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A Dallas appellate court has reversed a trial court's decision that previously denied motions to dismiss Gateway Church and some church elders from a defamation lawsuit from the woman Morris sexually abused when she was a child.

The lawsuit, which claimed Gateway Church mishandled millions of dollars in church donations, was dismissed last month. The former church members who filed the suit are asking that decision to be appealed, according to a July 17 court filing.

The lawsuit was filed in October 2024 and claimed Gateway Church and founding pastor Robert Morris misused up to $15 million in tithes.

Court filings show the lawsuit was dismissed May 8.

Robert Morris, Gateway's founding pastor pleaded guilty last October to five counts of lewd or indecent acts to a child.

A Dallas County judge on Friday denied requests from two former Gateway Church elders to be dismissed from the lawsuit.

A Dallas County judge ruled last week the defamation lawsuit from Cindy Clemishire could continue after Gateway and its elders asked to be dismissed from the suit.

A Dallas County judge on Tuesday denied efforts by Gateway Church and church elders to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that it centers a religious issue that secular courts shouldn't be involved in.

A Dallas judge will decide whether her court has jurisdiction over Cindy Clemishire's lawsuit against Gateway Church and Robert Morris, the former pastor who's been convicted of sexually abusing her as a child. The Southlake megachurch argues the case deals with religious matters over which a secular civil court has no authority.

Robert Morris is currently serving six months at a Oklahoma jail for sexually abusing Cindy Clemishire when she was 12 years old. She's also suing Morris, his wife and Gateway Church elders for defamation and covering up the abuse.

From sexual abuse that began in the 1980s to his guilty plea more than 30 years later, this is a timeline of everything that happened in Robert Morris' legal saga.

Robert Morris will serve 6 months in Osage County Jail in Oklahoma.