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Ted Haggard's Funny Money

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from: Bonnie Goldstein

Posted Monday, Aug. 27, 2007, at 2:55 PM ET

Hot Document readers will remember the public apology rendered by the Rev. Ted Haggard, founder and pastor of Colorado Springs' New Life Church, after a sex scandal forced him to resign from the church and as president of the National Association of Evangelicals. (Haggard got caught having a sexual relationship with, and buying methamphetamines from, a male prostitute.) Later, after secular counseling, Pastor Ted wrote some of his former parishioners a "personal and private e-mail" (promptly leaked to KRDO, an ABC affiliate in Colorado Springs) to explain that he was no longer gay and that he planned to become a psychologist. Now Haggard's rehabilitation is raising some new, very bizarre questions.

Four months ago the Haggard family moved to Arizona, and last week, Haggard informed KRDO of his newest life decision: to minister to "the homeless, those coming out of prison, recovering alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, and other broken people" at the Phoenix Dream Center halfway house, where the Haggard family will also live. Haggard and his wife, Gayle, now members of Phoenix First Assembly (the "church with a heart"), are also enrolled as full-time students at the University of Phoenix. Minus his $138,000 salary, and with the depressed real estate market preventing the sale of his $700,000 house, Haggard will have trouble making ends meet. So, Haggard asked KRDO reporter Tak Landrock (see below) to help him line up "people who can give a one-time gift or make a commitment to help support us monthly for two years."

Here comes the weird part.

Haggard wrote Landrock that supporters can mail checks directly to the Haggard family at their Scottsdale, Ariz., address, but that if contributors wish to make their donations tax deductible, as they very likely will, they can make out their checks to something called Families With a Mission and write on the check that it is designated for the Haggard family. Ninety percent of these funds will then be forwarded to Haggard, while the remaining 10 percent will cover Family With a Mission's "administrative costs."

What the hell sort of charity is Families With a Mission? According to online records for the Colorado secretary of state, an organization bearing that name and the same address supplied below by Haggard was dissolved voluntarily in February of this year. No permanent Web link to the record for Families With a Mission is available from the secretary of state's Web site, but you can look it up here; click on "business center." You can also find it reprinted here on the Web site for the Stranger, a Seattle-based alternative newspaper, whose editor, Dan Savage, broke the story with help from a Stranger reader named David Coffman.

Wait, there's more. Savage and Coffman verified that the name and address of the man identified by Colorado's secretary of state as "registered agent" for Families With a Mission match the name and address of a man named Paul Huberty, who is listed online as ... a sex offender!

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from: Bonnie Goldstein

Posted Monday, Aug. 27, 2007, at 2:55 PM ET
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Bonnie Goldstein is a former special investigator to the U.S. Senate and investigative producer for ABC News.
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Remarks from the Fray:

It is enormously disheartening to see the cynicism that some people express in their replies to the article about the Reverend Ted. That article implies that the noble preacher may be doing something odd with his charity. That is probably untrue; he is merely using a new approach to charity. We all know that charity begins at home, and Teddy is using that money for his home.

The Rev is obviously bright, a really quick learner. Gay in May, straight in June. Few can so quickly reverse the effects of exposure to the gay agenda, but Teddy H. has done so with the help of Jesus. Can a born-again be born again?

This whole thing was probably a setup anyway. Theodore was undoubtedly just trying to minister to a troubled gay prostitute through the use of massage and shared drugs. Let's all give the Reverend H. his due and recognize a con man for his proficiency. He suckered his flock once; there are still sheep left to shear.

--phal4875

(To reply, click here.)

I must be out of touch. This letter goes beyond the simple "asking for support" that I'm accustomed to from missionaries. I get the definite impression that, two years from this letter, if Mr. Haggard "has been thwarted by the Evil One in all of my righteous attempts to provide for my family," (his future words) someone will be called upon just like this to "take up the plate" again. I mean, assuming he doesn't have to pay room and board (courtesy of living at the halfway house) and his mansion is paid off, the other expenses are tuition (financial aid will help there, I'm sure) and transportation--well outside the means of a college student. Honestly, how do those poor students at the Univ. of Phoenix pay their bills?

Wait a second. University of Phoenix...that's not located just in Arizona. It's an online university, with campuses--okay, business offices--in many states, including two in Colorado, where, if he was really desperate, he could return to his mansion and still attend school. In fact, because most of the classes are "held once a week," in order to allow people to work, I'll bet Mr. Haggard could get a job doing any number of service-related activities. I happen to know that McDonalds is hiring at up to $15/hr!

Of course, there is the stigma issue. It's hard to put the family through that. But apparently, it's easier to put them through a halfway house with ex-cons. Which brings up another troubling point: I have deep misgivings about not only this man's decision to re-enter the ministry, working--even living with--people, who, as he puts it, "relate" to him in some ways that truly don't define "faithful," but what in heaven is his wife thinking going along with this thinly-veiled ploy?

Oh, and, if anyone wants to send my family money, post a response here and I'll set up a meeting whereby my friend and I can facilitate some tax-evasion options for you. I'm sure the government can't read between the lines. After all, it's legal if it's for a good cause, right?

--jeditoby

(To reply, click here.)

(8/30)

Washington Post