by After founder Robert Morris resigned, Gateway Church has been looking for a new pastor to lead the church into its next phase for more than a year.
On August 16, church officials and members formally ended that search when they appointed Daniel Floyd as the new lead pastor of Gateway Church.
Floyd is from Virginia, where he and his spouse, Tammie Floyd, established Lifepoint Church and have been its senior pastors since 2005. The church has expanded to five venues throughout the state and a college in the last 20 years.
Over 4,000 people gathered at Gateway Church’s main campus in Southlake on Saturday afternoon for Daniel Floyd’s commissioning service and first official sermon after the church’s elders announced his appointment in late May.
During the service, Floyd stated that the church had to use its overflow area to accommodate the large number of visitors.
Floyd assured the congregation throughout his speech that he recognized the gravity of the situation.
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It’s an important day. Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in our history. Floyd added, “But it’s also not the day that we erase previous chapters.”
He went on to say, “I just want you to know that your prayers aren’t wasted.”
Congregants like 57-year-old Debra Narvarte were moved by Floyd’s words. She has been going to Gateway’s Saturday services since long before Morris quit, even though her primary church is in Cedar Hills.
Even though the entire event disappointed me, I know that God is good and that He can use anything to his advantage. Navarte added, “And I knew that was going to happen.”
The revelation of long-standing allegations of child sexual abuse against Morris in June 2024 shocked Gateway Church members.
Following the disclosure of the accusations, the congregation had to deal with a number of leadership departures.
James Morris, Robert Morris’ son, was supposed to take over as senior pastor of Gateway in the spring of 2025, but he quit the month after his father did. Since then, he has founded Passage Church, his own congregation.
In November 2024, some elders and staff members who were aware of the accusations against Morris before he resigned were fired. According to The Dallas Morning News, attendance at Gateway campuses fell by about 20% during the fallout, from roughly 25,000 people per weekend to roughly 19,000 people.
The leadership of Gateway Church announced in June 2025 that it would be laying off employees as a result of a sharp decline in donations. The congregation announced last month that all campuses, with the exception of Southlake, would no longer provide Saturday services.
Several lawsuits against Gateway also surfaced throughout the past year. A group of Gateway members filed a lawsuit in October 2024, claiming that the church had committed financial fraud by deceiving members by believing that a percentage of their tithes would support missionary work abroad.
On June 12, 2025, Cindy Clemishire and her father sued Morris and his wife, as well as the leadership of Gateway Church, both past and present, for defamation and neglecting to disclose the alleged abuse.
On May 13, 2025, Gateway Church also sued Morris after denying his request for millions of dollars as part of his retirement package.
In a criminal complaint filed in Osage County, Oklahoma, Morris is also charged with five counts of engaging in lewd or indecent behavior with a minor. On May 9, he appeared in court for the first time.
On September 4, there will be a court hearing. Morris is entering a not guilty plea.
The congregation witnessed both new and familiar individuals joining the Southlake church during the activities that started in June 2024.
A Christian novelist and pastor from San Antonio named Max Lucado has been filling in as an interim teaching pastor. Joakim Lundqvist, a pastor at Word of Life Church and a former Gateway guest speaker, accompanied him. Lundqvist said in a video during the service on August 16 that he would stay on staff at the church until the end of the year.
In July, Nic Lesmeister was named executive pastor of Gateway Church. He led the church’s Gateway Center for Israel in 2019.
In January 2025, Oscar Morales, Brad Moore, Randy McFarland, and Mark Mueller became temporary members of the church’s elder board. During the service on August 16, Gateway Church elder Tra Willbanks assured the congregation that the four men would continue to serve on the board.
During the service, Willbanks informed the congregation that the elders had gone through a careful and comprehensive interview process to find their new lead pastor. The board as a whole interviewed Floyd. In March, Daniel and Tammie Floyd got to know the church personnel. “It was unanimous by April,” Willbanks continued.
We think God has chosen Pastor Daniel to lead Gateway into this new chapter, and he will be presenting a new vision for the church in the upcoming weeks, Willbanks stated.
Floyd intends to tour every campus of Gateway Church in the future. “Doing what I think God wants us to do will require all of us,” he stated.
Floyd told the church that we still had our finest days ahead of us. We have our best days ahead of us.
Marissa Greene, who covers faith for the Fort Worth Report, is a member of the Report for America corps. [email protected], you can reach her.
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