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Posted on Saturday 4 November 2006


We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard.  Our investigation and Pastor Haggard’s public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct.

The language of our church bylaws state that as Overseers we must decide in cases where the Senior Pastor has "demonstrated immoral conduct" whether we must "remove the pastor from his position or to discipline him in any way they deem necessary."

In consultation with leading evangelicals and experts familiar with the type of behavior Pastor Haggard has demonstrated, we have decided that the most positive and productive direction for our church is his dismissal and removal.  In addition, the Overseers will continue to explore the depth of Pastor Haggard’s offense so that a plan of healing and restoration can begin.

Pastor Haggard and his wife have been informed of this decision.  They have agreed as well that he should be dismissed and that a new pastor for New Life Church should be selected according to the rules of replacement in the bylaws.

That process will begin immediately in hopes that a new pastor can be confirmed by the end of the year 2006.  In the interim, Ross Parsley will function as the leader of the church with full support of the Overseers.

A letter of explanation and apology by Pastor Haggard as well as a word of encouragement from Gayle Haggard will be read in the 9:00 and 11:00 service of New Life Church.
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Church member Christine Rayes, 47, said the congregation had hoped the allegations ”were all lies.”

"We all have to move forward now," she said. "This doesn’t make what Ted accomplished here any less. The farther up you are, the more you are a target for Satan."
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Corinthians 15:56.

The Biblical verse refers to the raising of the dead in the end of days, but seems a just summary for the rapid fall of Pastor Ted. His fate has definitely been changed dramatically in the three days since Mike Jones went on the air on talk radio.

I expect the details will be obscured now, and we’ll hear a lot about praying for him, and Satan, and such things. I doubt we’ll see the absolute high drama that accompanied the fall of either Jim Bakker or Jimmy Swaggart. I expect we’ll hear a lot of scriptural reframing of what this has all been about. I doubt that the church will directly address the fact that the very foundation of the Haggard’s Evangelical Organization is challenged by this story. Their policy is:
We believe that homosexuality is not an inherited condition in the same category as race, gender, or national origin, all of which are free from moral implication. We believe that homosexuality is a deviation from the Creator’s plan for human sexuality. While homosexuals as individuals are entitled to civil rights, including equal protection of the law, the NAE opposes legislation which would extend special consideration to such individuals based on their “sexual orientation.” Such legislation inevitably is perceived as legitimatising the practice of homosexuality and elevates that practice to a level of an accepted moral standard.

Pastor Ted, I would guess, is a Gay man who, like millions before him, has lived a heterosexual life, while relegating his biological sexual orientation to secret trysts. How he has dealt with the dysychrony between his public homophobic persona and his private homosexuality would make a fascinating story, but I’m doubtful that we’re going to hear about it. While recognizing that there’s inadequate data to reach any such conclusion, I’m betting that his wife didn’t know…

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