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Title: Haggard stepping down amid gay affair inquiry
Source:
We Hold These Truths & Denver Post
URL Source: http://whtt.org/index.php?news=2&id=1029
Published: Nov 2, 2006
Author: Eric Gorski
Post Date: 2006-11-03 06:47:43 by Red Jones
Keywords: None
Views: 1274
Comments: 59
Haggard stepping down amid gay affair inquiry Denver Post Nov 02, 2006 Haggard stepping down amid gay affair inquiry By Eric Gorski Denver Post Staff Writer http://DenverPost.com Article Last Updated:11/02/2006 03:51:34 PM MST Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals and founder and leader of the Colorado Springs-based New Life Church, stepped down Thursday following allegations that he has had a three-year homosexual affair with a male prostitute. Mike Jones, a self-professed male escort, talked publicly of the affair Wednesday morning on KHOW radio. Haggard denied the affair Wednesday night to KUSA Channel 9 News. But today, Haggard stated he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by the accusations made on Denver talk radio..." After consulting with his spiritual counsel and the church's board of overseers, Haggard said, "I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date." In the interim, the church's associate senior pastor, the Rev. Ross Parsley, will serve as acting senior pastor of the church. Haggard's lawyer, Martin Nussbaum, emphasized that Haggard has not admitted to the affair. Nussbaum said the church's bylaws state that if an allegation of immorality is made, the proper action is for Haggard to step down and put himself on leave. The Colorado Springs church, with 14,000 members, is the largest New Life congregation in Colorado.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 42.
#1. To: All (#0)
I still withold judgement as to whether the accusations are true or not. I think I heard a report that Haggard himself admitted that some of the story is true. But I still don't know what to make of it.
Wonder which part is true - the having a homosexual affair, paying for the sex, or the drug use? Richard W.
Public Eye (May 26 -June 1, 2005) Pastor Ted's formula for media savvy by Cara DeGette Pastor Ted Haggard and his flock at New Life Church have been riding a surge of publicity this month. First there was the trip to Israel, where Haggard and a team of other Christian evangelicals met with Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu. Then it was off to Jerusalem for a tête-á-tête with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to talk about the relationship between evangelicals and Jews. Back in the United States, the gregarious Haggard, who heads up the National Association of Evangelicals as well as Colorado Springs New Life megachurch, was inundated with requests from the talking titans. Here was the lineup, in the words of Haggard's niece, Carolyn Haggard, as she was trying to juggle her uncle's schedule earlier this month. Friday (the 13th) · Interview with Baabaara Walters location TBA. · [Bill] O'Reilly will start taping at 5 p.m., so a car will pick you up at the ABC taping location and take you to the FOX studio. They would like you to discuss the environment and two other topics that you think are significant for the evangelical community. They are giving you a long block, so 8-12 minutes. · Also this Friday, Dateline will be here in the Springs for the Mill. Sunday (the 15th) · Dateline (NBC) will be here on Sunday. ad nauseum... Rob (producer for ABC) would LOVE it if you'd touch upon heaven during your sermon Sunday ... so, just something to think about . . . Wednesday (the 18th) · Tom Brokaw will be here at New Life Church. His schedule has changed, so he will be arriving in the Springs on Tuesday and would like to spend time with you on Wednesday ... "Now, we just need CBS (since we have FOX, NBC, and ABC), and we'll have quite the week!" Whew is right! To prepare for the onslaught, on May 10 Haggard sent to New Lifers and friends of the church the following tips on "doing a good job ... representing born-again, Bible-believing Christians." 1. If a camera is on you during a worship service, worship; don't dance, jump, etc. Secular people watching TV are touched with authentic worship, but jumping and dancing in church looks too bizarre for most to relate to. Remember, people watching TV news are not experiencing what you are experiencing. They are watching and thinking. Worship indicates sincerity, dancing and jumping looks like excessive emotionalism. 2. If reporters want to interview you, talk with them, but use words that make sense to them. Speak their language. Don't talk about the devil, demons, voices speaking to you, God giving you supernatural revelations, etc. Instead, tell your personal story in common sense language (I was a drunk but God changed me and now I'm sober, I'm grateful, etc.). 3. Don't be nervous. Be friendly and open. Reporters typically don't have an agenda, they authentically want to know what we do and why we do it. For example, Barbara Walters is working on a story about heaven and will interview me and get some supporting shots from the church ... Since we believe in heaven, we are, in fact, a good source. So, if she talks with you, don't be spooky or weird. Don't switch into a glassy-eyed heavenly mode, just answer, "Heaven is real. It's the place where God will be fully present with his people. He will reward people in heaven. Heaven is better than Colorado Springs." Say it straight and clear. Don't worry (Yeah, sure!). Come to think of it, many of Pastor Ted's guidelines could really come in handy in all sorts of encounters ... -- degette@csindy.com
LOL Richard W.
LOL- what? No rolling around on the floor "speaking in tongues"? No tamborines? No snakes or poison drinking? No guy in a wheel chair getting "healed"?
LOL. You are too cruel. Carry on.
The front page of the Huffington Post now has up a screen capture from MSNBC of Haggard meeting with Bush.
It's been reported they have weekly, every week, meetings of some sort.
Maybe he will give a couple of mil to Bush's library and get a pardon. Oh yeah, he hasn't committed a crime, just behaved like a Liberal. Guess he's stuck voting Dem from now on.
Your comments are sub-intelligent. Don't you have more self-respect than to post your tripe?
#43. To: angle (#42)
i'm giggling.
and from a person with a negative IQ, be proud because you are entertaining, stupid, but entertaining........
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#2. To: Red Jones (#1)
I think I heard a report that Haggard himself admitted that some of the story is true.
#7. To: Arete (#2)
http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2005-05-26/publiceye.html
#8. To: angle (#7)
don't be spooky or weird
#9. To: Arete (#8)
If a camera is on you during a worship service, worship; don't dance, jump, etc.
#25. To: Burkeman1 (#9)
No rolling around on the floor "speaking in tongues"? No tamborines? No snakes or poison drinking? No guy in a wheel chair getting "healed"?
#26. To: leveller (#25)
#31. To: aristeides (#26)
Quite the happy couple.
#32. To: angle (#31)
#42. To: It Is A Republic (#32)
Replies to Comment # 42.
#48. To: angle (#42)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 42.