Robert Morris Asks Court To Dismiss Lawsuit Over Promised ‘Money Back Guarantee’ on Tithes
Nearly a year after disgraced Gateway Church pastor Robert Morris permanently resigned in shame and scandal after revelations emerged that he molested a child for years and then covered it up for decades, he has briefly poked his head up to ask a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the church over guarantees he made regarding their tithes.
The lawsuit was filed by members Katherine Leach, Garry K. Leach, Mark Browder, and Terri Browder against Gateway Church, Morris himself, and Tom Lane, Steve Dulin, and Kevin Grove- the latter three who served as pastors or elders high up in the echelon of church leadership.
The plaintiffs are upset with the way Gateway handled the allocation of their tithes and the promises that were made about them, which don’t seem to comport with their own audits. Feeling misled, they opted to take advantage of and make good on Morris’s often lauded ‘Tithe Money Back Guarantee.” Their lawsuits states:
Then-Senior Pastor Robert Morris and Gateway leaders represented that 15% of all tithe dollars would be distributed to global missions and Jewish ministry partners, encouraging church members to generously give toward these ends. On the account of the facts set forth herein, Plaintiffs allege that Gateway Church and its leaders engaged in misrepresentation, fraud and breach to contract in their efforts to induce Plaintiffs and other church members to donate money to Gateway.
On information and belief, Defendants did not use 15% of all money donated for the intended purpose as represented by Robert Morris and Gateway leaders. Attempts to seek transparency and proof that money did in fact go to global missions and Jewish ministry partners have been rebuffed by Gateway elders. This lawsuit is a means of last resort and being pursued with a heavy heart.
…In addition to promising to give 15% to global missions, Robert Morris and Tom Lane promised on multiple occasions that if the congregation is not happy with the use of its money, it can get the money back.,,
This statement was repeated by Tom Lane, and the other Defendants knew that the representation was false and made with the intention of inducing congregants to give money. Many people, have requested refund of their tithes only to be stonewalled and ignored by the Defendants.
In fact, Plaintiff Katherine Leach has publicly and directly delivered a demand letter to Gateway for the
return of her tithes pursuant to Gateway’s “money back guarantee.” Gateway has not responded.
This offer by Robert Morris and Tom Lane, made with the full knowledge and consent of the other Defendants, created a contract under Texas law where a promise was made for consideration and that promise was not fulfilled
The plaintiffs are correct that Morris and the leaders there frequently made that pitch. For example, while speaking at Willow Creek Church on February 20, 2022 about the importance of tithing on the first 10% of one’s income, Morris insisted:
“I don’t want to exaggerate, but I’m sure thousands and thousands of people, and I’m sure it’s multiplied, that have told me some way over the years through email, letters, whatever, ‘this changed my life,’
When I started giving the first 10% to God it changed everything. And here’s what I’d like to do. I’d like to just challenge you. I’ve done this with our church. I’ve told our church on multiple occasions, I’ve said to them, if you’ll try it for one year, if you are not fully satisfied, at the end of that year, I’ll give you your money back. With 22 years in the church, no one’s ever asked for their money back.
Reporting on the matter, The Christian Post explains that along with using whatever legal maneuvering they can employ to dismiss the claims, Gateway lawyers are also arguing that “the court lacks jurisdiction over the lawsuit because the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine bars consideration of the claims because it would “require the Court to tread upon matters of religious doctrine and internal church governance.”
In turn, Lawyers for the plaintiff have responded that the lawsuit doesn’t conflict with any Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine but rather:
The claims raise no issue as to theological doctrine, religious or moral teaching, or internal church governance. Rather, Plaintiffs take issue with misrepresentations by the Church and its elders in their solicitation of tithing funds, an issue for civil and secular analysis that happened to be committed by church officials… The ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not shield church pastors and leaders from committing fraud and other torts. Plaintiffs’ claims allow for the Court to distinguish between the religious teachings behind tithing and the Church’s fraudulent misrepresentations to induce donations from congregants.”
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hy
Why would you give a money back guarantee on a non-tangeable? Its completely absurd and going to explode on you.