Former Gateway Church members seek to revive dismissed donations lawsuit
A group of former Gateway Church members who sued over the church's handling of millions of dollars in donations has asked a federal appeals court to reverse a lower court's dismissal of the case.
In June, a federal judge ruled against Katherine and Garry Leach, finding that federal courts could not weigh in on how churches spend their donations, citing First Amendment protections.
On July 17, attorneys for the Leaches filed their appeal with the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. There was no indication of the grounds on which they plan to challenge the ruling.
Concerns over donations
The dispute centers on tithes, donations in which church members give 10% of their income to the organization. The former members accused Gateway of giving less than it promised to the local, national, and global ministries it supports, and said Morris had promised the church would give people their money back.
Morris has denied the allegations and said in a statement last month that while he was pastor, "tithe monies were faithfully and properly stewarded."
A Gateway spokesman declined to comment Thursday on the latest filing.
Morris' attorney confident on appeal
Bill Mateja, an attorney for Robert Morris, said he was confident the appellate court would uphold the lower court's decision.
"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," Mateja said.
Morris resigned as lead pastor of Gateway Church in June 2024 after allegations surfaced that he sexually abused a young girl in Oklahoma in the 1980s, beginning when she was 12.
In October 2025, Morris pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child and was sentenced to six months in the Osage County, Oklahoma, jail.
Since his release in March, Morris has been required to register as a sex offender.
The woman Morris was convicted of abusing, Cindy Clemishire, has filed a $1 million defamation suit against Morris, the church, former and current elders, and a former church employee in Dallas County. That case has not yet gone to trial.
