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Megachurch fires (Vertical) worship artist over extramarital affair
with woman from another city
By Anugrah Kumar,
Christian Post Contributor
New Life Church Colorado Springs, Colorado
Wikimedia Commons/Adammeliski
A Colorado megachurch has fired former Vertical Worship band member and songwriter Andi Rozier for an alleged extramarital relationship.
Rozier, who had served on the worship team at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was promptly terminated upon the discovery of his relationship with a woman from another city, Executive Pastor Brian Newberg wrote in an email statement to The Christian Post.
The church was only able to share the actions it has taken as a church since it is an employment matter.
"We have already engaged in a communication process with our church," Newberg said. "Our staff was communicated to last week and our congregation was communicated to in-person at our weekend services."
"We are walking alongside [Rozier's] wife and children to help them heal," he added. "Andi is no longer a part of our pastoral team."
Andi Rozier leads "Great Are You Lord" written by David Leonard, Jason Ingram and Leslie Jordan live at Harvest Bible Chapel in February 2019. | You Tube/Vertical Worship
Rozier served as a worship pastor for nearly two decades at Harvest Bible Chapel in the Chicago area and was a member of its worship band, Vertical Worship, according to The Roys Report.
In the early stages of Rozier's service at Harvest, the church removed him from ministry for moral reasons before being reinstated after counseling, discipleship and confession, former Harvest Bible Chapel Pastor James MacDonald told The Roys Report. Rozier was featured on several Vertical Worship albums.
"It was discovered he had been in a sexual relationship with a young woman," Josh Caterer, a former Harvest worship leader, told The Roys Report, adding that he was subject to church discipline in 2002.
New Life Church has also faced controversy over the years. In 2006, its former Pastor Ted Haggard was forced to resign after confessing to "sexual immorality" with a male escort in a scandal involving illicit drug use.
Haggard, who formerly served as the National Association of Evangelicals president, launched a new church, the Colorado-based St. James Church, in 2010. Last year, Haggard was accused of inappropriately touching at least two young men and illicit drug use.
Last April, amid a "slow decline" in St. James Church, Haggard announced plans to turn his church into a series of house churches, changing the name to Storyhouse Church.
Other megachurches have been hit with sexual scandals in recent years.
Some serious leadership problems have surfaced at the U.S.-based Hillsong East Coast, especially regarding financial and sexual scandals surrounding Hillsong NYC Lead Pastor Carl Lentz, including an affair. Lentz was fired from Hillsong in 2020.
A few other Hillsong resignations have followed Lentz, including Darnell Barrett, creative director of Hillsong Church Montclair in New Jersey, as well as Reed and Jess Bogard from Hillsong Dallas, which has since closed.
Hillsong's former Global Senior Pastor Brian Houston resigned last March after it was revealed that two allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him in the previous 10 years.
In a statement, Hillsong claimed that Houston violated the church's pastoral code of conduct by entering the hotel room of an unidentified woman for 40 minutes while under the influence of alcohol and prescription drugs during the church's annual conference in 2019.
Before ex-teacher was charged with sex abuse,
her family sued the church-run school
Parents, wracked with guilt, say church leaders should've known about allegations
Tyler Whetstone
Knoxville News Sentinel
Last summer, months before Joseph “Kade” Abbott was arrested on a felony charge of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl, the girl's family filed a lawsuit saying the First Apostolic Church of Maryville and the Apostolic Christian Academy should have known about the abuse.
The suit, filed in Blount County Circuit Court in August, says Abbott sexually assaulted the teenager multiple times last year, causing mental trauma for the girl and extreme guilt and anguish for the parents. Church leaders knew or should have known Abbott was a danger, it says.
In 2018, the Apostolic Christian Academy and connected day care announced they had achieved Partner in Prevention status, a designation given by the nonprofit Darkness to Light to organizations that take extra steps to protect the children they serve by training staff to understand child sexual abuse, identify unsafe situations and react responsibly in the best interest of children.
Abbott was arrested in North Carolina on a charge of sexual battery by an authority figure and taken to the Blount County jail Jan. 9. He was released on a $200,000 bond the following day, according to Blount County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Marian O'Briant.
Police began investigating Abbott in June after he was accused by the girl's parents of sex abuse. The case is under investigation, O’Briant said last week. O’Briant declined to give additional details because the investigation is ongoing and involves a juvenile.
Knox News is not naming the girl or her family because she is a minor and says she's a victim of sexual abuse.
A lawsuit against Apostolic Christian Academy at First Apostolic Church says the Maryville school and church should have known about allegations that a teacher was sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. The teacher, Joseph "Kade" Abbott, has been charged with sexual battery by an authority figure.
Abbott, 26, is not listed as a school employee, but appeared on Apostolic Christian Academy's staff list as a middle school teacher as recently as August, around the same time the lawsuit was filed, according to a search of internet archives by Knox News. He moved two months ago to a suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the arrest warrant.
The charge, sexual battery by an authority figure, is used against defendants who use their job or legal status to take advantage of their victim, or have parental or custodial authority.
Abbott’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 27.
Attorney Alyssa Minge represents both the school and the church. She referred Knox News to her previous statement: "We cannot comment on matters involving pending litigation. Our prayers are with everyone involved.”
The family is suing for $4.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
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