THE PULPIT: New Life Church is thriving under new leadership

What a difference a year (and a few months) makes.

In May 2007, Brady Boyd was interviewing to become senior pastor of New Life Church, still reeling from a 2006 sex scandal that brought down its founder and senior pastor, Ted Haggard.

The church's finances were in ruins.

And then, seven months later, it would be socked again by a horrific shooting spree that left two young congregants dead.

Today - almost a full year after the shootings - things are looking up at New Life Church. Membership and donations have risen, indicating that the listing ship of New Life may have righted itself under Boyd's leadership.

Yet Boyd almost passed on taking the job.

He was in Colorado Springs in May 2007 for a job interview, and asked church personnel if there was any debt on the massive worship center.

Yes, he was told: $25 million. There also was no available cash, and a line of credit was paying the salaries of the 150 staff members.

In a recent interview, Boyd said he momentarily considered rescinding his candidacy to remain an associate pastor at Gateway Church, a Dallas megachurch with a weekly attendance of 12,000.

There would be another challenge as well: He, or whoever was selected, would face the task of bringing stabilityto the church in the aftermath of the scandal involving Haggard and a male prostitute - a tryst that cost New Life some of its membership.

Even though New Life was struggling financially and emotionally, Boyd accepted the New Life job in August 2007.

Three months later, on Dec. 9, 2007, a disturbed young man named Matthew Murray showed up on campus with a gun and took the lives of sisters Stephanie and Rachel Works.

"Within 13 months, New Life had two front-page, horrible things happen: a scandal from the inside and an attack from the outside," Boyd said.

Boyd took on the role of a captain steadying his ship. David Works, father of the girls killed by Murray, said Boyd helped his family through the tragedy. "I could call him right now if I wanted to," Works said.

Boyd also shied away from the political stage that Haggard had long occupied to become a national voice in broadening the evangelical agenda to include more emphasis on environmentalism and helping the downtrodden, while still opposing abortion and gay marriage.

Weekly attendance is at 10,000 after dipping to 8,800 after the Haggard scandal, according to Boyd. People are coming to hear Boyd's practical sermons on family, marriage and parenting. This summer, Boyd gave several sermons on Psalm 23, taking the comforting psalm line by line to show its relevance.

"I tell people how they can practically apply the truths of Scripture to their everyday lives," Boyd said. "A highly trained theologian might find my sermons simple, but that is exactly the point. I want people to know that Scripture can easily be applied."

Through October 2008, New Life received 9.5 percent more in donations than during the same period in 2007, according to church documents.

The increase has helped New Life pay off $1 million in debt, spend $500,000 on church improvements and donate $2 million to the poor.

"I don't think I did everything right in the first year," Boyd said, "but I think I moved methodically. Change is hard for people, but I think things have gone as well as I could have possibly imagined."

See more of my interview with Boyd, including his view of President-elect Barack Obama, on my blog.

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CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0367 or mark.barna@gazette.com.