argument that courts cannot involve themselves in church matters or how they spend tithes. The megachurch had pointed to the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine — a legal rule stemming from the First Amendment protecting religious institutions from government interference.
Morris praised the court's decision at the time and maintained tithes were never mishandled, according to a statement provided by Mateja.
"I want to be absolutely clear that during my 24 years as Senior Pastor of Gateway Church, tithe monies were faithfully and properly stewarded, and not one dollar was misdirected — not by me, and not by Gateway,” Morris' statement read.
Morris stepped down as lead pastor of Gateway in June 2024 after Cindy Clemishire made statements Morris sexually abused her in the 1980s when she was 12 and he was 22.
He pleaded guilty last October to five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child. Morris was required to serve six months of a 10-year sentence in an Oklahoma jail, where the abuse took place. He was released at the end of March, is a registered sex offender in Texas and required to pay Clemishire $270,000.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
