In September of 2018, a book I wrote called “The Mystery of 23: God Speaks” was published and released to the public. It chronicles my experiences with Ted Haggard and the New Life Presbytery led by Pastor Larry Stockstill from Bethany Church in Baton Rouge, LA. In February of 2001 I received a prophetic vision of Pastor Ted. In October of 2001 I met with the New Life Presbytery to share that word. It was dismissed and during that meeting my repentance was called for. I went into a wilderness of confusion.
In November of 2006 the truth came out with Pastor Ted fell publicly.
I went into a dark season asking the Lord why He would have me carry such burdens only to see them seemingly make no difference in the outcome of Pastor Ted’s life and ministry. Matter a fact, the cost was beyond measure in my own life personally with little to show for it with Pastor’s Ted spiritual 9/11 occurred.
Pastor Larry Stockstill stood before the New Life Church congregation acting as if he had no idea these sorts of things could even remotely be true. There was never a mention of the October 2001 meeting publicly or privately. It was as if Pastor Ted was acting in a vacuum and everyone was shocked.
Then the pastoral search team hired Pastor Brady Boyd to lead New Life in 2007 out of the mess Pastor Ted had created. Sadly, the deception from the past season gave way to a new season of deception.
The Pastoral search team of New Life was aware in 2007 of Pastor Robert Morris sexually abusing a child. They informed Gateway Church of these findings of which Pastor Brady Boyd was an elder at the time. Gateway assured New Life it had been dealt with properly and legally. New Life moved forward with hiring Pastor Brady Boyd as their pastor.
He immediately positioned Pastor Robert Morris as an Overseer of the church.
I believe I became acquaintances with Pastor Brady in 2008 and over the years became professional colleagues. I enjoyed Pastor Brady’s company and learned many things from him as a fellow pastor and leader in our city. He graciously endorsed one of my books in 2017 called, “Friend of Sinners: Taking Risks To Reach The Lost.”
In 2017 I began writing the memoirs of my experience with New Life Church, The Presbytery, and Pastor Ted from 2001 to 2006. I asked Pastor Brady to take a look at it and let me know if there was anything in it that he did not agree with or wished I wouldn’t include. After a few attempts, he got back to me and said, he was fine with it and so I moved forward.
The Mystery of 23: God Speaks then came out in September 2018. The Colorado Springs Gazette contacted me in February 2019 to do a story on the book. Here is the link to that article: https://gazette.com/news/colorado-springs-pastor-faults-all-denominations-for-failing-clerical-sexual-abuse-victims/article_d3b88ffa-3627-11e9-9b05-5fd71ca769e6.html
I began calling out churches regarding NDAs. I asked churches to repent of their usage of NDAs. Pastor Brady and the New Life Elder board including Pastor Glenn Packium, were a part of having Grant Haas sign an NDA in exchange for his public silence. This was crafted and recommended by the church’s lawyer.
My public acknowledgement of churches like New Life and Pastor Brady using NDAs was noted in this article. This released a fire storm from Pastor Brady upon myself which eventually led to me not being invited to a part of the Merge Pastors in Colorado Springs that I started in 2006 at the time of Pastor Ted’s fall.
This created a chasm between Vanguard Church and New Life Church and the elders of each church. This released a firestorm on Vanguard that produced a lot of departures on our pastoral leadership team and our elder board over the years since 2018, because some of our key pastors and elders did not want to be a part of a church that publicly stood against another church or pastor in the same city. This was labeled, “divisive” and not for the unity of the body of Christ like Jesus prayed for in John 17. Unfortunately, the chasm widened over the years to follow the book came out. And not only did people leave Vanguard leadership but people in the Vanguard body were encouraged by others to do the same.
During this time our church went through a church split in October of 2023 partly because they did not want to be associated with a church that stood against another church in the city. I have lost many long time elders and pastoral friends because of my choice to do this.
I don’t regret it, at all!
It was the right thing to do regardless of what it cost me or Vanguard Church.
From 2019 to 2025 I paid a great relational price after great relational price to stand against NDAs and the sexual abuse of children covered or attempted cover up by churches. An NDA is a nondisclosure agreement that requires the abused to accept money from the church in exchange for their silence. This has sadly been a common practice across the churches in America for the past few decades.
The logic goes like this, “It is better to keep it silent from the public to protect the integrity of Jesus church.” It is often done in the name of being God honoring. But secrets in the church are rarely God honoring, when it is the leadership controlling the secrets. Secrets involving money or abuse are rarely healthy and often justified in ways that impact the bottom line of the church’s ability to perform “successfully.”
I have chosen to live my life and my pastoral ministry with full disclosure. I will answer any question a person asks me unless it pertains to my wife and kids or someone else’s privacy, then I must seek their approval as well. Pastors, elder boards, church leadership, church bodies, don’t give into the peer pressure to conform with the justification of hiding things so the church has greater transformation effectiveness for Jesus. It never works out that way and God is not honored by his church justifying things in this manner.
From 2019 to 2025 I attempted to resolve the issue with Pastor Brady with his elder board. But whatever he told them, hindered this process, that is until 2022. I was able to meet with some of the elders and address some of my concerns. I am very grateful to Chris Fowler, who is an elder at New Life and once upon a time an elder at Vanguard Church. Chris founded Church Community Builder and has been greatly used in the body of Christ because of it.
In 2025 when it came out that Pastor Robert Morris had sexually abused a child, Pastor Brady stood at New Life and prayed for Pastor Robert and gave no indication he was aware of this prior to its public discovery.
In February of 2025 I was asked to write an article by Beliefnet.com about the perceived corruption in Mega-churches across the United States and across the world. Here is the link to that article: https://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/why-do-so-many-megachurches-seem-to-be-corrupt.aspx
I also wrote this article in March of 2025: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/pastorkelly/2025/03/sins-of-omission-by-elder-boards-who-knew-of-sexual-abuse/
In June of 2025 it came out in court documents that Pastor Brady and Pastor Larry Stockstill were aware of Pastor Robert Morris sexually abusing a child at least dating back to 2011. I wrote an article in response to this. Here is the link: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/pastorkelly/2025/06/new-life-churchs-awareness-of-a-12-year-olds-abuse/
Here is the point of this article, I want to give praise to church leadership where praise is due. The New Life Elder board which still includes Chris Fowler, took on the monumental task of sitting with their Pastor and wrestling through these massive details with potentially ginormous implications. The board later shared in a question-and-answer session that they had determined through a process that Pastor Brady had lied to them about his knowledge of Pastor Robert Morris sexually abusing a child and it going unreported by the church elders he was a part of at the time at Gateway.
This led the New Life Elder board to vote unanimously to remove Pastor Brady. This created a fire storm beyond imagination once again in our city of Colorado Springs. I want to publicly applaud the New Life Elder board for having the courage to press into such a painful and fearful situation and make the righteous decision for the church.
They also disclosed that Pastor Brian Newburg had not done enough to inform the other elders of these findings nor did Pastor Lance Coles and asked for their resignation from the pastoral staff and Pastor Brian from the elder board as well. They stated publicly that Pastor Brian and Pastor Lance were repentive for these actions and the board forgave them. To date, the elder board stated, Pastor Brady still denies his knowledge or willingness to repent.
The New Life Elder Board did their job and led their Pastor and held him accountable as an elder board should. The evidence indicated guilt and Pastor Brady resigned.
This is a beautiful picture of how the body of Christ should operate in this context. No leadership situation is perfect, but perfection is not necessarily the goal, obedience to the truth and courage to act on that truth is the responsiblilty of the church elder board and the New Life Elders did just that.
I want to give credit where credit is due.
Great job New Life Elder board. I know I have been a thorn in your side for seven years, but I want you to know I applaud your leadership. May other churches, elder boards, and pastors take notice and follow the example they have given us to focus on truth regardless of the cost to the church and to themselves.
When an elder board has at least two true public witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15-21 and 1 Timohty 5:19-21) willing to publicly come forward or documentation that shows the specific actions of a pastor contradicts the required character, the board should act publicly to discipline the Senior Pastor or elder, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5:19-21:
“Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging doing nothing from partiality.”
May truth stand and set us free and may God’s bride the church be found spotless before Him.
Thank you, New Life Elder board, for leading us all to see a godly example to follow!
We are all better for it!
Blessings,
Pastor Kelly
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