Gateway Church has found its way back into the headlines as it faces yet another lawsuit.
The most recent lawsuit claims that Gateway Church engaged in financial fraud after church leaders misled members into believing that a portion of their tithes would be used for foreign missionary work.
The suit also alleges that the then-senior pastor Robert Morris and other leaders told the congregation that 15% of tithe dollars would be donated to global missionary missions and Jewish ministry partners.
However, the congregants suing the church say those promises were not kept, and they have not received an answer from the church about what happened to the money. The tithes could total more than $15 million annually.
Documents show that in 2011, Gateway Church hired a certified public accountant as a pastor to oversee Gateway Global Ministries and uphold financial integrity. The accountant discovered multiple discrepancies in financial statements.
The employee found that the amount Gateway told congregants it was sending overseas did not match what was actually leaving the account. When the accountant approached Executive Global Pastor Kevin Grove about the discovery, Grove reportedly became angry and told the accountant to “quit reconciling the accounts.”
The accountant then reported the discrepancies to former Gateway Church executive pastor Tom Lane. The accountant relayed that his concerns needed to be addressed, or he would resign. Lane spoke with Morris and told the accountant they would accept his resignation.
“The only reason they filed this lawsuit is because they could not get answers from their own church as to what happened to the money, where the money was going, and they couldn’t get the church to do what it said it would do, which is, ‘If you’re unhappy with this, give it back so we can give it to a more deserving charity,’” said Micah Dortch, the attorney representing the suing congregants. “So for my clients, this is the last resort.”
Gateway Church spokesperson Lawrence Swicegood told the Fort Worth Report that the church does “not comment on pending litigation.”
“These are serious allegations. Some of these concerns were brought to us recently, and we are actively investigating them,” Swicegood added. “Funds donated to our church are sacred, and it is important that we hold ourselves to the highest biblical standards of ethics and integrity.”
Morris resigned in June following allegations that he sexually abused a 12-year-old, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Since Morris stepped down, the church has been quietly handling multiple unrelated lawsuits involving sexual abuse and harassment. Four members of the Gateway Church Board of Elders have taken leaves of absence while a third-party legal team investigates the allegations of sexual abuse against Morris.