Ted Haggard

Ted Arthur Haggard (born June 27, 1956) is an American evangelical pastor. Known as Pastor Ted to the congregation he served, he was the founder and former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches; and was leader of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. In November 2006, male prostitute and masseur Mike Jones alleged that Haggard had paid him for sex for three years and had also purchased and used crystal methamphetamine. Haggard denied having sexual intercourse with Jones, but admitted purchasing crystal methamphetamine, claiming he did not use the drug. A few days later Haggard resigned from all of his leadership positions. Grant Haas, who formerly attended New Life Church, has said that then-pastor Ted Haggard masturbated in front of him in a hotel room in 2006 and sent him explicit text messages. After the scandal was publicized, Haggard entered three weeks of intensive counseling, overseen by four ministers. In February 2007, one of those ministers, Tim Ralph, said that Haggard "is completely heterosexual." Ralph later said he meant that therapy "gave Ted the tools to help to embrace his heterosexual side." On June 1, 2010 Haggard announced that he intended to start a new church in Colorado Springs. In a July 2010 interview with CNN, he confirmed that he has "completely shunned away any homosexual feelings he has had in the past." In the February 2011 issue of GQ, however, Haggard said that, "probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual."