Ted Haggard Biography

Ted HaggardAmerican evangelical pastor Ted Arthur Haggard (known as Pastor Ted) is the founder of theNewLifeChurch inColorado Springs, Colorado and the founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches. In 2005 he was listed by Time magazine as one of the top 25 most influential evangelicals in the United States.Haggard is especially well known for his condemnation of homosexuality, his opposition to same-sex marriages, and his efforts to encourage homosexuals to change their sexual orientation. During his early preaching years he focused much of his ministry on working with homosexual men, often going to gay bars and inviting men to his congregation.In late 2006 a former male prostitute and masseur named Mike Jones claimed Haggard had sex with him for three years and used drugs with him. Haggard denied the accusations, but was forced to resign as senior pastor from New Life Ministries. In a letter to his congregation he admitted that he is guilty of sexual immorality and takes responsibility for the entire problem. He also wrote: The accusations are not all true, but enough of them are true that I have been appropriately and lovingly removed from the ministry.Haggard has only ever officially admitted to purchasing, but not using, the drugs, and to having received a massage from Jones.Jones, the former prostitute, said that he came forward with the news because he just recently learned of Haggard's true identity and was angry that there's someone preaching about gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex. He told ABC news that he had to expose the hypocrisy.Haggard became a born-again Christian in 1972 after hearing a sermon from the late evangelist Bill Bright in Dallas . In 1984 he became the associate pastor of a mega church inBaton Rouge, Louisiana.Shortly after that he founded theNewLifeChurch and started services in his basement. The church grew and services were held in rented spaces in strip malls. The church has grown to be so large that it has a campus located near the United States Air Force Academy in northern Colorado Springs .Haggard was born in Indiana on June 27, 1956. He was educated at the charismatic Christian university,OralRobertsUniversity inTulsa, Oklahoma . He married Gayle Alcorn in 1978 and the couple has five children: Christy (1984), Marcus (1986) who is also a pastor, Jonathan (1989), Alex (1992), and Elliot (1995).He has appeared on several broadcast network programs including Dateline NBC and ABC's 20/20. Haggard also appears in the 2006 movie, Jesus Camp. He has also published approximately a dozen books.