Ted Haggard 'Restored' to Colorado Springs

Though various reports have been published on the whereabouts of deposed megachurch pastor Ted Haggard — that he had moved to Arizona and that he had "quit" a "spiritual restoration program" he had agreed to undergo last February — current New Life pastor Brandon Boyd said Haggard had moved back to Colorado Springs where he was in "private business."

Haggard was forced from his position as the head of the megachurch following his admission of "sexually immorality" after escort Mike Jones came forward saying the pastor paid him for sex over a period of three years. Jones also said Haggard bought methamphetamine, which Haggard admitted he bought but didn't use.

Said Boyd: "They have moved back and they live in the original house that they lived in for many years."

The Gazette of Colorado Springs attempted to contact him personally:

"'I can't talk to you. I am forbidden from talking to the media,' Haggard said Saturday evening after answering the doorbell at his home on Old Ranch Road in north Colorado Springs. He declined to elaborate. Haggard and his wife, Gayle, are still listed as the owners of the five-bedroom, three-bath home, whose market value was assessed at $715,000 earlier this year, according to the El Paso County Assessor's Office. It sits behind a gated entrance on 5.1 acres two miles from the 14,000-member megachurch Haggard founded in his basement...Haggard's gate stood open at the time of the visit, about 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Water was burbling from an electric fountain in the front yard, and five vehicles sat near a multi-car garage, including two motorcycles and a cream Cadillac Escalade."

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New Life Church Holds 'Day of Hope' for Ted Haggard

Ted Haggard's New Life Church held what they billed a 'Day of Hope' yesterday for the disgraced pastor.

At the Sunday service, Pastor Larry Stockstill, part of the church's board of overseers, told the 14,000-member congregation: "Concerning Ted and his family, we have done extensive fact-finding into his lifelong battle with a 'dark side' which he said in his confession letter has been a struggle for years. We have verified the reality of that struggle through numerous individuals who reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships. These findings established a pattern of behavior that culminated in the final relationship in which Ted was, as a matter of grace, caught."

Or as a matter of humiliation, depending on how you look at it.

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Ted Haggard: Now "Completely Heterosexual"

This just in from the Denver Post. Ted Haggard is not gay!

Haggard, who is apparently ready to jet off to Iowa or Missouri to become a psychologist, told a four-member oversight board that after three weeks of intense counseling he is now "completely heterosexual" and that "his sexual contact with men was limited to his accuser" according to one of the pastors on that board.

Amazing. And James Dobson said it would take 4 or 5 years!

Haggard breezed through his therapy almost faster than Isaiah Washington. These guys are fast.

Said the pastor overseeing Haggard's progress: "He is completely heterosexual. That is something he discovered. It was the acting- out situations where things took place. It wasn't a constant thing. If we're going to be proved wrong (about Haggard only having contact with Mike Jones), somebody else is going to come forward, and that usually happens really quickly. We're into this thing over 90 days, and it hasn't happened. Nobody is saying he can't go back into ministry. Somewhere down the road, that could very well happen, and that would be wonderful."

Over the weekend, Haggard sent an email to members of his New Life church announcing that he was leaving Colorado Springs and intended to settle in Missouri or Iowa and pursue an online degree in psychology.

You may have missed...
"Paralyzed by Shame", Ted Haggard is Leaving Colorado Springs [tr]
Gay Escort Mike Jones Visits Ted Haggard's New Life Church [tr]
James Dobson: Ted Haggard Gay Cure Could Take "4 or 5 Years" [tr]
Ted Haggard Fall-out Continues; Jesus Camp Shut [tr]

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"Paralyzed by Shame", Ted Haggard is Leaving Colorado Springs

According to an email Ted Haggard sent to New Life Church members over the weekend, he's been spending time in Phoenix with his wife Gayle undergoing intense psychological therapy and Jesus is starting to "put him back together". He's also leaving Colorado Springs for Iowa or Missouri where he and his wife will both try to get their masters degree in psychology.

Ted's email:

"Jesus is starting to put me back together. I have spent so much time in repentance, brokenness, hurt and sorrow for the things I've done and the negative impact my actions have had on others. That sadness continues as my family and I, along with so many others, go through the painful consequences of my actions. Jesus and his followers, though, have saved my life. As part of New Life's efforts to help me, they sent Gayle and me to Phoenix for a three-week psychological intensive that gave us three years worth of analysis and treatment. We all wanted to know why I developed such incongruity in my life. Thankfully, with the tools we gained there, along with the powerful way God has been illuminating His Word and the Holy Spirit has been convicting and healing me, we now have growing understanding which is giving me some hope for a future.

Gayle and I have decided to move from Colorado Springs to go back to school. We love Colorado Springs so much, and will always regard the believer's at New Life Church as family, but we have to go in order to let the church determine its own course and for us to retrain. We haven't decided where we are moving but so far have been offered two places, one in Iowa and one in Missouri. We are both planning on getting our masters in Psychology so we can work together serving others the rest of our lives. Since we are taking our classes on-line, we can live anywhere that's affordable. Then we'll travel to location for short in-class requirements.

Thank you so much for your love and prayers during this horrific time of transition in our lives. For the last three months, I've not been communicative because I've been paralyzed by shame. But as God and people like you forgive me, the sun is starting to rise in my life. I look forward to communicating with greater ease."

God bless,

Ted Haggard
"We are Easter People."

Maybe that masters degree will help him understand how an Evangelical preacher can rationalize sleeping with men while he condemns homosexuality. But more likely it'll train him for his next career as therapist at an "ex-gay" ministry. We'll see.

You may have missed...
Gay Escort Mike Jones Visits Ted Haggard's New Life Church [tr]
James Dobson: Ted Haggard Gay Cure Could Take "4 or 5 Years" [tr]
Ted Haggard Fall-out Continues; Jesus Camp Shut [tr]

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