Ted Haggard Controversy

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.