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Off the pedestal: Speaking the truth fearlessly yet tenderly

Ted Haggard built up a 14,000-member Pentecostal church on the basis of his charismatic gifts and organizational skills. As one of the country’s most prominent pastors and as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Haggard had access to the White House and was a consultant to presidential adviser Karl Rove. Heady stuff, indeed—until it came crashing down. He was forced to resign as pastor and NAE president after being accused by a gay male prostitute of engaging in monthly trysts enhanced by methamphetamine.

Two-year 'recovery' for charismatic pastor: Haggard needs time for healing and wholeness

In the aftermath of Ted Haggard’s sexual immorality scandal, analysts may wonder how much the misdeeds harmed the evangelical–White House alliance or the National Association of Evangelicals, which the megachurch pastor led as president for three years.

Virtually unmentioned in coverage was that the Colorado Springs pastor, who allegedly paid a gay male escort, Michael Jones, 49, of Denver, for sex and drugs over three years, was a prominent figure in the charismatic-Pentecostal camp of Christianity.