Ted Haggard is a humbled man, said Kevin Roose in GQ. Haggard was one of the nation’s most visible evangelicals as pastor of the 10,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs. It all came crashing down when a male escort named Mike Jones came forward in 2006 with scandalous allegations that Haggard had paid him for sex and crystal methamphetamine. “We never had sex sex,” Haggard says today, while conceding that sexual contact and drug use had occurred. As part of his separation agreement with New Life, he was banned from any contact with church members. “I used to think the church was the light of the world,” he says sadly, “but I’ve completely lost my faith in it.”
He’s started a new ministry in Colorado Springs for sinners like himself. “I don’t judge people anymore. I know life happens to everybody. Sometimes it’s self-imposed, other times it’s imposed from the outside. But I think we’re qualified to hold people’s hands when they go through that.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What's wrong with America's air traffic control systems?Today's Big Question The radios and radar keep going out at Newark International
-
8 splashy items to elevate any pool partyThe Week Recommends Fire up the snow cone machine, and turn on that outdoor movie projector
-
What to know as student loan collections resumethe explainer The restart comes as part of the Trump administration's reversal of Biden-era policies
