Religions > Bible > Haggard built New Life Church "by hanging out at gay bars"
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Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"TTN" |
| Date: |
03 Nov 2006 07:29:28 AM |
| Object: |
Haggard built New Life Church "by hanging out at gay bars" |
How many more gays are in New Life Church?
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-evangelical3nov03,1,1024854.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Evangelical leader steps down amid allegations
The Rev. Ted Haggard denies a man's public charges that the pastor of
a mega-church had been paying him for sex.
By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writer
November 3, 2006
DENVER — The president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals resigned
Thursday after his Colorado Springs, Colo., mega-church opened an
investigation into allegations that he had repeatedly paid for sex
with a male prostitute.
The Rev. Ted Haggard, who regularly consults with the White House on
policy matters, told a Denver television station that he "never had a
gay relationship with anybody" and had been faithful to his wife of 28
years.
In a statement released by New Life Church, where he is senior pastor,
the 50-year-old Haggard added: "I hope to be able to discuss this
matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek
both spiritual advice and guidance."
The allegations were made Wednesday on a Denver talk radio station,
KHOW-AM. Mike Jones, who described himself as a male escort, said he
had a sexual "business relationship" with Haggard for the last three
years. Jones, 49, told the Associated Press that he had saved
voicemail messages from Haggard, as well as an envelope that he said
Haggard had used to mail him cash.
A committee of pastors from across the country has been convened to
investigate the allegations. They can "discipline me if I need to be
disciplined, fire me if I need to be fired," Haggard told KUSA-TV. He
also placed himself on administrative leave from the 14,000-member
church pending the investigation, saying he could not continue to
minister "under the cloud created by the accusations."...
A lengthy profile in Harper's magazine — which is quoted approvingly
on Haggard's website — recounts how he built New Life Church in part
by hanging out at gay bars and inviting the patrons to come to his
sermons and be saved.
Under Haggard's leadership, the National Assn. of Evangelicals, which
has 30 million members, reaffirmed a policy statement that describes
homosexuality as "a deviation from the Creator's plan" and calls
same-sex relations a sin that, "if persisted in … excludes one from
the Kingdom of God."
Haggard has lobbied for a U.S. constitutional amendment to ban
same-sex marriage; he also supports the gay-marriage ban that will go
before Colorado voters Tuesday...
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| User: "Ghod" |
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| Title: Re: Haggard built New Life Church "by hanging out at gay bars" |
03 Nov 2006 09:26:30 AM |
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"TTN" <adm2@joddeh.net> wrote in message
news:31hmk2hk30lfn7n4pu0lftp26fsh85q0mp@4ax.com...
How many more gays are in New Life Church?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061103/ap_on_re_us/haggard_sex_allegations
By CATHERINE TSAI, Associated Press Writer 39 minutes ago
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - A leading evangelist and outspoken opponent
of gay marriage has given up his post as president of the National
Association of Evangelicals while a church panel investigates
allegations he paid a man for sex.
The Rev. Ted Haggard resigned as head of the 30 million-member
association Thursday and also gave up leadership of his New Life
Church pending the investigation into allegations he had monthly
trysts with a gay prostitute over the past three years.
Haggard, a married father of five, denied the allegations, but the
acting pastor of his church later said that Haggard had acknowledged
some of the accusations were true.
"I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not
admission to all of the material that has been discussed, but there is
an admission of some guilt," Ross Parsley told KKTV-TV of Colorado
Springs.
Parlsey did not elaborate, but in an e-mail addressed to congregants,
he wrote that the church's four-member board of overseers had since
met with Haggard.
"It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers
that some of the accusations against him are true. He has willingly
and humbly submitted to the authority of the board of overseers, and
will remain on administrative leave during the course of the
investigation," the e-mail stated. A copy was obtained by KMGH-TV in
Denver.
Late Wednesday, Haggard told KUSA-TV: "I've never had a gay
relationship with anybody, and I'm steady with my wife, I'm faithful
to my wife."
The allegations surfaced as voters in Colorado and seven other states
get ready to decide Tuesday on amendments banning gay marriage.
Besides the proposed ban on the Colorado ballot, a separate measure
would establish the legality of domestic partnerships providing
same-sex couples with many of the rights of married couples.
Members of Haggard's 14,000-member megachurch were stunned.
"It's political, right before the elections," said Brian Boals, a New
Life member for 17 years.
Church member E.J. Cox, 25, called the claims "ridiculous."
"People are always saying stuff about Pastor Ted," she said. "You just
sort of blow it off. He's just like anyone else in the public eye."
The accusations were made by Mike Jones, 49, of Denver, who said he
decided to go public because of the political fight over the
amendments.
"I just want people to step back and take a look and say, 'Look, we're
all sinners, we all have faults, but if two people want to get
married, just let them, and let them have a happy life,'" said Jones,
who added that he isn't working for any political group.
Jones, who said he is gay, said he was also upset when he discovered
Haggard and the New Life Church had publicly opposed same-sex
marriage.
"It made me angry that here's someone preaching about gay marriage and
going behind the scenes having gay sex," he said.
Jones claimed Haggard paid him to have sex nearly every month over
three years. He said he advertised himself as an escort on the
Internet and was contacted by a man who called himself Art, who
snorted methamphetamine before their sexual encounters to heighten his
experience.
Jones said he later saw the man on television identified as Haggard
and that the two last had sex in August.
He said he has voice mail messages from Haggard, as well as an
envelope he said Haggard used to mail him cash. He declined to make
the voice mails available to the AP, but KUSA-TV reported what it said
were excerpts late Thursday that referred to methamphetamine.
"Hi Mike, this is Art," one call began, according to the station.
"Hey, I was just calling to see if we could get any more. Either $100
or $200 supply."
A second message, left a few hours later, began: "Hi Mike, this is
Art, I am here in Denver and sorry that I missed you. But as I said,
if you want to go ahead and get the stuff, then that would be great.
And I'll get it sometime next week or the week after or whenever."
Haggard, 50, was appointed president of the evangelicals association
in March 2003. He has participated in conservative Christian leaders'
conference calls with White House staffers and lobbied members of
Congress last year on U.S. Supreme Court appointees after Sandra Day
O'Connor announced her retirement.
After Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in 2004, Haggard and others
began organizing state-by-state opposition. Last year, Haggard and
officials from the nearby Christian ministry Focus on the Family
announced plans to push Colorado's gay marriage ban for the 2006
ballot.
At the time, Haggard said that he believed marriage is a union between
a man and woman rooted in centuries of tradition, and that research
shows it's the best family unit for children.
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