Bill Berkowitz: The Return of Ted Haggard

BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
by Bill Berkowitz

After a much publicized HBO documentary, a feature story in People magazine, an appearance on Oprah, an aborted church-supervised restoration program and travels around the country, Ted Haggard has decided its time to convene a prayer group in the living room of his house.

Haggard, the former head of the National Association of Evangelicals and founder and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, who resigned those posts after revelations of his sex and drugs scandal came to light three years ago, recently sent out a tweet announcing the upcoming: "For those of you who love the Word and payer (sic), Gayle and i are having a prayer meeting at our place next Thursday [November 12] at 7:00. You are welcome!"

"This is a Thursday night prayer meeting in our home," Haggard said. "What we want to do is be able to tell our schedule and our story and know that we're covered in prayer. And we want to hear their stories and give them the assurance that they're covered in prayer as well."

"Any time you have two or more believers together, you have the church ... but it's not a church like a church with a Sunday school and a children's department and a board of elders," Haggard told Charisma magazine last week.

Although it may never evolve into a church, Haggard said that he was "so blessed with my service at New Life. That church is healthy and vibrant and continues to grow in Colorado Springs, and that's a wonderful blessing. I'd be content if that were the extent of my service in that capacity in Colorado Springs."

After denying allegations that he had been sexually involved with Mike Jones, a male prostitute, and that he had purchased meth, on November 5, 2006, Haggard confessed to his congregation and resigned as pastor of New Life Church. A day earlier, he had resigned as president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals.

According to Charisma magazine, "New Life agreed to pay his $138,000 salary through December 2007, provided he would move away from Colorado and participate in a restoration process. Haggard was also prohibited him from opening a church within a 100-mile radius of Colorado Springs.

"Haggard said he was released from those requirements in February 2008 when he broke ties with New Life Church."

Charisma magazine pointed out that Haggard and his wife Gayle have been hitting the road regularly since HBO aired the documentary "The Trials of Ted Haggard" in January of this year.

Brady Boyd, who became pastor of New Life Church in 2007, told the Colorado Springs Gazette that "New Life Church will always be grateful for the many years of dedicated leadership from Ted Haggard, and we wish him and his family only the best."

Ministers that had worked with Haggard over the years expressed concerns about his new living room project.

"Having joined with the many leaders who earnestly and patiently sought to graciously serve Ted amid the crisis born of his own admitted struggle and failure, it is both incredible and regrettable to hear ... of his choice for such a self-distancing pathway," Foursquare President Jack Hayford, who was part of Haggard's original restoration team, said.

C. Peter Wagner, who co-founded the World Prayer Center with Haggard, told the Gazette that he had questions about Haggard's re-emergence because "he has not followed through completely on apostolic protocol."

Gary Black, whose Rock the Nation youth ministry was once affiliated with New Life, told the Gazette that he "would be shocked to think he's ready to lead a church."

Is this the beginning of another great American comeback story? Will Haggard's living room gathering evolve into a full-fledged church?

Although drenched in scandal for the past three years, based on his past record, Haggard should not be counted out. After all, in 1985, he founded the New Life Church in the basement of his house, and it grew from a 25-person gathering to more than a 14,000-member megachurch.

On his blog, Mike Jones, the man who fingered Haggard, pointed out that "Haggard certainly has the right to do what ever he wants and deserves to be happy in life. But make no mistake: Ted does nothing by accident. This will be in the press, two months before Gayle's book is released and then his book to follow. At this point, publicity is publicity.

"But to sum it up, if Ted and Gayle were at Disneyland, they would never leave Fantasyland."

BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY

Bill Berkowitz is a longtime observer of the conservative movement and a frequent writer for Z Magazine, Religion Dispatches and other online publications. He documents the strategies, players, institutions, victories, and defeats of the American Right from a progressive perspective.

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