Former Gateway Church members are asking an appellate court to reverse a previous decision dismissing their financial fraud lawsuit against the megachurch. The lawsuit, filed in October 2024, accused Gateway, former founding pastor Robert Morris, and former senior pastor Steve Dulin of mishandling up to $15 million in church donations, or tithes.
Background
The suit claimed that Morris and Dulin told congregants that 15% of the church’s $100 million annual revenue would be distributed to global missions and Jewish ministry partners, but the former church members alleged that this was not true and they did not know where their donations went.
A federal judge in June agreed with Gateway and Morris’ argument that courts cannot involve themselves in church matters or how they spend tithes, citing the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, a legal rule stemming from the First Amendment protecting religious institutions from government interference.
Morris praised the court’s decision at the time and maintained that tithes were never mishandled. However, Morris has been embroiled in controversy, having pleaded guilty to five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child and being a registered sex offender in Texas.
Original reporting: Fort Worth Report — read the source article.
