Southlake’s embattled Gateway Church appoints new senior pastor
Southlake’s Gateway Church has named a new senior pastor 11 months after its founder resigned amid sexual abuse allegations, a scandal that led other church leaders to step down.
The North Texas megachurch announced that Pastor Daniel Floyd and his wife, Tammy Floyd, have accepted the position of senior pastor during Sunday morning’s service.
“We are so honored and humbled to be stepping into this new role that’s right for us. This isn’t just a new assignment, it’s a sacred calling,” Daniel Floyd said in a video during the May 25 service.
Daniel and Tammy Floyd have been the founding and senior pastors of Life Point Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, since 2005. The megachurch has five other locations in Virginia.
“We love family. We believe it is our greatest ministry,” Daniel and Tammy Floyd said. “We believe the local church, when it’s mobilized, really is the hope of the world, and we are so expectant to join you in continuing to advance the Kingdom of God.”
Daniel Floyd has a doctorate in ministry from Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida and two master’s degrees from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Tammy Floyd graduated from Liberty with a bachelor’s in education.
The search for new leader started after Robert Morris, the founder and pastor of Gateway Church, one of the largest churches in the United States, resigned in June 2024 after admitting he sexually had abused a child in the 1980s, starting when the girl was 12.
After his resignation, Morris asked Gateway for $1 million and an annual retirement package of $600,000 to $800,000, along with other benefits, according to court documents filed by the church in May.
According to court documents, Gateway refused, referencing contract terms and what it described as Morris’ “defiantly unapologetic posture.”
Morris has since been indicted in Oklahoma on related child sexual abuse charges and faces an upcoming preliminary hearing at which prosecutors will present evidence to show probable cause for the criminal case to go to trial.
This story was originally published May 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM.