Colorado Springs – The meeting place is the same as always: their boss’ corner office on the second floor of New Life Church, with its wall-to-wall bookcase and sweeping views of Pikes Peak and the Air Force Academy chapel spires in the distance.
Seated around a long wooden conference table handcrafted by a parishioner, members of the Rev. Ted Haggard’s inner circle sit before laptops and buzzing Blackberrys on Friday, contemplating the unthinkable.
Their spiritual leader and friend had been disgraced, his future is uncertain, the church’s future is uncertain … and then there is the matter of planning an extraordinary Sunday service.
“This is going to be like an unprecedented family meeting,” said Lance Coles, who knew Haggard back when the church was no more than a few lawn chairs and paint buckets in a garage. “Sunday is a day of worship, a sacred day. It’s when they’ll find out what they’ve lost.”
So many questions. What should they say to the children’s ministry? To the junior high kids? Should they allow television cameras in “the living room,” the New Life term for their sanctuary? How to remain open with the wider public while allowing private pain?
Takeout from Famous Dave’s Barbecue is passed around. Several copies of a book called “Good Grief” – “an excellent grief resource,” says the back cover – sit for the taking next to cans of soda.
Resting on a pedestal is a gigantic leather-bound Bible – a gift to Ted and Gayle Haggard on the church’s 20th anniversary in 2005. The entire text was handwritten by congregation members. When the Haggards were out of town, the book was left in the back of the church so passers-by could copy down a few verses on their way out the door.
There is also good news to share: Ross Parsley, who has taken over as interim senior pastor while an outside oversight board weighs Haggard’s fate, is a father for the fifth time.
His wife went into labor at 3 a.m. and gave birth at 10 a.m., a 10-pound baby boy. Name undecided.
Associate pastor Rob Brendle’s cellphone is plugged into an orange extension cord, and his ear is pressed to the receiver as he gives a U.S. News and World Report writer the messages he’s repeated all day:
As Bible-believing evangelical Christians, we are not surprised by sin.
Pastor Ted has shown character by humbly submitting to the outside board, which has the power to take his church away from him.
No matter what, New Life Church will march forward.
Hours later, after a larger church staff meeting, the 32-year-old Brendle walks into an empty sanctuary, big enough for 7,500 souls, a house Ted Haggard built.
“Look at this room,” Brendle says. “I can’t imagine this stage without Ted.”
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-954-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
