'On Sept. 6, the church told her to leave. Hansen's activism began June 19, one day after Gateway's founding pastor Robert Morris resigned amid accusations he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl beginning in 1982. Questions remain as to what the Gateway elders knew and when. The news was barely out before Hansen, who ushered at the church while holding down a daytime job as a federal law enforcement official, began regularly linking to news stories about the scandal on her Facebook page. She usually posts about Bible studies, working out, and references to her work in and training for a federal prison. Right after her June 20 post asking why the church had hired a registered sex offender as one of its pastors, Gateway blocked her from its Facebook page. (TRR published a story on that pastor, Stephen Wilson, several months ago, and now his page has been removed from Gateway's website. Gateway did not respond to our requests for clarification about Wilson's current status.) Things went downhill from there. On June 29, Hansen posted that Gateway Pastor Kendra Hunt approached Hansen while Hansen was ushering at Gateway and accused Hansen of being a "spy" because of her social media posts. In a face-to-face meeting with Associate Pastor Joseph Tenney a few days later, he asked Hansen if she was acting as an "investigative reporter" at church in this recorded meeting. Tenney also suggested her behavior struck some at the church as predatory, which Hansen told him was an inappropriate characterization, given that she deals with actual predators for her job for the U.S. Department of Justice.' - Roys Report
Make sure you do not get this twisted. She used to post bible studies and work out videos. What changed that is the Morris scandal. There is nothing wrong at that point with linking the news reports. Our role is not to protect Robert Morris. We should not fear the truth. Notice that she also called them out for hiring a registered sex offender as a pastor! Mr. Wilson molested a 13-year-old student of his when he was a science teacher. It is reported that while the bio for Wilson on Gateway's page originally included the prison term, they since scrubbed it, because you know, Jesus. It is the last bastion of scoundrels to make generalizations and pawn it off to other people. The only predator here was Robert Morris, not Valentina Hansen. Do not lose sight of the fact that Ms. Hansen is a law enforcement professional, not the elders of Gateway.
'In the recording, Hansen told Tenney she comes to church to worship and volunteers to serve people, but if she sees injustice, she believes she should speak up about it in a "professional" way that states facts. TRR reached out to both Tenney and Hunt for comment through their Gateway phone numbers, but didn't receive a response. A week later, Hansen posted that Gateway had changed her volunteering duties from interacting with the public to an upstairs and more out-of-the-way location in the church that is "away from my community." "I believe this decision contradicts biblical principles (Leviticus 19:15, Isaiah 1:17) and undermines the church's commitment to transparency and accountability (Matthew 25:21, 1 Corinthians 3:11)," Hansen wrote. Hansen continued to post generous amounts of research into the church's finances, calling into question Morris's ownership of a mansion, the church's financial transparency, and the church's compliance with mandatory reporting laws. On July 6, Hansen upped the ante by saying she has requested the Texas attorney general's office, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and the Texas Department of Family and Protection Services to investigate Gateway, its elders, and Morris. "Based on my research and credible sources, I have reasonable cause to believe that the church's financial bookkeeping may reveal: - Misappropriation of funds - Mishandling of local and international funds, outreach, and donations - Failure to report child sexual abuse to authorities," Hansen posted on Facebook.
Then Hansen posted that she - along with church member Katherine Leach - met with Gateway elder Tra Willbanks and Gateway Pastor Lorena Valle on Aug. 22 about these concerns. At that meeting, Hansen said she asked about the church's finances and the church's care of Morris's alleged victim Cindy Clemishire, now 54. Leach, who confirmed Hansen's recollection of the meeting, called Hansen's questions "direct" but "professional." TRR reached out to Willbanks and Valle for comment, but they didn't respond. Hansen posted on Aug. 27 that after the meeting, Valle blocked her on Facebook." - Roys Report
This is what cults do. Hansen served as an usher but because she was being too frisky about everything that might have been wrong or potentially illegal at Gateway, they switched her ministry assignment so she could not interact with others and then eventually kicked her out and threatened her. Again, this is supposed to be a church. Was Hansen's actions of asking for an investigation somehow out of bounds? It does not appear so, especially when we remember that it falls within her professional work. Even if they felt it was wrong, the reaction is to ghost her on Facebook? What are we, children? Notice also that at every turn, the elders refuse to respond to any outside questions. Not a good sign if you are innocent.
'On Sept.6, two days after her announcement about the investigative reporter, Hansen posted she got an email from Gateway's elders to tell her she could no longer be a member or volunteer.
"Despite our sincere attempts to walk with you down the path towards understanding and reconciliation, the Board believes that you have violated Biblical requirements by continuing to sow discord and conflict," the elders wrote in a letter to Hansen. The elders wrote that the decision was "difficult." "Bearing in mind the wisdom of Titus 3:10 and pursuant to our roles as the highest ecclesiastical authority of Gateway Church as set forth in the Church's Bylaws, it is with heavy hearts that we accordingly now inform you that we believe it is necessary to make the difficult decision to dismiss you from our church membership volunteer services at this time," the elders wrote. But the letter didn't say Hansen couldn't continue to attend services.
In response, Hansen wrote to the elders that she was given no prior warning or chance for correction before they revoked her membership. "This is in direct contradiction to the principles outlined in Titus 3:10, which emphasizes the importance of addressing divisive behavior through direct conversations and warnings," Hansen wrote." - Roys Report
First of all, the arrogance is staggering. Sincere attempts to walk with you down the path of understanding and reconciliation? Once again, who do these hirelings think they are? Understanding what? How you continue to cover up the scandal? Reconciliation for what? What exactly does Valentina Hansen need reconciliation for? She did not molest little girls - that was the pastor that this board supported. Now, I do not expect people as poorly taught as the elders of Gateway to properly handle the word of truth so let's examine Titus 3:10 in the correct context as the key verses for today. The bible teaches is in Romans that division enters the body of Christ through false doctrine, not calls for transparency. Gateway thus, was always divided because their pastor, who regularly lied about tithing and other false teachings, based his entire ministry upon the lies of his criminal activity when he was younger. That matters beloved. There was no heaviness of heart on their part. If there were, they would not have called the local police and had armed guards blocking her from entering the church. They are quick to quote Titus 3:10 because they assume their followers are too stupid to discern properly by checking the context. Realize they are calling Valentina Hansen; sheep, churchgoer, volunteer usher, and tithing church member - warped and sinful. Not the child molesting pastor they supported for decades. Not the wolf who fleeced their flock for 100 million dollars. Not the liar who tried to say molesting a 12-year-old was just an inappropriate relationship with a young lady. No, instead it is Ms. Hansen who is warped and sinful. Then we wonder why 40 million people have left the church in the last 25 years. The context of the key verses however starts with talking about us devoting ourselves to good works. I understand that the elders at Gateway might be embarrassed at the truth and maybe convinced themselves that secrecy is somehow protecting the church but it is not. It is excellent and profitable for us to avoid foolish controversies for they are unprofitable and worthless. The foolish controversy here is not Valentina Hansen's. It is Robert Morris'. He is the warped and sinful person that is self-condemned. He stirred up this controversy. He stirred up this dissension. The elders using Titus 3:10 shows they do not have the first clue how to handle scripture correctly. Dissension among the brethren is not asking for a proper investigation when your pastor has been busted for molesting little girls. I might add here how embarrassing it is that this sheep has a better grasp on the verses they cite. Clearly, Titus says two warnings and they gave her none. Instead, they cancelled her membership, cancelled her from entering the church and tried to set her up to be arrested. Hallelujah.
'Hansen posted an email she wrote to Gateway leaders requesting a copy of the church's bylaws, but told TRR the church hasn't responded. TRR also requested a copy of the bylaws from the church, with no response. Additionally, Leach, the member who along with Hansen met with Gateway leaders in August, asked Gateway Church on Sept. 9 to return her tithe money, pointing to Gateway's lack of integrity in handling the abuse scandal. "God's reputation"his good reputation"is everything to me," Leach told TRR. "When there's a question surrounding transparency or accountability, abuse, things like that, that's where I get really concerned."
Leach said she believes Hansen's membership removal was retaliatory. "The only threat that Valentina Hansen poses to Gateway Church is she asks questions that they don't like being asked," Leach said. "That is not God's heart. . . . He is not pleased with that kind of behavior."
