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Founder of Grace Chapel Resigns
Paul Barnes Admits to Sexual Relations with Men
Last Edited: Monday, 11 Dec 2006, 4:48 AM MST
Created: Monday, 11 Dec 2006, 4:48 AM MST
ENGLEWOOD --

The founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel has resigned
after he said he had sexual relations with other men.

Paul Barnes, who led the church for 28 years, told his congregation
Sunday
in a videotaped message that church leaders allowed The Denver Post
to view.

He and his wife have two adult daughters.

"While we cannot condone what he has done, we continue to support and
love Paul," associate pastor Dave Palmer said in a written statement.

Palmer told The Denver Post that the church got an anonymous call last
week from a person who overheard a conversation in which someone
mentioned "blowing the whistle" on evangelical preachers engaged in
homosexuality, including Barnes.

Palmer told the newspaper he met with Barnes, who confessed. A board
of elders held an emergency meeting Thursday and accepted Barnes'
resignation.

"I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy,"
Barnes, 54, said in the videotaped message. "... I can't tell you the
number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take
this away."

He described struggling with what he believes is the biblical teaching
that homosexuality is an abomination.

Last month Ted Haggard, who founded the 14,000-member New Life Church
in Colorado Springs, was removed as head of the church after a Denver
man alleged Haggard paid him for sex. Haggard confessed to sexually
immoral conduct.

Haggard also resigned as president of the National Association of
Evangelicals, where he condemned homosexuality.