Numerous individuals reported knowledge of New Life Church founder Ted Haggard’s struggle with a "dark side," leading to his departure from the mega-church, a member of the church’s board of overseers told parishioners Sunday.
Haggard resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals in November after former male escort Mike Jones alleged Haggard paid him for sex and sometimes snorted methamphetamine. Haggard was removed as senior pastor at New Life and admitted to "sexual immorality" in a letter to the church.
"Concerning Ted and his family, we have done extensive fact-finding into his lifelong battle with a ‘dark side’ which he said in his confession letter has been a struggle for years," Pastor Larry Stockstill, part of the church’s board of overseers, told the 14,000-member congregation Sunday. "We have verified the reality of that struggle through numerous individuals who reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships. These findings established a pattern of behavior that culminated in the final relationship in which Ted was, as a matter of grace, caught," he said.
I watched Alexandria Pelosi’s the Friends of God documentary recently. It was shot before the Ted Haggard affair, and he was a prominant part of the film. There was a segment in which he said that even non-religious people are shocked when a minister’s behavior causes a scandal – that preachers are held to a higher standard. Then there were those repeatedly shown segments – the one where he was preaching against homosexuality and the bizarre one where he was joking about someone philandering, "I know where you were last night. If you give me a thousand dollars, I won’t tell your wife." And then there’s his whirlwind three week wonder cure – "completely heterosexual."And now his congregation at the House of Hope Church is having a ‘day of hope,’ presumably to work through the effect of Mr. haggard on their mega-church. You got to respect the way they’ve dealt with all of this, though I don’t exactly think he gave them much choice in the matter. I’ve thought a lot about his comment about preachers being held to a higher standard. I think he’s right about that. But of even more interest is the fact that he said it, or preached against homosexuality, or made philandering jokes.
Who is Ted Haggard? I had two minds about this story. First, I’m so angry about what the Religious Right has done in this country that I delighted in a good juicy scandal. Anything that might put a damper on their metastacizing into our politics was okay with me. But, I felt sorry for him too. I guessed that he was simply a Gay guy who, like so many, grew up in a world that wouldn’t accept homosexuality and so he had to live two lives.
But my sympathy has waned. No matter what his sexuality, he’s a charlatan. And the more I see of him, the more I’m drawn to that conclusion. He looks a lot to me like a modern Elmer Gantry or less – a Sociopath with Charisma. And I feel sorry for his parishoners who have to hear, "We have verified the reality of that struggle through numerous individuals who reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships." I will be very interested to see what happens to his self-made empire over time.
I guess he was right. Men of the cloth are held to a higher standard…
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.