Carla Howerton had been a member of New Life Church in Colorado Springs for a decade when, last June, the board of elders of the evangelical, nondenominational megachurch drove Senior Pastor Brady Boyd out of the job he’d held for nearly 18 years.

The elders issued a statement saying that documents in a lawsuit out of Texas proved that Boyd had knowledge in the 1980s of sexual abuse at the hands of Boyd’s former boss at the previous church he’d worked at. The case involved a girl who was 12 at the time.

Boyd denied the claims, saying he had only become aware of the situation when the victim came forward in 2024.

“I felt sad,” Howerton said. “Sad that he was forced to leave. Sad that I couldn’t hear him every Sunday. Sad not knowing what the future might look like and was there anyone else that could preach like him. Nobody came to mind. Sad at that point my 10 years of following him seemed to be over.”

Turns out, it wasn’t.

Hundreds of 15,000 attendees of New Life Church, which posted operating expenses of $23.1 million in 2024 tax filings, apparently had similar thoughts. Some protested outside New Life after church services, calling for him to stay.

Advocates formed a “Support Brady Boyd” Facebook page. Howerton said she was one of the first 100 people to join.

“It gave me comfort because so many other people were confused and sad and longing for Brady to preach again,” she said. “It was a place to go to be with like-minded people that were feeling the same thing as I was feeling.”

Howerton left New Life in June 2025 after an announcement that Boyd had stepped down. She never went back. “I did my research, and I believed his explanation of what happened,” she said.

In the past year, Boyd built a nonprofit, Psalm 68 Ministries. The organization helps “widows, orphans and the forgotten poor through education, community rebuilding and clean water projects,” in Guatemala, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic, according to its website.

The Christian ministry also offers programs for “wounded pastors” and works with other nonprofits in the United States to provide “strength, resources and encouragement to care for widows, orphans and wounded pastors right here at home.”

Boyd also launched podcasts featuring him preaching from his home.

He further tested the state of the holy waters by hosting a weekly Wednesday night service featuring worship, praise, prayer, preaching and breaking of the bread at the Phil Long Music Hall, also known as Boot Barn.

The first event in March drew more than 400 people, Boyd said on his Facebook page. Services have continued for the past five months.

Howerton was happy.

“He’s got such a down-to-earth way of clearly presenting what the Bible says about different social issues in our world and topics we bring up with one another,” she said. “I just learn something new from him every single time he preaches.”

Now, a merger of Boyd’s Psalm 68 Ministries and a fledgling congregation will manifest on Aug. 23 as The Village Church Colorado Springs. The weekly service begins at 10 a.m. at the event hall at 13071 Bass Pro Drive.

Pastors Joseph and Lindsay Rangel started The Village Church in their home last September and with growth moved weekly services to Mountain Ridge Middle School.

The name of the combined effort “was born from a desire to live in authentic community with one another. To really know each other at church and to live as a spiritual community,” Boyd wrote on Facebook

Neither Boyd nor the Rangels responded to requests for an interview.

Boyd is listed on the website as the legacy pastor of the new church. His wife, Pam Neal Boyd, will be involved in church work as well, according to social media posts.

New Life Church’s new senior pastor, Daniel Grothe, who took over last year after Boyd stepped down, declined a request for an interview on the first year at New Life post-Boyd.

Howerton and other supporters are ecstatic.

“I know when it’s a right fit for me because I get goose bumps. When I found Brady Boyd at New Life, I got goose bumps. I still do,” Howerton said.

“It’s an amazing experience to feel closer to God and have this opportunity to grow and love in the spirit. We need earthly people to help guide us through, and Brady’s definitely one of those great leaders.”

In a Facebook post titled, “Why does Colorado Springs need another church?” Boyd wrote that the community’s growth has expanded the Christian mission, and “more churches” mean “more compassion.”

“More families are arriving. More neighborhoods are being built. More people are searching for hope. More vulnerable neighbors need a spiritual family that will walk beside them. The answer is not bigger buildings alone,” he wrote.

“The answer is more faithful communities centered on Jesus. Churches that pray. Churches that serve. Churches that welcome. Churches that equip believers and reach people who have not yet heard or understood the gospel.”

In response, Boyd supporter Gary Maestas of Colorado Springs wrote, “The reason we need another church is because God is not yet done with the pastor who will be teaching here.

“For anyone who may think this is about competition with their other church, you can put that at rest. This pastor is all about preaching Jesus to anyone who will listen. He still has the passion of changing lives, bringing community together. Just saying.”

Along with his faithful backers, Boyd said he wants to reach the one in four adults who identify as religiously unaffiliated in recent polls including Gallup.

“People who do not have a church home still need friendship. They still need compassion. They still ask questions about purpose, suffering, family and hope. They still need a community that will walk with them without treating them like a project,” Boyd said.

“A new church can create space for people who feel uncertain about Christianity. It can listen before speaking. It can serve before asking. It can demonstrate the character of Jesus through patient relationships and practical love.”

Some people indicated on social media that they aren’t so sure another church is the answer. And some don’t stand behind Boyd. Church elders were adamant last year in saying Boyd was lying about his knowledge of clergy sexual abuse.

Boyd is the second senior pastor to leave New Life over conflict and start a new church.

Ted Haggard, who founded New Life in 1984, abdicated his position as senior pastor in 2006 under duress from church leaders.

Haggard maintained he did nothing wrong amid public allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use. Haggard entered a spiritual restoration program, and he and New Life formally severed ties in 2008.

Haggard started Saint James Church in 2010, bought a building, then sold the building in 2022 due to declining membership and financial concerns.

He also faced new allegations of sexual impropriety involving minors that The Gazette uncovered.

Colorado Springs Police Department had told The Gazette it investigated the claims but did not have enough material to prosecute, despite several people coming forward to The Gazette and police with their stories and what they considered to be evidence.

Haggard denied the new allegations in online sermons. He moved his church to a home-based setting. It’s unclear if it remains functional.