Gateway Church will eliminate Saturday services at most of its campuses as it continues to navigate its future after founder Robert Morris' resignation amid a child sex abuse investigation, the church said in a statement. 

The church said it will start eliminating those services at the end of the month. 

A statement from Gateway reads, in part:

"As we continue to strengthen our relationship with the Gateway Church family and community, we're making a shift at several of our DFW campuses by hosting our church services on Sundays only. Our Southlake campus will continue to offer both Saturday and Sunday services, and midweek services will remain to serve our communities at all our campuses. This adjustment will allow us to minister to and love our congregation well while prioritizing the needs of our individual campus communities."

The Southlake-based megachurch has previously acknowledged decreased attendance. The church is also dealing with a drop in donations after Morris' resignation.

Gateway Church announces staff layoffs

Gateway previously said it would lay off some staff, which could begin later this month. 

In a letter to the congregation, Gateway elders said tithing "has not mirrored attendance" due to the issues with Morris.

The letter assured members that despite the challenges, the church maintains strong financial and accounting records. But after church leadership evaluated the situation, they determined "restructuring of our staff is necessary, requiring the tough but necessary step of staff reduction."

Sexual abuse allegations against Morris

In March 2025, Oklahoma prosecutors charged Morris with five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child stemming from the allegations made by the victim, Clemishire. Morris has since pleaded not guilty.

Clemishire claims Morris abused her from the age of 12 to 17. Morris was a traveling evangelist in his 20s and had become close to Clemishire's family.

When the story broke, Gateway church elders said Morris disclosed to them he'd had an extramarital affair, but not that he had allegedly abused a young girl. Morris and the church had also said that Morris underwent "a two-year restoration process" that included him "stepping out of the ministry during that period." 

On June 12, Clemishire and her father filed a lawsuit against Morris, his wife and several current and former Gateway leaders, alleging that they knew about Morris' deceit.

"For almost 40 years, Robert Morris and the leadership at Gateway have tried to blame me and put this in a flippant light of a relationship instead of what it was-a brutal crime against a 12-year-old child," said Clemishire. "My childhood and the woman I would have become died that day in 1982. The person who abused me and the people who blatantly covered it up deserve to be held accountable. My hope is that bringing awareness to my case will help other victims and survivors feel hope, because the person who did this to me-and the people who enabled him and covered it up for decades-are being held accountable."    

Legal battle between Gateway and Morris

Legal documents filed in May revealed that 63-year-old Morris is demanding millions of dollars in payment and retirement benefits from the church following his 2024 resignation. He stepped away after allegations resurfaced that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl, identified as Cindy Clemishire, in the 1980s.

Church lawyers wrote in the court filing that "amid the chaos of his conduct had unleashed upon Gateway and his community, Morris was laser-focused on securing his financial future."

In September 2024, Morris' attorney sent a letter to Gateway that included a demand of more than $1 million that had accrued in Morris's retirement account, and claimed that the elders verbally promised him a retirement benefit of $800,000 per year until he turned 70.

However, according to a retirement compensation agreement included in the court filing, the church would pay Morris $170,000 per year for 20 years.