Gateway Church Announces New Senior Pastor Following Robert Morris Scandal
Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, named Daniel Floyd as its new senior pastor during their service yesterday. The announcement follows the resignation of former pastor Robert Morris, who has been charged with five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child over allegations of sexually abusing a 12-year-old.
Floyd, 48, started Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 2005 with his wife, Tammie. They expanded it from 50 members to over 5,000 across five locations, including one site in Germany. Gateway, previously the largest church in the U.S. with 100,000 members, has experienced a 35-40% decline in attendance and donations over the past year.
Floyd, who earned a doctorate in ministry from Southeastern University and two master’s degrees from Liberty University, along with establishing Lifepoint College in 2016 for ministry and leadership training, was not present at Gateway for the announcement, sharing instead in a video message that he views the new role as a “holy responsibility” and that they intend to begin in August.
In his announcement, elder Tra Willbanks told the church that they didn’t want to make a decision about selecting a new leader until they had appointed more elders.
Late last year, the church cleaned house on their leadership team after an internal investigation revealed that all of Gateway Church’s elders except three either knew without a doubt that Morris sexually abused a minor or had sufficient information to know that she was likely a child when she was abused, but they failed to act and “failed to inquire further.”