Former Gateway Church members seek to revive tithe lawsuit dismissed on First Amendment grounds

Former members of Gateway Church, based in Southlake, Texas, are asking a federal court to revive their lawsuit over the church’s handling of millions of dollars in tithe contributions. The suit was brought by Katherine and Garry Leach and by Mark and Terri Browder. One report gives the first name as Gary rather than Garry for the same plaintiff.

The plaintiffs allege that church leaders, including then-lead pastor Robert Morris, led the congregation to believe donations would go to specific purposes, including international missionary work and support for Jewish ministry partners. One report says the plaintiffs claimed the church promised to allocate 15 percent of tithes to global missions and Jewish ministries but redirected the funds. The plaintiffs claim the money was not appropriated as promised and that a portion of the designated funds may have been diverted improperly. Donors’ central concern, as the complaint is described, is that gifts be used for the purposes for which they were given, a matter of honest dealing (Proverbs 11:1).

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant dismissed the case in June. One report says the dismissal was dated June 23 and describes the suit as a class action. Judge Mazzant ruled that the First Amendment prohibits courts from adjudicating disputes tied to internal church governance and religious doctrine, citing what is known as the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.

A headline in one report attributes to a former Gateway pastor the claim that “not one dollar was misdirected.” That report’s headline is the only place this claim appears in the material provided, and the body of the report does not supply its context.

MinistryWatch, which reported the dismissal as a win for Gateway Church, said the lawsuit was filed by congregants Katherine and Gary Leach and by Mark and Terri Browder. That report says the plaintiffs alleged the church falsely represented how 15 percent of donations would be used. The text of that report ends before the description of that allegation is complete.

The former members are now seeking to overturn the dismissal and have asked the federal court to revive the lawsuit.