Former Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris speaks Sept. 21, 2016, in Southlake. (Irwin Thompson/The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

He rose to lead a church reaching more than 100,000 people online and in-person each week across nine campuses in North Texas. At its height, Gateway Church was one of the largest in the nation.

Throughout his four-decade career as a pastor, Robert Morris was known for his Christian books, his massive church enterprise and his knack for public speaking. And it started in Longview, where Morris was raised and began his career as an evangelist.

That career came to an abrupt end in June, when Oklahoma woman Cindy Clemishire publicly accused Morris of sexually abusing her starting in 1982 at her family’s home when she was 12. The news sent shockwaves through evangelical circles, where Morris was hailed as an influential teacher and preacher.

Morris resigned that month as senior pastor of Gateway in Southlake near Fort Worth, and he was indicted on five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child March 12. He turned himself in to Oklahoma authorities days later and was released on bond. His first court date is set May 9, and if convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.

The allegations against Morris have been heavily reported in the media, but Morris was making headlines in the earliest days of his ministry in his East Texas hometown.

‘Lost’ young man finds evangelistic role

The year was 1982, and 20-year-old Pine Tree High School graduate Morris was living a new life, according to an April 25, 1982, story in the Longview Morning Journal.

About a year before — on Feb. 16, 1981 — Morris made “his decision for Christ.” In December 1981, he joined the James Robison Evangelistic Association as an associate evangelist and started traveling around the country to spread a message — or two, depending on who was listening.

“I go to the public schools for assembly meetings and give moral motivational messages concerning patriotism, drugs, alcohol, sex. In Christian schools, I present a Christian message,” Morris told the Morning Journal, which was the News-Journal’s predecessor.

By his own admission, Morris already knew a thing or two about drugs and church.

Born in 1961, Morris was born in Marshall and grew up in Longview. He graduated from Pine Tree in 1979. Two years before he graduated — and four years before he made “his decision for Christ” — he started what would become his decades-long ministerial career.

In October 1977, he became an evangelist at Longview’s Hiway 80 Rescue Mission, where he led singing, preaching and revivals, according to the Longview Daily News, the News-Journal’s other predecessor. He was a licensed Baptist preacher, led a Gospel singing group called “The Way, The Truth and The Life” and was a member of Calvary Baptist Church.

Somewhere along the way, he found that selling drugs was a profitable business. In the 1982 story about Morris’ burgeoning evangelistic work, he confessed that he was a drug dealer and faithful church attendee simultaneously.

“I came from a family that was in the church,” he said. “My dad was a successful businessman, and my parents attended church regularly. I was at church Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night, but I was lost. Even after I started dealing in drugs I still attended church regularly. That’s where I did a good business. One Sunday I sold $600 worth of drugs on the church parking lot between Sunday school and worship services.”

The reason for his waywardness, he said, was that he was “searching for happiness” and, although he had been religious, hadn’t given his “life to Christ.”

Morris allegedly began his sexual abuse of Clemishire in December 1982, about eight months after he told the Morning Journal about his newfound evangelistic adventure with Robison. Clemishire, whose account of Morris’ alleged abuse has been widely reported, said he began abusing her on Christmas Day. Morris had met her family about a year prior while preaching at her family’s church in Oklahoma, the Dallas Morning News reported. He allegedly abused her until she was 17 when he would visit her family.

After high school, Morris attended East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, where he met his wife, Debbie. In 2023, ETBU gave him an honorary doctorate.

‘He was out for attention’

The words that describe Morris in his younger days, according to his family, are “rebellious,” strong-willed” and “trouble.” In 2010, the News-Journal spoke with Morris and his parents when Gateway Church opened its 206,000-square-foot campus in Southlake.

“He was preaching from a young age,” his father, Jearl Morris, told the News-Journal. “But it was not for the glory of God. It was for the glory of Robert.” His mother, Rosalie Morris, said: “Yes, he was out for attention. Always out for more attention. It was very troublesome.”

But that all changed after his conversion, they said.

Early on during his evangelistic career, Morris was likened to Robison, the man who helped give him a major platform.

Freddie Gage, a preacher who had been involved in Houston gangs, called Morris “the most zealous young preacher I’ve seen since James Robison,” the Morning Journal reported. Elvis Presley’s stepbrother — Rick Stanley, a Southern Baptist pastor — similarly called Morris “probably the next James Robison or Billy Graham.”

The compliments from those two men constituted what the Morning Journal called an “impressive resume” in ministry at the time. In financial and numerical terms, it only grew. Morris went on to author several books, including “The Blessed Life,” “Beyond Blessed” and “Take the Day Off.” His television program was viewed in 190 countries.

Robison later joined Morris’ church and attended a White House function with Morris in 2019. Morris served as a spiritual adviser to President Donald Trump during his first campaign. In June, after the allegations against Morris surfaced, Robison spoke out against his now-former pastor and evangelistic mentee.

“I was stunned,” Robison said. “I was aware that Robert had had moral failures in his past. But I had no idea it was crime involving a child. This is totally unacceptable. The way Robert handled it was absolutely incorrect. It was wrong. Abuse of a child should not be tolerated. I would do anything to appeal to Cindy and her family.”