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Ted Haggard Update |
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According to the New York Times (free registration required), the Ted Haggard’s New Life Church is having money troubles. Donations have fallen off almost half a million dollars in the last four months, forcing layoffs. Attendance has fallen as well.
“We are in a position where the reality of our financial situation is causing us to look at how we can be more efficient,” [Rob Brendle, associate pastor] said, “and we spent a lot of time thinking and analyzing how best to do that. These are difficult times, and these have been difficult decisions. But the floor of this church has not fallen out.”
Why the hard times? If we believe the church leaders, Ted Haggard was the one “bad apple” in the bunch, and without him the Church is free of sin and able to go about its mission without interference. So why the drop in attendance and donations? I see two possible reasons:
First, perhaps New Life was only about Ted Haggard. Haggard was New Life’s center. He founded the church out of his basement in 1984 and perhaps without his leadership and charisma the money has stopped rolling in. If so, New Life is nothing more than a cult of personality built around Haggard. The drop in attendance and donations says to me that Ted’s evangelical message wasn’t the main driving force, it was Ted himself. Thou shalt not worship false Idols right?
Second, perhaps the ensuing scandal drove people away. If this is the case, I think those former New Life parishioners and givers still aren’t quite getting the message. Why back away from a church if the head pastor is involved in scandal? If the weakness is removed from the leadership, why stop giving? Are the evangelicals in Colorado so unforgiving that they can’t stand to even be loosely associated with Haggard? Or are these Christians so scared of “sin” that they can’t be near something they consider tainted? As I argued when Haggard was first outed and then “cured”, the New Life Church seems to be missing a classic Christian opportunity. With all the publicity this scandal has brought they are in a prime position to spread their message of love and hope and show the world what true Christians they are. Instead, they ask Haggard to leave his church, suggest it would be better for him to move far away, and stop contributing money or attending services. It seems to me they only want what’s pure and are unwilling to get their hands duty and do some real spiritual work, namely saving the souls of those imperfect men among us.
It’s a good point you make regarding the subsequent reaction of the church. I’m reminded of the incident at the Amish community here in New York, when the truck driver killed all those children and then himself. The next day the Amish leaders were declaring that they had forgiven the man, that he was obviously troubled and that they bore him no grudge. That was an incredible display of the power of religion, of the all-encompassing love that Christianity teaches. To simultaneously mourn as sincerely as they were, and to forgive the cause of all their pain, was a tremendous act. In contrast to that incident, the “outing” of a minister seems trivial, and it’s disheartening that the church was unable to forgive something so relatively minor.
That example is perfect! That’s exactly the kind of response that would have taken advantage of the situation. What’s the difference here? Why do the Amish seem to embody the Christian spirit so much better?
precisely..it is all about a personality cult. This people think that the gospel of jesus is to be lived out in a funky rock concert situation where they seat on nice cushy chairs in an air conditioned auditorium singing halleluja’s and having church picnic. It makes me sick seeing all this people driving to their immaculate church in their gas guzzling SUV’s adoring their $130,000/year pastor, using gays and lesbians as scape goat and the bogey man for fund raising ( jerry falwell and dobson makes millions selling the gay fear factor to their donors via mail)….
..do this people realize their incessant denigration and dehumanization of a group of people who are born with a sexual orientation ( like handedness) are resulting in violence and discrimination and hardship for this minority groups? Jews were denigrated and dehumanized by christians for centuries as jesus killers culminating in the horror of a holocaust. Christians owe the gays and lesbian minorities a large apology and restitution for the cruelty and sufferings inflicted on them by self righteous christians !
Thanks for your comment mikhail. I agree wholeheartedly. Not only is the current prevailing Christian viewpoint un-Christlike, but it is dangerous and illegal to boot. Maybe without a religious-right controlled political situation those in power can finally get something done about this.