FORT WORTH, TX – Pastor Landon Schott of Mercy Culture Church wants to give a clear picture of why he decided to visit Robert Morris in jail. The clergyman delved into his thought process during his sermon this past Sunday (Mar. 1).
Pastor Schott began by reminding his congregation of the word he believed God gave him about the Church in America entering a “season of the accuser of the brethren.” The pastor provided details about the origins of that word and revealed what he believed to be the ultimate goal in all the recent accusations against high-profile clergymen.
“I saw the enemy’s plan,” Schott told his congregants. “The enemy’s plan to take down the church in America is to uproot the wheat, or what is valuable, with what is unvaluable at the same time.”
After giving a warning to “stay on guard against the accuser of the brethren,” Pastor Schott talked about his recent experience of being scrutinized for visiting his mentor, Robert Morris, in jail.
At present, Morris is serving six months of a 10-year suspended sentence in Osage County, Oklahoma, for crimes committed against his victim, Cindy Clemishire, in the 1980s. Robert Morris first sexually assaulted Clemishire when she was 12 years old. He was in his 20s at the time. After the initial attack, the then-evangelist went on to sexually assault his victim for four years before getting caught and confessing to his crimes.
At the time, Robert Morris was subjected to a two-year restoration period. Law enforcement was not contacted in the 1980s. Cindy Clemishire brought the situation to the national spotlight in 2024, which caused Robert Morris to resign from his position as senior leader of Gateway Church.
The former spiritual leader was later subjected to criminal charges, as Oklahoma does not have a statute of limitations. Robert Morris was found guilty and began serving out his sentence last October.
“When Pastor Robert was convicted and sentenced to jail, the day that he was sentenced, I felt The Lord put on my heart to go visit him and pray for him,” Landon Schott said during his sermon on Sunday. “The Bible says that those who refresh others then themselves will be refreshed,” he continued.
“I had been personally ministered to, blessed, encouraged by the ministry of Pastor Robert. And I knew that I wanted to go and encourage him because he had encouraged me.”
After coordinating with his team, Pastor Schott was able to get a date on the calendar. “Unfortunately, it was during our six-day winter freeze, and DFW airport was shut down,” the clergyman revealed. “I completely missed any possibility of flying to Tulsa and going and visiting Pastor Robert.”
Landon Schott tried again and went to the length of cancelling meetings to visit his mentor the following week.
“I’m sitting on the plane, and the plane was about an hour late,” he shared. “And finally, they get on the intercom, and they say, ‘Unfortunately, our plane isn’t working. We’re going to have to deboard.’”
“And I said, ‘Of course it is.’ And I realize in this moment I’m not going to make it, and this is my only day to make it.”
Schott believed the delay was more than logistics. “I felt there was a demonic resistance on me going,” the pastor told his congregation. “In 20 years of traveling, I’ve never had a plane cancel two weeks in a row over the same appointment. I felt there was a demonic resistance for me going.”
Instead of giving up, Landon Schott decided to drive from Texas to Oklahoma to visit his friend. He chose to share his experience online as a way to teach about the importance of Christians visiting those in prison.
“I felt that I wasn’t supposed to be shy about it; that I was supposed to be public about it,” Schott shared this past Sunday. “I did not realize the religious hornet’s nest that I was about to kick,” he added. “I do a public post about visiting a man in prison, the way Jesus teaches us to do, that when we visit someone in prison, we do it unto Him.”
Many criticized Pastor Landon Schott for choosing to share a picture of himself taken outside the Osage County Sheriff’s Office during his visit with Robert Morris last month. Some found the act of sharing online disrespectful to Cindy Clemishire and questioned why Schott visited the abuser in the situation instead of the victim.
“I didn’t have relationship with the victim,” Schott said in response to such critics. “I don’t know the victim,” he continued. “If someone wants to connect me with the victim, we’ll pray for the victim. I have no problem with doing that,” the pastor told his congregants.
“But I do have relationship with Pastor Robert,” Schott went on to explain. “And I am praying for Pastor Robert. And I do believe in the mercy of God. I do believe that when you sin 40 years ago, and commit a horrible crime, a horrendous sin, I do believe in the power of the cross.”