Haggard Heads For The Hills

It’s been about three months since disgraced Evangelical Ted Haggard fled Colorado Springs after confessing to buying meth from and having inappropriate contact with hooker Mike Jones. Since then, he and his lovely wife Gayle have been undergoing some “sexual counseling” (read: defagification).

Well, apparently it’s going so well that Haggard’s decided to pack up and leave the Springs for greener pastures. He broke the news to his former followers via email:

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.
…
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.

Um, right. Sounds to us like Haggard’s failed miserably and the church’s trying to get rid of him. They have, you may recall, had to clean house recently, firing pastor Christopher Beard for some sexual malpractice. Could it be they’re sending Haggard out to the pink pasture, where he’ll roam the earth looking for a clandestine fix and fuck?

But, seriously, we feel bad that Haggard didn’t use the international scandal as a jumping off point to address homophobia in the church. He really could have done something, but now it seems he’s just going to go back to living a lie. His poor wife…

Here’s the entire 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.

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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.”