Jump to content

Ted Haggard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 209.177.130.98 (talk) at 20:38, 13 January 2006 (→Haggard's Theology). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ted Haggard (born 1956), known to his congregants as Pastor Ted, is the founder and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.. He is currently the head of the National Association of Evangelicals and the founder/head of the Association of Life-Giving Churches.[1] He is a graduate of Oral Roberts University. He is married to Gayle and they have five children.

Early life and conversion

Born in Indiana,[2] Haggard became a born-again Christian in 1972 after hearing evangelist Bill Bright in Dallas.

In November 1984 he was associate pastor of a megachurch in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. According to Haggard, a missionary with whom he was travelling in Colorado, Danny Ost, had a vision of where Haggard would eventually found his church. He moved to the area shortly afterwards and founded New Life Church, first in his own basement and then in a series of successively larger spaces, most of the early ones strip malls and the like.[3] New Life Church now sits directly across from the United States Air Force Academy; only a major highway divides them.

Relationship with President George W. Bush

Haggard is a firm supporter of President George W. Bush, and is often credited with rallying evangelicals behind Bush during the 2004 election. [4] Jeff Sharlet reports that Haggard "…talks to… Bush or his advisers every Monday…" and opines that "No pastor in America holds more sway over the political direction of evangelicalism…" [5]

Breaking with some of his usual allies, Haggard has objected to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) threat to remove the All Saints Church's tax exempt status on account of an anti-Iraq War (but non-partisan) sermon, deeming this a matter of free speech, despite being in favor of the war himself.[6]

Haggard's Theology

Haggard considers himself a part of the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit and accepts the Five-fold ministry, beliefs often associated with the Charismatic movement, even though proponents deny they have any association with that movement.

Quotes

  • For many people, the stereotypical image of an evangelical is a very serious old man with an expensive suit who is against whatever is happening that day. [7]
  • (George W. Bush) will be known as the man who stood up to Islamic fundamentalism being used to tyrannize their own people, so that in another hundred years, in the Islamic world, he'll be viewed as a great liberator. [8]
  • Sometimes it is hard for a human being to study the ear or study the eye and think that happened by accident. - Interview with Richard Dawkins on evolution on the Channel 4. "God Delusion"

Books by Haggard

  • The Life-Giving Church.
  • Dog Training, Fly Fishing, And Sharing Christ In The 21st Century: Empowering Your Church To Build Community Through Shared Interests.
  • Primary Purpose: Making It Hard for People to Go to Hell from Your City .
  • Primary Purpose 2.
  • Loving Your City into the Kingdom: City-Reaching Strategies for a 21st-Century Revival (with Jack W. Hayford).
  • Taking It to the Streets: Transforming Communities Through Prayerwalking.
  • Confident Parents, Exceptional Teens (with John Bolin).
  • Simple Prayers for a Powerful Life.
  • Foolish No More! : Seizing a Life Beyond Belief.
  • Letters From Home.
  • The Jerusalem Diet.

See also

Notes

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ted_Haggard&oldid=35057543"