Judge Paul Pressler died last week.

Nobody noticed.

I did. But that’s because I considered Paul my friend up until the point I confronted Paul over allegations against him for sexual predatory abuse.

Our friendship ended. No more Christmas cards. No more letters.

It ended not because I hated Paul. No, it ended because I believed Paul needed to come clean, and I told him so.

He didn’t. Then, he died.

Nobody noticed because Paul Pressler has been scrubbed from our collective SBC memory. I’ve become a believer in Immanuel Velikosky’s Collective Amnesia theory.

Pressler, the so-called Southern Baptist Convention’s Conservative Resurgence co-architect, died in obscurity. All that’s left of his legacy is an obit.

The stained glass windows at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, established to honor Judge Pressler (and others), were removed before he died.

You don’t put up stained glass for men who live in glass houses.

 

Robert Morris and the Abuse of a 12-Year-Old

 

(L to R) Wade Burleson, his wife Rachelle, Brian, and Cindy Clemishire.

 

(Note: What is written below is by Cindy Clemishire’s permission.)

_______

The Internet exploded last night with the allegations of child sexual predatory abuse against Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, one of the largest evangelical churches in the United States.

Mainstream media is now picking up the story.

My friend, Cindy Clemishire, has accused Robert Morris of sexually predatory behavior against her, beginning at the age of twelve, predatory behavior that continued for nearly five years until Cindy was 17.

Cindy Clemishire

Cindy first shared her story with my wife and me at dinner last month (May 2024).

I knew immediately Cindy was telling the truth. There are ways you know a victim of child abuse is speaking the truth, and Cindy crossed every threshold.

I will not explain why Cindy Clemishire felt comfortable sharing the details of her story with my wife and me. It’s not a necessary detail to share Cindy’s history of child sexual abuse.

Cindy is strong. She loves Jesus. She is articulate, compassionate, and discriminate.

For years, Cindy has tried to get Christian leaders to do something.

Rachelle and I met Cindy in 2022. Over several months, we became friends, and Cindy grew to trust us.

By May 2024, Cindy felt comfortable sharing her story with us.

I was stunned when I heard her story.

I connected Cindy to my friend Dee (Darlene) Parsons of Wartburg Watch. Dee knows as much about institutional predatory abuse as I do. She also knows what to do.

Dee’s article came out on Saturday, June 14, 2024.

By that afternoon, Gateway Church released this letter:

Father’s Day

 

I texted my four grown kids this morning on Father’s Day.

I also called Cindy, who was with her father on Father’s Day. I prayed for her father, mother, and Cindy over the phone.

Why? Because people ask questions about Cindy and her family online. Here’s an example:

Here’s my answer:

I’ll state what isn’t apparent from Cindy’s story.

She “came forward” several times in years past to Christian “leaders” asking for help. Nobody would help her.

These leaders encouraged her to forgive and keep her story quiet, refusing to take steps to hold Pastor Morris accountable.

She finally told her story to a Christian pastor who knew that she was strong, could handle the forthcoming and expected questions like yours, and knew that to remain silent after hearing her story was to be complicit in the cover-up.

The letter sent out from Gateway Church neglected to mention the child was 12 when the abuse began, that Robert was married, was preaching the gospel for pay (youth revivals), and continued the sexual abuse with “the young lady” for nearly half a decade.

This isn’t moral indiscretion.

This is statutory rape of a minor, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

The Apostle Peter said judgment must begin in the house of God. It should be remembered that people who love Jesus and His church guided Cindy on how to ensure future perps in the pulpit are stopped dead in their tracks when even a traitorous thought of predatory behavior enters their heads.

They’ll remember what happened to Robert Morris. Sexual predatory behaviors by church leaders carry a stench that no amount of incense or success can erase.

Be sure. Your sins will find you out.

 

Cindy and her family, including her father and mother (front row).

To Cindy’s Father

Sir, I admire the heck out of you!

You are a man of integrity. You love Jesus and His Kingdom.

When you discovered the abuse of your daughter, you protected her, risking your ministry to confront the evil done to your family.

Some ask, “Why didn’t Cindy’s father go to the police when it happened?”

I’d love to answer that question on your behalf on Father’s Day.

  1. Cindy’s father protected his daughter in forceful, absolute terms.
  2. Cindy’s father loves Jesus and desires no ill repute over Jesus’ name.
  3. In the mid-1980s, people in Christ’s Kingdom didn’t know what we now know.
  4. Celebrity preachers are detrimental to the cause of Christ and His Kingdom.
  5. Gospel ministers of character would never abuse a 12-year-old child, regardless.
  6. If a “minister” abuses a child, institutional religious leaders should remove him.
  7. Law enforcement must be involved, but a child must know her father protects her.
  8. Cindy knows her father went to the extreme to protect her from predatory abuse.
  9. The fault for this case of child abuse not ending up in court is on religious leaders.
  10. Happy Father’s Day, sir, because this injustice that has broken your heart is about to be corrected by the people who should have held Robert Morris accountable.

 

A Final Word of Caution

 

Tony Evans stepped down this past week from pastoring in Dallas after confessing to “a moral indiscretion.” Robert Morris will not be returning to Gateway Church.

Judge Pressler is dead, and his legacy is a scrubbed online obituary.

If you are reading this and are in ministry, never forget the lesson of June 2024 from the lives and ministries of Robert Morris, Tony Evans, and Judge Pressler.

A stained heart in a glass window house brings the house down.

For the sake of Christ and His Kingdom, stay faithful. stay pure, stay strong.