Cindy Clemishire defamation suit against Gateway Church set for trial next year
.JPG "Gateway Church founder Robert Morris enters the Osage County Courthouse in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, accompanied by his wife, Debbie Morris, and his attorney, Mack Martin, on May 9, 2025.")
A Dallas County jury is set to determine the fate of a disgraced former North Texas pastor in a potentially multi-million dollar defamation case next summer, according to a court document filed this week.
Jurors will convene June 15, 2026, in an eighth-floor courtroom at the George L. Allen Sr. Courts Building to determine whether Robert Morris, the former lead pastor of Southlake’s Gateway Church, profited off of concealing his alleged sexual abuse of a child in the 1980s, according to court records.
His accuser, Cindy Clemishire, now an adult, filed the lawsuit along with her father last month, the Star-Telegram previously reported. The Clemishires are seeking total civil damages in excess of $1 million.
Morris might not be the only party responsible for paying if the jury sides with the Clemishires: Also named in the lawsuit are Gateway Church, Morris’ wife, nine former Gateway employees and elders, and the Robert Morris Evangelistic Association, which is Morris’ nonprofit organization, according to court documents.
Former Gateway elder Gayland Lawshe, who is one of the defendants named in Clemishire’s suit, denied the allegations leveled against him in court documents filed July 25. Lawshe was initially placed on a leave of absence following Clemishire’s public revelation of the abuse last June and was later dismissed after an internal investigation found he knew about Morris’ actions prior to public disclosure, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
Morris is currently embroiled in another lawsuit out of Tarrant County. In that case, Morris alleges that Gateway is using Clemishire’s allegations to avoid paying him a multi-million dollar retirement package.
Morris also faces five felony charges of indecency with a child in an Oklahoma criminal court in connection with his alleged abuse of Clemishire.
Attorneys for Morris and Clemishire and officials with Gateway Church could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday about the trial date in the Clemishires’ lawsuit.
