COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Elders at New Life Church in Colorado Springs announced Senior Pastor Brady Boyd has resigned his position. The announcement was made during a church service Friday night.
Monday, News 5 reported that court documents allege Boyd knew a pastor at his previous church in Texas sexually abused a child.
The documents also say that leadership at New Life hired Boyd as senior pastor despite knowing he was among those who were informed of the abuse. During a service on June 8, Boyd denied knowing about the child abuse that allegedly took place in the 1980s.
Boyd's former mentor, Robert Morris, who Boyd appointed overseer of New Life, is facing charges in Oklahoma in connection with the sexual abuse of Cindy Clemishire when she was between the ages of 12 and 16. Morris was in his 20s at the time. Boyd is not accused of any crimes in the court documents.
During the announcement Friday night, the church Elders said they did not believe that Boyd did not know about the alleged abuse. They say they asked Boyd to resign and he did so on Wednesday.
An elder read the board's statement aloud to congregants Friday evening, saying in part, "Recently, Brady has insisted that he was unaware until 2024 that Miss Clemishire was 12 years old at that time that Morris had abused her in the 80s. We believe this to be inaccurate. Brady also made statements in his public address to the congregation on June 8 that the Board of Elders know to be inaccurate."
It went on to say, "Brady had nothing to do with Robert Morris's past abuse. Still, we believe that trust is the currency of leadership. When Brady recently told our congregation inaccurately that he was unaware of certain details regarding Morris's past abuse, trust was broken, and the elders asked Brady to resign."
The news was met with tears and sniffles among the congregation Friday evening as they processed the weight of the decision.
As for the church's decision to hire Boyd in 2007 despite learning of his potential knowledge of the abuse, the elder board said, "New Life representatives contacted the board of elders at Gateway. Our church was informed that Morris's past abuse was known to Miss Clemishire's family, Gateway elders ... and legal counsel. Gateway also informed New Life that Morris had been through a restoration process, and inaccurately that Miss Clemishire and her parents had supported Morris's return to ministry. Based on that information, New Life believed that this was known by the relevant persons, and the search committee concluded that Morris's conduct from 25 years earlier, while terrible, did not involve Brady and did not impair his fitness to serve as our senior pastor."
New Life Church elders shared that a year ago, Boyd "was sensing that he was entering his last few laps," and leadership began thinking about the transition to a new senior pastor. A year ago is also when Robert Morris was criminally charged in Oklahoma for the alleged child abuse.
Church leadership announced that Daniel Grothe will be the new senior pastor at New Life Church. He has worked as a pastor at New Life for 20 years. The change marks a big shift for the church, which has seen Boyd at the helm since 2007.
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