SOUTHLAKE (TX)
CBS News [Fort Worth, TX]
August 18, 2025
By Giles Hudson
Gateway Church ushered in a new lead pastor on Saturday, marking a new chapter for one of the nation’s largest churches and a hoped-for end to the controversy that has swirled around the congregation since its founding pastor was forced to step down over child sex abuse allegations.
Before a packed auditorium of some 4,000 people at its Southlake campus, Pastor Daniel Floyd and his wife, Tammie, also a pastor, were prayed over by Gateway’s elders and invited guests.
“Today, with full joy and confidence, we appoint Pastor Daniel as a new lead pastor of Gateway Church, and we commission Pastor Tammie and their family into this new chapter of leadership,” lead elder Tra Wilbanks said.
Floyd promises integrity and renewal
The church announced the decision to bring the Floyds to Gateway in May. The two founded Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, about 20 years ago.
In his first sermon, titled “Our Commitment to You,” Floyd promised to lead the church with integrity.
“I get the weight of this moment,” Floyd said. “It’s a day where we turn the page, and we begin to write a new story, but it’s also not the day we erase previous chapters.”
Morris faces criminal charges in Oklahoma
The service comes 14 months after founding Pastor Robert Morris announced he was stepping down. That decision followed allegations by Cindy Clemishire, a now adult woman who accused Morris of abusing her multiple times at her home in Oklahoma, starting when she was 12.
An Oklahoma grand jury indicted Morris on five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child. He pleaded not guilty and faces another court hearing next month.
Church seeks to move forward
But Floyd set a forward-looking vision, saying, “It’s a day of something new, something fresh.”
“We didn’t come to maintain something everybody; we came to multiply. We didn’t uproot our family and our children to move to do status quo.”
Even as the new season begins, the church and Morris are dealing with legal issues on several fronts.
Defamation and retirement lawsuits pending
In June, Clemishire, along with her father, filed a defamation lawsuit against Gateway, Morris, Morris’ wife Debbie, and a group of former and current elders and staff. The suit argues that church leaders put out false statements as part of an effort to cover up what happened. A news release sent at the time stated that the family was seeking $1 million.
Three former church elders, Thomas Miller, Gayland Lawshe, and Jeremy Carasco, asked the Dallas County court to be removed from the suit.
Gateway and Morris are also battling in Tarrant County over what Morris says are millions of dollars in retirement payments the church promised him. A hearing in that case is set for Sept. 17.
Congregation embraces new leadership
But for those attending the service on Saturday, there was a sense of celebration and excitement for the days ahead.
“He’s starting a new page, a new path forward for Gateway,” said John Lewis, who attends the church’s Prosper campus. “I am excited for his vision for the church.”
Floyd, too, urged the congregation not to look to the past.
“Our best days are not behind us,” he said. “Our best days are in front of us.”