Background and career
Ted Arthur Haggard (; born June 27, 1956) is an American evangelical pastor. Haggard is the founder and former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches. He served as president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006. Haggard made national headlines in November 2006 when a male prostitute and masseur, Mike Jones, alleged that Haggard, who had spoken against the legalization of same-sex marriage, had paid him for sex for three years and had bought and used crystal methamphetamine. Haggard resigned his post at New Life Church and his other leadership roles shortly after the allegations became public. Later, Haggard admitted to drug use, some sexual activity with Jones, and an inappropriate relationship with a young man who attended New Life Church. In 2010, Haggard and his wife, Gayle, founded Saint James Church (non-denominational) in Colorado Springs.
Haggard was born in Indiana. His father, J. M. Haggard, a practicing veterinarian in Yorktown, Indiana, founded an international charismatic ministry, which was featured in a PBS Middletown documentary series. Haggard has stated that he was molested when he was seven years old. In 1972, at age 16, Haggard became a born-again Christian after hearing a sermon from evangelist Bill Bright in Dallas, Texas, and becoming acquainted with the Christian apologetics of C. S. Lewis. Haggard describes feeling the call of God on his life after his first year in college while he was in the kitchen at home. He had been a telecommunications major with a minor in journalism, but after this experience he believed he had been called to be a pastor. Haggard subsequently attended Oral Roberts University, a Christian university in Tulsa, Oklahoma, graduating in 1978. He became a minister in the Southern Baptist Convention for a few months.
According to Haggard, in November 1984, when he was an associate pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, his confidant and mentor Danny Ost, a missionary to Mexico City, had a vision of Haggard founding his church in Colorado Springs. Accordingly, Haggard moved to Colorado shortly afterwards, and founded New Life Church. Initially, the 22 people who met in the basement of Haggard's house formed his church, which then grew to rented spaces in strip malls. After 22 years, New Life Church operated from a campus in northern Colorado Springs and had a congregation of 14,000. In 1993, during what Haggard describes as his "first prayer journey," he traveled with a group to Israel. They stood on the Mount of Olives, where Haggard claims that he felt the Holy Spirit speak to him. "From that time until now," Haggard writes in The Life-Giving Church, "apostolic power has blessed me. My only problems are with me – not with the enemy, not with circumstances, not with people." Under Haggard's leadership, New Life Church formed the Association of Life-Giving Churches. It has been listed as a denomination by the U.S. National Association of Evangelicals. As of 2006, Harper's Magazine reported that it comprised some 300 congregations.
In November 2006, a male prostitute and masseur, Mike Jones, publicly alleged that Haggard had paid him for sex over a three-year period and had bought and used crystal methamphetamine. Jones said he had only recently learned of Haggard's true identity, and explained his reasons for coming forward, saying, "It made me angry that here's someone preaching against gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex." Jones made the allegations public in response to Haggard's political support for Colorado Amendment 43, on the November 7, 2006, Colorado ballot, which would ban same-sex marriage in that state. Jones told ABC News, "I had to expose the hypocrisy. He is in the position of influence of millions of followers, and he's preaching against gay marriage. But behind everybody's back [he's] doing what he's preached against." Jones hoped that his statements would sway voters. Haggard's immediate response was denial. He told a Denver television station, "I did not have a homosexual relationship with a man in Denver ... I am steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife." Haggard also said, "I have never done drugs – ever. Not even in high school. I didn't smoke pot. I didn't do anything like that. I'm not a drug man. We're not a drinking family. I don't smoke cigarettes. I don't socially drink. We don't socially drink. We don't have wine in our house. We don't do that kind of thing." Many evangelical leaders initially showed support for Haggard and were critical of media reports, including James Dobson, who, in a statement of support for Haggard, said "It is unconscionable that the legitimate news media would report a rumor like this based on nothing but one man's accusation. ... Ted Haggard is a friend of mine, and it appears someone is trying to damage his reputation as a way of influencing the outcome of Tuesday's election – especially the vote on Colorado's marriage-protection amendment, which Ted strongly supports." Cornered by his voicemail to Mike Jones requesting methamphetamine, Haggard told the press, "I bought it [methamphetamine] for myself, but never used it. I was tempted but I never used it." Haggard said that he had bought the methamphetamine but then thrown it away, and added that he had never met his accuser. Jones volunteered to take a polygraph test on a KHOW radio show hosted by Peter Boyles, where Jones first made the allegations. However, Jones's responses during the section of the polygraph test about whether he had engaged in sex with Haggard indicated deception. The test administrator, John Kresnik, discounted the test results because of Jones's stress, and lack of eating or sleeping. Regardless, Haggard responded by saying, "We're so grateful that he failed a polygraph test this morning, my accuser did." Jones was not asked questions about drug use. Jones expressed doubt that he would retake the test, saying: "I've made my point. He's the one who has discredited himself. He should admit it and move on." Because of the scandal, Haggard went on administrative leave from New Life, saying, "I am voluntarily stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date. In the interim, I will seek both spiritual advice and guidance." On November 2, 2006, senior church officials told Colorado Springs television station KKTV that Haggard had admitted some of the claims made by Jones. In an e-mail to New Life Church parishioners sent on the evening of November 2, Acting Senior Pastor Ross Parsley wrote, "It is important for you to know that he [Haggard] confessed to the overseers that some of the accusations against him are true." Haggard admitted that he had bought methamphetamine and received a massage from Jones, and denied using the drugs and having sex with Jones. As it became apparent that at least some of the claims were true, some evangelical leaders, such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, sought to distance themselves from Haggard, and to downplay his influence on religious conservatives, his connections to the Bush administration, and the importance of the NAE. On November 4, 2006, the Overseer Board of New Life Church released a statement that Haggard had been fired as senior pastor. The statement said, "Our investigation and Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct." Ross Parsley, the Associate Senior Pastor, was then named Haggard's successor. Haggard then entered counseling conducted by a team, which included Jack Hayford and Tommy Barnett, who stated their intention to "perform a thorough analysis of Haggard's mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical life", including the use of polygraph tests. The team was to include James Dobson, who later stepped aside, citing time constraints. H.B. London – Focus on the Family's vice president of church and clergy – took Dobson's place on the team. After the scandal was publicized, Haggard entered three weeks of intensive counseling, overseen by four ministers. In February 2007, one of those ministers, Tim Ralph, said that Haggard was "completely heterosexual." On November 3, 2006, Haggard's resignation from his leadership role at the National Association of Evangelicals was accepted. Eventually, Haggard admitted to having used drugs and to having been sexually fondled by Jones.
On January 23, 2009, less than one week before The Trials of Ted Haggard was released on HBO, officials from Haggard's former church announced that a young male church member had come forward in 2006 and that there was an
"overwhelming pool of evidence [of an] inappropriate, consensual sexual relationship [that] went on for a long period of time [with Haggard] ... it wasn't a one-time act." Haggard's successor, Brady Boyd, said the church reached a six-figure settlement with the man, who was in his early 20s at the time. According to the man, the contact was "not consensual". Later reports were that the relationship did not involve physical contact, but that on one occasion Haggard masturbated in front of the young man. The man, Grant Haas, added that New Life Church paid him $179,000 for counseling and college tuition. Haggard acknowledged an inappropriate relationship with Haas on CNN and in other media; when asked whether he had had other, unreported gay relationships, Haggard did not give a direct answer. On July 26, 2022, Religion News Service published an article on new allegations against Haggard, stating
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
