Posted by
Billy on Monday, December 14, 2009 12:31:10 PM
Ted Haggard climbed onto a bale of hay, Bible balanced in his
palm.
"Welcome to my barn," he called out.
"Does anybody need a
blanket?" his wife, Gayle, inquired as men and women in down coats shivered in
the frigid November air. Some huddled underneath a space heater.
Then the
blue-jeans-clad preacher began chanting: "God is good, God is good, God is
good."
This musty barn next to the Haggard home is barely two miles --
but a universe away -- from the massive stage the former evangelical star once
occupied at New Life Church.
There, he would appear every Sunday before microphones, giant television screens
and a congregation so large that services had to be held in shifts.
But in late 2006 came what Haggard, now 53, refers to as "the crisis," the
revelation that he'd had a sexual relationship with a male escort. Haggard
resigned from the church he had started in his basement 25 years ago and left
Colorado Springs.
Last month, Haggard -- who declined to be interviewed -- opened his home for a
prayer meeting. He expected a dozen people. More than 100 came, and the Haggards
moved the furniture out of the living room to make space.
A week later,
he swept out his barn and rented 75 chairs. When they were filled, people stood
against the back walls.
Many were former or current members of his old
church who called him Pastor Ted. They said they had missed him, that he was
born to preach -- not to sell insurance as he had when he first returned here.
They said they had forgiven what they and Haggard regarded as his
sins.
"I love a good redemption story," said Elly Kraai, a former New
Life member. "I'm seeing one playing out here."
One sticking point could be that Haggard reportedly did not complete a
church-mandated "restoration process." New Life officials have said Haggard quit
the process in early 2008; he maintains that the church ended the process and
that he did not ask to be released from the obligation.
H.B. London, vice president of church and clergy at Focus on the Family and a
former member of Haggard's restoration team, criticized Haggard's decision to
start a new church located so close to New Life as insensitive and
premature.
London said he had heard from many pastors who didn't think
Haggard was ready to lead a congregation again, asserting that Haggard had not
completed the restoration process and was still in need of counseling.
(My question is why didn't Haggard complete the church-mandated "restoration process. Haggard should not be preaching again . How can he tell people to submit to his leadership when he didn't submit to those who were helping him to be restored. Read more on this issue
right here.)