Officials at New Life Church expressed a mixture of sadness and hope over the weekend as they explained the details surrounding the resignation of lead Pastor Brady Boyd on June 18.

Boyd, who assumed leadership of the evangelical megachurch in August 2007, was asked to step down after the board of elders determined that his recent statements about the sexual misconduct of longtime associate Robert Morris were “inaccurate,” a New Life elder said in a statement on Sunday.

Morris, who founded Gateway Church near Dallas in 2000, resigned last year after admitting to “inappropriate sexual behavior” in the 1980s with an underage girl. The victim, Cindy Clemishire, was 12 when the four-year period of abuse that she has accused Morris of began, officials said.

Morris is facing five criminal charges related to sexual contact with a child.

Boyd, who served at Gateway from 2001-2007 and invited Morris to serve as a guest pastor at New Life several times, said as recently as June 8 that he did not know that Clemishire was 12 until last year.

“I didn’t know that,” Boyd told congregants this month. “Very few people knew that.”

In a statement June 22, church elder Scott Palmer said Boyd’s insistence that he did not know Clemishire’s age at the time of Morris’ abuse was the primary reason the board asked him to step down.

“Brady had nothing to do with Pastor Morris’ past abuse,” Palmer said.

“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 the elders asked Brady to resign.”

In the statement, Palmer acknowledged Boyd’s contributions to New Life during his tenure, including guiding the church into “a long season of peace” after a deadly shooting in December 2007, eliminating millions of dollars of debt, and spearheading initiatives for the underserved in the Colorado Springs area.

“We love and thank God for the Boyd family, and for Brady’s service to New Life Church,” Palmer said.

Associate Senior Pastor Daniel Grothe has been named Boyd’s successor, a transition that had been in the works for more than a year, according to church officials.

“Brady called it the ‘relay zone,’” said Senior Executive Pastor Jon Egan on Sunday. “Where (Boyd) was coming into the zone with the baton, and Daniel starting running without the baton … now the baton has been passed, and Daniel is running.”

Grothe was clearly emotional as he addressed the congregation following a standing ovation.

“I hate this. This is not how we wanted this to go,” he said.

A longtime fixture at New Life, Grothe expressed gratitude for the Boyd family.

“We love Brady and Pam Boyd,” he said. “Their family is absolutely a gift to us.”

Amid occasional outbursts from the crowd, Grothe told congregants that New Life has survived crises before, and that this crisis will pass.

“We are going to be OK,” he said. “This is not our first storm.”