Following
allegations that he paid a male escort for sex over a
three-year period, Ted Haggard, pastor of 14-thousand member
New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo., has placed
himself on leave from church duties and resigned as
president of the National Association of Evangelicals
The escort, Mike
Jones of Denver, told reporters that he and Hagard has a
longstanding "business relationship," and that he is
stepping forward with the charges now because he is
concerned that Haggard doesn't practice what he
preaches. Haggrad has been campaigning for proposed
state Amendment 43, which would ban same-sex marriage in
Colorado.
Haagrd told an
NBC affiliate on Wednesday that he had "never had a
gay relationship with anybody," and that he was "steady with
my wife."
An investigative
group independent of the New Life Church will look into
the charges. The panel may exonerate, discipline, or
terminate the pastor based on its findings. (The
Advocate)
