Robert Morris’ son-in-law reveals ‘horrible week’ for family

Leonard BlairSenior Reporter Saturday, June 29, 2024

Ethan Fisher, senior pastor of Gateway Church in Houston and the son-in-law of Gateway Church founder Robert Morris, revealed Sunday that his family faced a “nightmare” week after allegations surfaced from Cindy Clemishire, 54, that Morris sexually abused her over a four-and-a-half-year period in the 1980s, starting when she was 12.

“When people ask us, ‘Hey, how are you?’, I just tell them, ‘Well, it’s been a terrible week,’ what we’ve had to process and what we’ve had to go through. But we know we will get help,” said Fisher, the husband of Morris’ daughter, Elaine, who serves as leadership pastor at Gateway Church Houston.

“And honestly, I just want to thank every single person who reached out to us. “I know you have prayed for us, you have prayed for the church, you have prayed for us individually, as a family, and I want to say we appreciate it,” he added. “It really carried us through the last week. For us and many of us this is unprecedented and we appreciate the love; “We appreciate the support and we appreciate the way you took care of us.”

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Morris resigned from Gateway Church on June 18 after Clemishire reported that the megachurch pastor began sexually abusing her on December 25, 1982, and continued to do so for four and a half years later.

Without naming Clemishire, Morris in an earlier statement admitted to CP that he engaged in “inappropriate sexual conduct with a young lady” while he was a pastor in his early 20s.

Gateway Church elders initially told CP that Morris was honest about his past and believed he had been biblically restored to ministry. However, after Clemishire’s report was made public, they said Morris did not tell them that the “young lady” was 12 at the time.

Fisher admitted he was “at a loss for words” after the news broke.

“Last week, we were clearly saddened and shocked by the child sexual abuse allegations that came to light involving Robert Morris,” he told his congregation, which he said is not a Gateway Church campus but an independent, autonomous operation. “He has talked for years about the moral failure of his early marriage. But before this week, the leadership, including myself, and even Elaine, the leadership of Gateway Church Houston, did not have all the facts about the allegations.”

After Morris resigned from Gateway Church, Fisher said he was also removed from his position as apostolic and supervising elder of Gateway Church in Houston.

“Elaine and I are processing this, of course, as a family. Elaine is a daughter, and I’ve done what I can to be there for her. I, as a son-in-law, are processing the pain in real time, as many of you are,” Fisher told his parishioners.

He said he and his wife had to have difficult conversations with their daughters, ages 9 and 10.

“We have to have difficult conversations with our children about this conversation and shed tears as we process it with them. Many of you know we have a daughter who is 10 and a daughter who is 9, and we have to deal with the emotions and try to do the best we can to take care of them,” he said.

“We lived with the tension of loving another person while knowing that actions have consequences. God is love and he is also just. While forgiveness is available, our decisions also come with many costs,” he said.

He said he and his wife take advice from “trusted people for the wholeness that can only be found in God.”

“Elaine and I are doing our best to seek healing and turn to the Lord during this time,” he said. “We want to be able to lead and love God and His people for a long time, and we know that something like this could shake the faith of many and could threaten the purity of our hearts.”