Gateway Church and founder Robert Morris agree to dismiss retirement pay lawsuit
.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 Friday, May 9, 2025.")
Southlake’s Gateway Church and its founder, Robert Morris, have agreed to dismiss a yearlong, multi-million-dollar lawsuit over Morris’ retirement pay, according to court documents.
Filed Friday in Tarrant County, the agreement comes weeks after Morris was released from an Oklahoma prison after serving a six-month sentence for child sexual abuse.
“The parties have reached agreement on an appropriate arbitration forum to resolve their dispute and will now proceed in that forum and not in state court,” Morris’ attorney, Bill Mateja, said in a statement on Tuesday. “Thus, the state court proceeding was dismissed.”
The parties agreed to dismiss the suit without prejudice, and for each side to cover any expenses incurred over the course of the action.
Morris, the North Texas megachurch’s former senior pastor, was seeking a $1 million one-time payment, and annual payments of $600,000 to $800,000 for the rest of his and his wife, Debbie’s, lives, the Star-Telegram previously reported.
Gateway Church had declined to pay, citing contract terms and a “defiantly unapologetic” stance by Morris in relation to the allegations against him. Morris countered, arguing that the church was using the allegations to get out of paying him the benefits package.
Another lawsuit filed against Morris and the church by the abuse victim, Cindy Clemishire, is still pending. Clemishire was 12 years old in the 1980s when Morris began abusing her, she has said.
