Robert Morris, who founded and led Gateway Church for nearly 25 years in the affluent Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake, Texas, resigned after the scandal came to light in June. His exit sent thousands of evangelicals into a season of struggle that has lasted months.

Last week, a pastor who oversaw all of Gateway’s campuses departed amid an undisclosed “moral issue,” becoming the latest in a series of changes for the church: The cancellation of its annual conference. The departure of Morris’ successor. The renaming of its Houston campus and an exodus of worshippers.

At each weekend service, worshippers continue to face reminders of the scandal, with interim or guest pastors kicking off their sermons saying “I’m sorry,” talking about grief or finding hope in difficult times. They’ve noticed people who have sat and prayed around them for years are once again not showing up for service.

The church has seen a decrease of 17% to 19% in weekend services attendance, a church spokesperson told CNN.

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    44
    ·
    20 days ago

    Not covered in this story: The church leadership says hey he told us about it but we thought it was with a “young lady” and whatevs it was all cool, we’re as shocked as you are it is horrible

    The victim says what the fuck I have been telling them about it FOR YEARS NOW

    • InverseParallax@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      19 days ago

      Church: “Curses! And I would have gotten away with it to, if it weren’t for you meddling reporters and the fact that the victim wasn’t a girl!”