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The woman who claims Pastor Robert Morris, founder of Gateway Church, molested her when she was only 12 years old in the 1980s has received “an incredible amount of support” since sharing her story with the media. Cindy Clemishire, Morris’ accuser, stunned the Christian world when her claims went viral, with shock and awe continuing weeks after her story made its way into national headlines.
Clemishire recently told CBN News she has been on a journey to discover the truth and come to terms with the abuse she purportedly endured. She said, “I started out when I was in my 20s sharing with friends, not even fully grasping what my story was at that time, and really dug into counseling, and just focused on trying to understand what happened to me.” She continued, “I was probably about 35 when I really understood [the] depth and magnitude of what Robert really did — not just to me, but to my family with all the grooming, and then, of course, the sexual abuse and the emotional abuse.”
Clemishire, 54, said it took until this time in her life to understand the alleged abuse fully. As time went on, she became more vocal but experienced some internal hesitations. She said, “Like most believers, you don’t want to do anything that’s going to tarnish the name of God. You don’t want to tarnish the church, you don’t want to hurt other believers, you don’t want to, you know, cause another person to not come to Jesus.” Clemishire’s main goal was to prevent Morris from serving in church leadership, a place she felt he didn’t belong. Whenever Morris spoke at a church with which she or her family had an association, she, her sister, or her parents reportedly confronted leadership to tell them their story.
She continued, “I just wanted someone in leadership somewhere [to] take him out of the pulpit because we did not feel as a family that that’s where he should be in leadership,” she said. “When you can’t even fill out a document honestly about working in your own church nursery, should you really be in the pulpit?” But, according to Clemishire, “not once has any leadership stood up and said, ‘This isn’t biblical. You should not be in leadership.'” Despite purportedly being ignored, she recently decided to share her story more broadly with The Wartburg Watch blog, sparking a fallout that led Morris to resign from Gateway.
Clemishire said a retired pastor who had heard her story had encouraged her to speak out. She said she feels her decision to share was predicated, in part, on “God’s timing,” as she wouldn’t have been prepared earlier for the attention and scrutiny she has received due to the story going so viral. Despite facing hardship, Clemishire said she never lost hope — or faith in the Lord. She credited her strong Christian upbringing with helping carry her through the tough times. She said, “My dad taught us about having a personal relationship with Jesus. And, even though I have not been actively involved in any one particular church, I have attended church regularly at different times throughout my life.”
Clemishire continued, “But I have never stopped praying. I’ve never stopped reading my Bible. I mean, it truly has been about my relationship with Jesus. I don’t know how anybody could get through any of this without that.”