Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, has added four new interim elders to its leadership team months after purging multiple elders from their ranks who were aware of a past child sex abuse claim against the church’s former leader and founder, Robert Morris, but did not make it known to the congregation.
The church confirmed with The Christian Post on Monday that the announcement of the four new elders was made to members via an unlisted YouTube video on Jan. 28 in which Tra Willbanks, one of three current elders at the megachurch, also noted that they also almost selected a new senior pastor “a few weeks ago” as well.
In the video, Willbanks told congregants, “I thought we were close to finding our senior pastor a few weeks ago. Ultimately, it didn’t work [out], and that’s OK. I’m not discouraged by that at all because I want — and I know you do too — this person to be who the Lord has for Gateway, and we’re working through a process of some potential candidates right now.”
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“You might get tired of me saying this, but this is something we want to get right, not fast. And we can say with confidence that Gateway will continue to have a senior pastor who casts vision for our church and that that vision will be affirmed by the elders.”
Willbanks then introduced the new interim elders as Oscar Morales, Brad Moore, Randy McFarland and Mark Mueller. The men are expected to serve for an initial period of six months and if they are found to be a good fit, Willbanks said they would continue to serve.
“They have agreed to serve on an interim basis for six months to make sure it’s a fit for both parties. At the end of that six months they will continue in their service as elders,” Willbanks said of the men who were recommended by both church staff and members for the role.
“While that’s not a normal practice for Gateway, given the short time we had to get to know everyone, we thought this was a wise approach,” he said of the test run for the elders.
The new interim elders are expected to be formally introduced to the congregation during weekend services on Feb. 8-9.
“These men have graciously accepted this role knowing the challenges we’ve experienced over the past six months,” Willbanks said in the video.
Mueller, who has been involved in small groups at Gateway Church’s Justin campus, served in children’s ministry and has “actively led mission trips on behalf of Gateway,” Willbanks said. He is also the chief financial officer at Sower of Seeds International Ministries Inc.
Morales has served on Gateway Church’s worship team, according to Willbanks, but he is also president and CEO of CPAP Services. It is a company he owns with his wife, Isela, which provides breathing machines for the treatment of sleep apnea. The couple manage more than 60 employees with stores in California and Texas, according to the biography on their personal website. They also write and record their own music.
Moore has served as lead deacon at Gateway Church’s Frisco campus and is also an owner at Moore Insurance Group, an independent insurance agency.
McFarland attends Gateway Church’s main Southlake campus, where he has been involved with leading marriage groups and helping with the children’s ministry.
Willbanks’ announcement of the new interim elders comes nearly three months after he presented an overview of a four-month internal investigation led by the law firm Haynes & Boone into allegations that Morris sexually assaulted Cindy Clemishire for more than four years beginning when she was 12 in the 1980s.
Morris resigned from Gateway Church on June 18, just days after Clemishire reported that he began sexually abusing her on Dec. 25, 1982. She said the abuse continued for four-and-a-half years before it came to light. But Morris was later allowed to return to ministry.
When questioned about the allegations by The Christian Post, Morris initially confessed to being involved in “inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady” more than 35 years ago, and said he repented and was restored to ministry.
Elders at Gateway Church, who commissioned the independent investigation into Clemishire’s allegations, initially defended Morris and stated that the pastor, who was a married, traveling evangelist at the time of the alleged abuse, had already repented and was biblically restored to ministry.
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