Dee Parsons writes for The Wartburg Watch and broke the news of Clemishire’s allegations against Morris. She expects the church to lose around 10% to 20% of its congregation, but thinks it will ultimately weather the storm.

“I’m not convinced Morris is out of the game yet,” she said. “I think he is the church, and I have a feeling he’s part of the infrastructure of the church.”

She said that while even more members may “trickle out” over time, there are enough “true believers” to keep the church going even after Morris’ demise.

“He was grooming his church by talking about repentance and forgiveness and, ‘Oh, by the way, the devil made me do it, there are demons and so forth.’ He’s very, very clever,” she said. “I think he has a fair number of people who actually believe that that was too long ago, and he’s been restored, and what’s the big deal?”

Gateway Church did not respond to voicemails, email and social media messages requesting comment.

What are Gateway’s ‘restoration’ and ‘freedom ministry,’ and how do they work?

According to an internal memo circulated among Gateway staff that was leaked to the watchdog blog Watchkeep, Morris claimed to have undergone a two-year period of “restoration” after Clemishire’s family became aware of the abuse in 1987.

The memo included a statement attributed to Morris in which he referred to 12-year-old Clemsishire as “a young lady” and said the abuse involved “kissing and petting and not intercourse.”

The elders at the church where he served at the time advised him to take a leave of absence and “receive counseling and freedom ministry,” he said.

“Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area,” he said.

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