The Denver Post reports this morning that another member of New Life Church’s staff has been asked to leave because of sexual misconduct.

An executive staff member at New Life Church in Colorado Springs has resigned after admitting to sexual misconduct and other mistakes – the result of an examination of the staff’s moral makeup after the ouster of senior pastor Ted Haggard, a church official said Sunday.

Christopher Beard, who headed a ministry that trained young adults in leadership skills, stepped down Friday after admitting to “a series of decisions displaying poor judgment, including one incident of sexual misconduct several years ago,” said Rob Brendle, an associate pastor at the 14,000- member church.

Citing confidentiality over personnel issues, Brendle would not discuss the nature of the sexual misconduct except to say it did not involve Haggard or a minor.
Beard, a New Life employee for nine years, was not married at the time of the incident but is now, Brendle said. Beard could not be reached for comment Sunday.

After Haggard’s fall in a drugs-and-gay- sex scandal last month, the senior leadership of New Life asked its outside board of overseers to take a closer look at the “spiritual character” of its 200-member staff as a precaution. Brendle said Beard’s disclosures came during a meeting with the board, which is made up of four pastors from other congregations.

Brendle said Beard’s resignation was voluntary and is another step toward making sure the “disordered moral life” demonstrated in Haggard’s fall is “excised from the church.”

“We recognize there will be increased scrutiny of our church in the wake of the scandal,” Brendle said. “We welcome that process in order to reinforce the high standard of personal integrity and morality that has characterized New Life’s employees for 22 years.”

I will post more on this in a bit but the news is sad.