Texas megachurch leader Kemtal Glasglow asked to resign over 'moral issue'

Another leader in a Texas megachurch has stepped down due to a "moral issue."

Executive pastor Kemtal Glasgow became the fourth leader in two months to lose his position at Gateway Church. The Dallas church asked for Glasgow's resignation over an unspecified "moral issue" they learned about last week that "disqualifies him from serving," elder Tra Willbanks said Wednesday in a statement posted on the church's YouTube page .

"We love his family, we love his wife and his kids and we want to come alongside them during this difficult time and help them find restoration and healing that they need as a family," Willbanks said.

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Robert Morris and the Gateway Church Southlake scandal

Two months prior to Glasgow's apparent firing, Gateway senior pastor Robert Morris resigned after he admitted to having "inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady" in the 1980s. At the time, the "young lady" was 12 and Morris was 21 and married.

Leaders at the Gateway Church explained in a statement that they had limited knowledge of the abuse prior to Morris' resignation.

“The elders’ prior understanding was that Morris’s extramarital relationship, which he had discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with ‘a young lady’ and not abuse of a 12-year-old child,” Gateways leaders said in their statement. “Even though it occurred many years before Gateway was established, as leaders of the church, we regret that we did not have the information that we now have.”

Morris' son, James Morris , stepped down from his position in the church the next month. James Morris' wife, Bridgette Morris, also stepped down from her role as a pastor.

Robert Morris accused of child sexual abuse

In June, Cindy Clemishire, now 54, came forward with allegations that Morris had sexually abused her starting when she was 12. She detailed her abuse in “The Wartburg Watch,” a blog focusing on nefarious issues in Christian churches. The alleged abuse continued for more than four years, Clemishire said, starting on Christmas in 1982 and continuing in Texas and Oklahoma until 1987.

Clemishire told USA TODAY that she has been sharing her story for decades with leadership in "very large and high-profile" churches and organizations, but no one removed Morris from ministry or the pulpit. She decided to come forward publicly to encourage other possible victims of Morris' alleged actions to tell their stories, she said.

"I've always just trusted that God's timing would take it wherever it needed to go," she said about Morris. "Why hide?"

In a statement at the time, Morris downplayed the allegations, saying, "It was kissing and petting and not intercourse."

"It was wrong," he continued in the statement to local Dallas news station WFAA-TV . "This behavior happened on several occasions over the next few years ... Since that time, I have walked in purity and accountability in this area."

James Morris resigned from Gateway Church in July

Nearly one month after Robert Morris's resignation, his son James Morris followed suit. He resigned during a "temporary leave of absence" that Gateway advised him to take on June 28.

"Pastor James Morris is a man of integrity, and he has clearly stated that he had no knowledge of the true facts of this situation," the church wrote in a Facebook post, referencing the allegations against his father. "However, because Pastor James Morris is related to Robert Morris, Haynes and Boone (law firm) has recommended that Pastor James also take a temporary leave of absence from the Board of Elders and Pastor James has volunteered to do so to demonstrate his commitment to a truly independent and unbiased inquiry."

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Glasgow's dismissal 'had nothing to with the departure of Robert Morris'

Glasgow's information is no longer visible on Gateway's website, but according to an archive biography page, he was head of leadership and oversight at all of the church's campuses.

In a statement to CBS News Texas, Gateway said that "it's our deepest desire for every staff member to lead a life of integrity, both in their personal and professional lives."

"It recently came to light that Kemtal Glasgow had a moral failure so we've asked him to step down as a pastor at Gateway and devote time to his marriage and family," the megachurch said. "Although his employment is ending, we are devoted to still caring for Kemtal and his family."

The church continued to say that "this decision regarding Kemtal had nothing to with the departure of Robert Morris nor related to those circumstances."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas megachurch leader Kemtal Glasglow asked to resign over 'moral issue'