Ted Haggard Controversy
Friday, November 03, 2006
Update - 3:30 p.m., Sunday, November 5th - The New York Times reported this morning that Rev. Haggard had been dismissed from his position as senior pastor of New Life Church. Here's the link to that story.
Also, CNN reports that a letter from Haggard was read to the congregation at New Life Church this morning, in which he asked forgiveness both for himself and his accuser, Mike Jones. He admitted to struggles with a "lifelong sexual problem" in that letter and called himself "a deceiver and a liar." When a letter from Haggard's wife Gayle was read, in which she indicated that she would remain with Haggard despite a broken heart, the congregation reportedly responded with a standing ovation. Read more in the CNN article here.
This whole saga raises so many questions about the nature of pastoral leadership, that I will not begin to try to dig into them here. If you would like to read a more extended discussion on some of these questions, they have been discussed on Dr. Ben Witherington's blog over the past few days. I am going to commit myself to praying for Ted Haggard, his family, New Life Church, and all parties involved over the next few days.
- Andrew.
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It seems like just a few months ago that the Rev. Ted Haggard's picture was on the front cover of Christianity Today. As the leader of the National Association of Evangelicals, and the pastor of the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Haggard is one of the most prominent evangelical voices in the country.
So I nearly fell out of my chair when the news media dropped this bombshell today. A male escort has come forward and accused Haggard of engaging in a three-year sexual relationship with him, which included hard drug use. Haggard has taken a leave of absence from his pastorate and resigned as chairman of the NAE, but he is also denying all charges. The news reports say that an independent investigation will be carried out in his church.
The way I see it, one of two things is going on here. This could be a politically-motivated attack on Haggard, in light of his support of next week's proposed constitutional amendment in Colorado outlawing same-sex marriage. Or, the allegations could be true. The male escort admitted his anger at Haggard for supporting the proposed amendment, so he's either telling the truth or he's out to discredit and embarrass Haggard in the run-up to the election.
Either way, the story is shocking and is sure to reverberate across the evangelical Christian community for the next few weeks.
Also, CNN reports that a letter from Haggard was read to the congregation at New Life Church this morning, in which he asked forgiveness both for himself and his accuser, Mike Jones. He admitted to struggles with a "lifelong sexual problem" in that letter and called himself "a deceiver and a liar." When a letter from Haggard's wife Gayle was read, in which she indicated that she would remain with Haggard despite a broken heart, the congregation reportedly responded with a standing ovation. Read more in the CNN article here.
This whole saga raises so many questions about the nature of pastoral leadership, that I will not begin to try to dig into them here. If you would like to read a more extended discussion on some of these questions, they have been discussed on Dr. Ben Witherington's blog over the past few days. I am going to commit myself to praying for Ted Haggard, his family, New Life Church, and all parties involved over the next few days.
- Andrew.
------------------------------------
It seems like just a few months ago that the Rev. Ted Haggard's picture was on the front cover of Christianity Today. As the leader of the National Association of Evangelicals, and the pastor of the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Haggard is one of the most prominent evangelical voices in the country.
So I nearly fell out of my chair when the news media dropped this bombshell today. A male escort has come forward and accused Haggard of engaging in a three-year sexual relationship with him, which included hard drug use. Haggard has taken a leave of absence from his pastorate and resigned as chairman of the NAE, but he is also denying all charges. The news reports say that an independent investigation will be carried out in his church.
The way I see it, one of two things is going on here. This could be a politically-motivated attack on Haggard, in light of his support of next week's proposed constitutional amendment in Colorado outlawing same-sex marriage. Or, the allegations could be true. The male escort admitted his anger at Haggard for supporting the proposed amendment, so he's either telling the truth or he's out to discredit and embarrass Haggard in the run-up to the election.
Either way, the story is shocking and is sure to reverberate across the evangelical Christian community for the next few weeks.
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 1:12 AM
5 Comments:
it is sad all the way around.
Allegations made by an angry gay male prostitute on dope, give me a break!
There could be a third option, Andrew: both.
I admit that the way Clark puts it makes it seem almost unbelievable. And yet, the most recent report on MSNBC backs up statements made earlier today by the associate pastor now in charge of Haggard's New Life Church, in which he indicated that Haggard has admitted to some, but not all, of what the male escort has charged.
Here's the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536263/
This is obviously going to get worse before it gets better. My mind has been sidetracked by this thing all day long.
When drugs are involved anything is possible, I should have considered this before making my previous comment. I guess I had some denial to work through.
Still something just doesn't add up. The accuser, Mr. Jones, a self proclaimed drug-dealer, among other things, stated that the reason he came forward was to "expose a hypocrite." This is where I get confused, I mean since when do gay prostitute dope dealers have moral code or any standard of ethics? It doesn't make sense for anyone to admit to felonious crime willfully making themselves a target for criminal investigation and prosecution, especially a person who sells drugs! A dealer is even worse than the user, an addict can't help it, the dealer can but they don't care they sell dope to children.
Alleging that after 3 years of this conduct, now suddenly he develops a desire to do the right thing, c'mon...I may not be the brightest bulb on the tree but that just doesn't all add up.
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