High-Profile Pastor Steps Down Amidst One Man's Accusations
by Jody Brown
November 3, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Following accusations of drug use and a three-year homosexual relationship, one of the men named by TIME Magazine in February 2005 among "America's 25 Most Influential Evangelicals" has stepped down from his church and resigned a prominent position in the nation's evangelical movement. While one report says Rev. Ted Haggard has admitted that some of the accusations are true, many that know him are cautioning a rush to judgment.
The Denver Post reported on Thursday that, according to the NBC-affiliate television station KUSA in the Mile High City, a male prostitute claims he has had a three-year "sexual business relationship" with Haggard, senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs and president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). Haggard has since voluntarily stepped aside from his pastoral role at New Life so that an outside "board of overseers" established under church bylaws can conduct its own investigation. In addition, he has resigned as the NAE president.
Haggard's accuser, Mike Jones of Denver, tells Associated Press that Haggard, under a false name, paid him for trysts nearly every month for three years. KUSA says it spoke to Haggard after Jones went public with his accusations, and that the pastor told them he "never had a gay relationship with anybody" and that he wondered if "this is election-year politics." Colorado is one of eight states considering marriage amendments on November 7. Jones, who claims he did not know his client's real identity until six months ago, says he was upset to find out that Haggard and his church have been vocal opponents of homosexual "marriage," which is addressed under Amendment 43 on the Colorado ballot.
Rev. Ross Parsley, the acting senior pastor at New Life, has now told KKTV in Colorado Springs that Haggard has admitted that some of the accusations are true, but he does not say which ones. In addition, the Denver Post is now reporting that Jones failed a polygraph test on Friday morning about the truthfulness of his allegations. But the administrator of the test is doubting its accuracy, says the Post, because of recent stress on Jones and his inability to eat or sleep. The administrator recommends Jones be re-tested early next week.
Reaction Among Evangelicals
Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family -- who with Haggard has maintained a high profile in Colorado in rallying support for Amendment 43 -- is commending the pastor for stepping down from his position at New Life. Haggard, he says, "has shown a great deal of grace under these circumstances, quickly turning this matter over to his church for an independent investigation." Dobson calls that "a testament to the character" he has witnessed several times in Haggard's life.
But Dobson criticizes the news media for reporting something that is "based on nothing but one man's allegation." The ministry leader also suggests that the timing of the story is intended to influence the upcoming vote on the state's marriage amendment.
Rev. Richard Cizik is vice president of National Association of Evangelicals. He tells Associated Press that he finds it hard to believe the allegations against Haggard. "The accusations do not comport with the man that I know, the Ted Haggard that I know," says Cizik.
The NAE official says people should not rush to judgment. "I think before anybody crucifies the man, we better get all the facts," he says. "Let's pray for both Ted Haggard and his family -- and the man making the accusation. God alone is judge, and I believe that He has the power to heal and restore and actually, in fact, bring good out of this." Like Dobson, Cizik notes that the accusations come during the closing days of an election -- one that involves an amendment protecting traditional marriage.
The president of the National Clergy Council in Washington, DC, points out that the Bible says no man is to be condemned on the testimony of a single accuser. That is why, says Rev. Rob Schenck, "we must prayerfully wait out the investigative process [in the Haggard matter] and continue to judge by the evidence." But should the allegations prove true, he adds, it will just be affirmation of man's sinful nature.
"The Bible says if we say we have no sin, we lie and the truth is not in us," says Schenck in a press release. "Evangelical Christianity does not rest on frail and sinful human beings," he states, "but on a just and righteous God who changes not."
Connecticut evangelist Stephen Bennett says if the allegations made against Haggard are true, he is "completely disgusted and dismayed." Bennett, a former homosexual who now pastors a small church, is visibly upset at the development.
"After being in major Christian circles for many years, the hypocrisy that I have found and personally seen in mainstream Christianity is unfortunate and heartbreaking," says the founder and executive director of Stephen Bennett Ministries. He says he is convinced the turmoil surrounding Haggard will affect next week's elections.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
