Former evangelical leader
Ted Haggard, who left the ministry after being caught in a sex and drug
scandal, said Nov. 12 that the start of a prayer meeting in his Colorado home
is a sign of his “resurrection” but not necessarily of a new church.
“For the people who come
tonight, that means they believe in the resurrection in me,” Haggard told
reporters before the start of the meeting in Colorado Springs, the Associated
Press (AP) reported. “Because I died. I was buried.”
Haggard was dismissed from
Colorado Spring’s New Life Church in 2006 for “sexually immoral conduct” after
a male escort said he had given him massages and sold him methamphetamine. The
former pastor also resigned as president of the National Association of
Evangelicals.
Haggard expected fewer than
20 people for the meeting but more than 100 showed up, The Denver Post
reported. While he intends to hold regular prayer meetings, Haggard said he
doesn’t plan to start a new congregation.
“I don’t have that hope,”
Haggard said. “I was a 28-year-old boy when I started (New Life).”
But he also said that at age
53, he realizes things can occur unpredictably.
Pastor Brady Boyd of New
Life Church commented briefly on Haggard’s activities in a statement released
on the eve of the prayer meeting, the AP reported.
“New Life Church will always
be grateful for the many years of dedicated leadership from Ted Haggard and we
wish him and his family only the best,” Boyd said.