Elders at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, announced Sunday that they asked their senior pastor, Brady Boyd, to resign after learning that he lied about his knowledge of Gateway Church founder Robert Morris’ alleged sexual abuse of Cindy Clemishire beginning when she was 12 in the 1980s.
“Recently, Brady has insisted that he was unaware until 2024 that Ms. Clemishire was 12 at the time that Morris abused her in the 1980s. We believe that to be inaccurate. Brady also made statements in his public address to the congregation on June 8 that the Board of Elders knows to be inaccurate,” New Life Church elders said in a statement.
“Brady had nothing at all to do with Robert Morris’ 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’ past abuse, trust was broken, and we, the Board of Elders, asked Brady to resign,” they added.
The elders said Boyd, who became the church’s senior pastor in August 2007, officially resigned on June 18, making way for Daniel Grothe to step in as the church’s new senior pastor.
This is not the first time a New Life Church leader has stepped down in the face of controversy. In 2006, the church's former Pastor Ted Haggard resigned after confessing to "sexual immorality" with a male escort and illicit drug use.
The elders explained that when Brady was being considered for the role, the church’s pastoral search committee was informed about Morris’ sexual abuse of Clemishire when she was 12 and he was about 20 or 21. Boyd served at Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas, from 2001 to 2007 during Morris’ 24-year tenure, which ended with his resignation in June 2024.
"To report what they had heard and inquire further regarding the allegations of abuse, New Life representatives contacted the Board of Elders of Gateway. Our church was informed that Morris' past abuse was known to Ms. Clemishire's family, Gateway elders, news media, and legal counsel. Gateway also informed New Life that Morris had been through a restoration process and, inaccurately, that Ms. Clemishire and her parents had supported Morris' return to ministry," New Life Church elders said.
"Based on that information, New Life believed that Ms. Clemishire's abuse was known by the relevant persons and the search committee concluded that Morris' conduct from 25 years earlier, while terrible, did not involve Brady and did not impair his fitness to serve as our Senior Pastor. The search committee recommended Brady for the role and New Life Church welcomed him in August 2007."
Clemishire, now 55, recently filed a defamation lawsuit against Gateway Church and Morris, seeking over $1 million.
The lawsuit names Clemishire and her father, Jerry Lee Clemishire, as plaintiffs. The filing alleges that Morris and Gateway Church leaders mischaracterized the abuse Clemishire suffered as a consensual "relationship" with a "young lady" instead of the sexual assault of a child.
It further alleges that when public media reports emerged in 2024 about the abuse Morris, Gateway's board of elders and media executive Lawrence Swicegood made "knowingly false" statements to minimize what happened.
Morris was indicted in March on five counts of lewd or indecent acts with a child by a multi-county grand jury in Oklahoma in connection with his actions against Clemishire. She reported that Morris began sexually abusing her on Dec. 25, 1982, when she was 12, and continued with the abuse for 4.5 years after that. At the time, Morris was serving as a traveling evangelist.
Gateway Church, which Morris founded in 2000, removed multiple elders last November after a four-month investigation found that all but three church elders had some knowledge about Morris' encounter with Clemishire and "failed to inquire further." Some allegedly knew before allegations became public that Clemishire was a child when the abuse occurred.
"This is a time of mixed emotions. We are grieving as a church. We are grateful for Brady's service, we pray for justice and healing for Ms. Clemishire, and we deeply regret our association with Robert Morris," New Life Church elders said in their statement.
"At the same time, we are filled with hope for the future and believe God will continue to do great things at New Life Church. Most intensely, we long for a world of justice and peace, a world where God's Kingdom comes, 'on earth as it is in heaven.'"
