Who is Ted Haggard?
Ted Arthur Haggard (born June 27, 1956) is a former American evangelical preacher. Known as Pastor Ted to the congregations he served, he is the founder and former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches; and was leader of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. In November 2006, he resigned or was removed from all of his leadership positions after he admitted soliciting prostitute Mike Jones for homosexual sex and methamphetamine. Initially Haggard denied even knowing Mike Jones, but as a media investigation proceeded he acknowledged that some allegations, such as his purchase of methamphetamine, were true. He later added “sexual immorality” to his list of confessions. After the scandal was publicized, Haggard entered three weeks of intensive counseling, overseen by four ministers.
Ted Arthur Haggard is a former American evangelical preacher. Known as Pastor Ted to the congregations he served, he is the founder and former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches; and was leader of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. In November 2006, he resigned or was removed from all of his leadership positions after he admitted soliciting prostitute Mike Jones for homosexual sex and methamphetamine. Initially Haggard denied even knowing Mike Jones, but as a media investigation proceeded he acknowledged that some allegations, such as his purchase of methamphetamine, were true. He later added “sexual immorality” to his list of confessions. After the scandal was publicized, Haggard entered three weeks of intensive counseling, overseen by four ministers. In February 2007, one of those ministers, Tim Ralph, said that Haggard “is completely heterosexual.” Ralph later sa
Before allegations of a three-year relationship with a male prostituee in Denver were made public in November 2006, Haggard was one of the most prominent evangelical leaders in America. He was the founder and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which had 14,000 members. Haggard rose to national prominence as New Life became one of the most powerful churches in America during the 1990s. In 2003, Haggard was named president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group that calls itself the largest evangelical group in America. Over the next three years, Haggard traveled frequently for the NAE, often meeting with heads of state internationally and other top political officials. Haggard developed a close association with the Bush White House, reportedly meeting with the president and other administration officials on several occasions. Because of his outspoken conservative views on political and moral issues, he was commonly quoted in–and covered by-
