In case you don’t remember Ted Haggard, here’s a refresher course:
Back in November 2006, Haggard was president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of Colorado Springs’ New Life Church.
He lost those positions when a male prostitute claimed that he had known Haggard for three years as a drug user and sex-for-cash client. Once the story was public, Haggard admitted he was guilty of “sexual immorality.”
In 2007, Haggard underwent three-weeks of counseling, the goal of which was apparently to cure him of his homosexuality. He also received a severance package with the stipulation he leave the Colorado Springs area.
A year later Haggard sent out a fund-raising email prompting his former church to officially terminate his “restoration” process. (Pay attention. Asking for money seems to be a habit.)
His severance terms completed, Haggard then moved back to Colorado Springs.
What has he been up to since then?
Not too surprisingly, he incorporated the name “St. James Church” and started a new church with himself as the pastor. His inaugural church meeting was June 6, 2010, and was attended by 160 people “elbow-to-elbow” to listen to Haggard give his first sermon surrounded by bales of hay. (Folksy.) You can visit the church website to make a donation. The church website speaks of the Bible calling for tithes (10% donations of income) and he describes St. James Church as a “storehouse” for those funds.
Haggard is married to Gayle Haggard, who remains very much at his side. She is prominently featured on his personal and church websites. She wrote a book entitled Why I Stayed about her experiences as Haggard’s wife and the choices she made in regards to his sex scandal. In my opinion, if that book is more than one-word in length, it’s probably not very accurate.
Just in case you’ve been wondering what ever happened to Ted Haggard – now you know!
Shouts from the Abyss 
This is liking Banking for God. If you don’t pay your 10% does he foreclose on your soul?
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It’s always about the money, isn’t it?
To see the power of religion, look at the houses were the most successful preachers live. If your preacher lives in a mansion then your religion just might have a problem.
Cults require 100% of your money and stuff. Sign over your house, your pension, etc. Cults are easy to identify.
Smart ones, though, try not to be so obvious. Like Mr. Haggard and religions like the Mormon Church. They’ve got something Biblical supporting their logic, but by only going for 10% they avoid the obvious conclusion that they are cults. I think of them as cult-light.
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