Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard, who fell from grace amid scandal, is starting a new church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Haggard made the announcement Wednesday with his wife during a news conference at their home.
Haggard resigned in 2006 as senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church after a male prostitute alleged Haggard paid him for sex over three years.
During Wednesday’s news conference, Haggard didn’t directly address the scandal, but said he had been broken and his new church would be a place for broken people. “I am the chiefest of sinners — I’m broken, I’m wounded. I’m the despised and the rejected,” he shared.
He said his downfall and disgrace has made him more sympathetic and qualified to help others in need. “Though many believe that I am not qualified, nor will I ever be qualified again to be a pastor, because of what we’ve been through I may be qualified to help other people in need.”
No one, said Haggard, should feel too sinful or unworthy to attend his new church. “St. James is a church for sinners and a church for people who have hit rock bottom, and a church for people who want to help people who have hit rock bottom.”
(Source: OneNewsNow)