Christian Evangelical Pastor Resigns on Cloud of Homosexuality

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NAE pres. Haggard resigns amid accusations

Nov 2, 2006
By Staff
Baptist Press

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (BP)--Ted Haggard, pastor of a prominent Colorado church and president of the National Association of Evangelicals, has resigned his duties amid allegations of a homosexual affair just days before voters in Colorado decide on an amendment he supported to protect natural, traditional marriage.

According to a news release on his church website, Haggard said Nov. 2 that he could “not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations made on Denver talk radio this morning.”

“I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity,” Haggard, pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, said. “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 accusations involve comments from a homosexual man who claims Haggard paid him for sex about once a month for three years and that Haggard used methamphetamine during some of the encounters.

Ross Parsley, New Life Church’s associate senior pastor who is now serving as interim pastor, told KKTV television in Colorado Springs Nov. 2 that Haggard had admitted to some of the allegations.

“I don't have any accurate information about the precise details, I just know that there has been some admission of indiscretion, not admission to all of the material that's been discussed, but there is an admission of some guilt,” Parsley said.

Similar words appeared in an e-mail Parsley sent to church members late Thursday night.

“It is important for you to know that he confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true,” Parsley said in the e-mail, according to Denver’s ABC affiliate, KMGH-TV.

The previous night, Haggard told a Denver television station that he had never used drugs or had sex with a man, and he said he has been faithful to his wife.

Conservatives in Colorado say the timing of the story is suspicious given that it was released with inadequate time for Haggard to clear himself before votes are cast regarding Amendment 43, which would protect the traditional definition of marriage in the state.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family denounced the media for publicizing “a rumor like this based on nothing but one man’s accusation.”

“Ted Haggard is a friend of mine, and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday’s election,” Dobson said in a release.

Bryant Adams, a spokesman for Colorado’s Republican Party, echoed Dobson’s sentiment.

“It’s amazing that this guy would wait until six days before an election, when there’s a marriage amendment on the ballot. Surprise, surprise,” Adams said.

In a statement, officials for Coloradans for Marriage, the main group supporting Amendment 43, said they will press on despite the disruption.

“This is a difficult situation for Pastor Haggard and his family,” the group said, according to the Rocky Mountain News. “However, we will not let this distract us with our efforts to pass the Colorado Marriage Amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.”

Mike Jones, the 49-year-old Denver resident who brought the claims against Haggard, told the Associated Press he is not working for any political group.

“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,’” Jones said.

In a Colorado Springs Gazette story circulated by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, Jones said he realized Haggard’s nationwide importance as an evangelical leader about two years ago when he saw a History Channel program featuring an interview of Haggard. Jones later decided to expose what he called Haggard’s hypocrisy, the report said.

“After sitting back and contemplating this issue, the biggest reason is, being a gay man all my life, I have experienced with my friends some sadness,” Jones said. “I had two friends that were together 50 years, when one of them would get in a hospital for an accident or something, their partner could not get in to see them. I saw a lot of sadness. I felt it was my responsibility to my fellow brothers and sisters that I had to take a stand.”

As evidence to support his claims of encounters with Haggard, Jones has released two voice mail messages and a letter from Haggard to Denver’s KUSA-TV. The television station hired Richard Sanders, a voice identification expert from the University of Colorado at Denver, to compare the voice mail messages with samples of Haggard’s voice, The Gazette said. KUSA reported that nine of 12 words were “perfect matches.”

The governing structure of New Life Church gives a board of overseers authority to conduct an inquiry, discipline the senior pastor, remove him from his position or restore him to ministry, according to a statement by the church. The board consists of four senior pastors of other congregations. Parsley said they have already started meeting with Haggard.

In addition to voluntarily putting himself on administrative leave at New Life Church, Haggard resigned as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals. The Southern Baptist Convention is not affiliated with the NAE.

As president of the NAE, Haggard in the past has participated in Christian leaders’ conference calls with White House staff members and was vocal in the appointment process of a new Supreme Court justice last year.

Compiled by Erin Roach with reporting by Art Toalston.


Haggard, who is often credited with rallying conservative Christians behind President George W Bush for his 2004 re-election, talks to Bush or his advisors every Monday, Harper's Magazine reported last year.

Link:

Evangelical America hit by gay sex scandal

update:

Evangelical leader says he bought drugs

Haggard sounds like Clinton:

"I want you to listen to me. I'm going to say this again. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."

President Clinton
(from televised remarks at a White House briefing on child care, 1-26-98)