Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard said he will continue to hold weekly prayer meetings at his home, three years after he was ousted from the church he founded amid a scandal involving a male prostitute and drug use. Haggard said that he was heartened by the 150 people who attended last week’s first prayer and that he wants to continue the gatherings at his home every Thursday. Haggard resigned from New Life Church in 2006 after a man revealed that the pastor paid him for sex for more than three years. At the time, the church had 14,000 followers. Haggard told Denver television station KUSA he still has homosexual thoughts. “Once in a while I have a thought. But I never have a temptation,” Haggard said. He also said that the love of supporters and family is making him feel “healthy.” Haggard has said it’s not his intention to build a new church, although he’s not ruling out that possibility. Haggard was one of the nation’s best known evangelicals when the scandal broke. The cash-for-sex allegations also prompted Haggard to resign as head of the National Association of Evangelicals.
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Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard said he will continue to hold weekly prayer meetings at his home, three years after he was ousted from the church he founded amid a scandal involving a male prostitute and drug use. Haggard said that he was heartened by the 150 people who attended last week’s first prayer and that he wants to continue the gatherings at his home every Thursday. Haggard resigned from New Life Church in 2006 after a man revealed that the pastor paid him for sex for more than three years. At the time, the church had 14,000 followers. Haggard told Denver television station KUSA he still has homosexual thoughts. “Once in a while I have a thought. But I never have a temptation,” Haggard said. He also said that the love of supporters and family is making him feel “healthy.” Haggard has said it’s not his intention to build a new church, although he’s not ruling out that possibility. Haggard was one of the nation’s best known evangelicals when the scandal broke. The cash-for-sex allegations also prompted Haggard to resign as head of the National Association of Evangelicals.
