Robert Morris affair: Investigation of alleged abuses and its consequences on security and responsibility in evangelical churches.
New developments in American judicial news have highlighted serious accusations of sexual abuse targeting Robert Morris, former main pastor and founder of Gateway Church in Texas. The pastor, a figurehead of the evangelical movement, appeared before the justice of Oklahoma on September 4, 2025 as part of a preliminary hearing where he responded from five counts of sexual abuse on a minor, which occurred between 1982 and 1987 while he was already exercising functions in religious circles. These revelations are part of an international climate of questioning the institutional management of abuses within evangelical communities, also affecting Great Britain with posthumous cases attributed to David Fletcher, a former Anglican leader accused by several victims of acts committed on decades and long.
The Morris affair today crystallizes media and institutional attention: registered testimonies, the act of charge and the audience reports bear witness to serious internal dysfunctions. While he was at the head of one of the largest evangelical churches in the United States, Morris built an influential reputation, until his resignation in 2024 after the first revelations. He has since been released on bail while waiting for the final judgment; The charges attached to facts exceeding the legal limitation period were not retained thanks to an exceptional retroactive provision of Oklahoma.
The consequences of this affair are deep for the evangelical universe: calls for transparency, internal reforms, debates on the mechanisms for the protection of minors and the culture of impunity. For many observers, the Morris affair confirms that the fight against abuse remains a central challenge and that the speech of the victims is today at the heart of a large mobilization for justice and moral responsibility, both in the United States and in the United Kingdom.
