New Life Church, Colorado

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The New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. is a megachurch, founded by Ted Haggard and currently led by interim Senior Pastor Ross Parsley. Ross Parsley was previously the Worship Pastor at New Life Church.

The church, along with Focus on the Family, established Colorado Springs as a conservative evangelical center in the 1990s.^[1] Jeff Sharlet claimed in 2005 that while it is "…by no means the largest megachurch…[it] holds more sway over the political direction of evangelicalism" than any other in America.^[2]

Since its founding in 1984 in the basement of Ted Haggard's home — he was then newly arrived in Colorado — the church has grown through a succession of larger spaces, first in a series of strip malls and the like. The old sanctuary at the current location seats 1,500; the current main sanctuary seats 7,500;^[2] the congregation is estimated at 14,000 as of 2006.^[3] The building is decorated with numerous artworks by Thomas Blackshear. Upstairs from the sanctuary is "Fort Victory", designed to look like an Old West cavalry fort.^[2] Internally, the church uses the small group model of organization.^[3]

On the Campus of New Life Church resides the World Prayer Center which is responsible for (Real-Time) Prayer for many people around the world.

1 Board of Overseers
2 Departure of Haggard
3 Media References
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Board of Overseers

The New Life Church's bylaws specify a Board of Overseers, for the purposes of disciplining the Senior Pastor while "protect[ing] the hearts of all involved" [1], among other duties. It currently consists of:

Pastor Larry Stockstill from Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, LA
Pastor Mike Ware from Victory Church in Denver, CO
Pastor Mark Cowart from Church for All Nations in Colorado Springs, CO
Pastor Tim Ralph from New Covenant Fellowship in Larkspur, CO

[edit] Departure of Haggard

On November 2, 2006, Mike Jones, a male escort, accused Haggard of paying for sex with him in monthly trysts over the past three years.^[4] Further, Jones said Haggard snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his experience.^[4] KUSA-TV released voice mails, in which a person purportedly Haggard, said "Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100 or $200 supply."^[4] Jones said "supply" referred to methamphetamine.^[4]

Later that day, the Rocky Mountain News stated Haggard stepped down as pastor and quoted him as saying, "I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek both spiritual advice and guidance."^[4] Two days later, the Board of Overseerers at the church announced that they had decided to permanently dismiss Haggard from his role.^[5] In a letter read to the Congregation on November 6, Haggard stated that he and his wife "will never return to a leadership role at New Life Church."^[6]

On November 20, the search for a new senior pastor began with the creation of a nine person Pastoral Selection Committee. Any committee recommendation would need approval by the church's Board of Overseers and a two-thirds majority congregation vote.^[7]^[8]^[9] [2]

Just four months after Haggard's departure, the interim senior pastor Ross Parsley announced that the church had to lay off 44 people, or about 12 percent of its work force, due to falling church income.^[10]^[11]

[edit] Media References

Members of the church and Ted Haggard were featured in episode 77, "Pray", of the National Public Radio program This American Life, as well as the documentary Jesus Camp.