A week after James Dobson excused himself from a board of Christian leaders counseling fallen pastor Ted Haggard, another Focus on the Family executive has agreed to take his place.
H.B. London, the ministry’s vice president of church and clergy and Dobson’s cousin, will join two other evangelical elder statesmen in overseeing what has been described as Haggard’s “restoration,” the Colorado Springs-based organization announced Tuesday.
That process could take as long as five years, and possible outcomes range from Haggard reclaiming a public role in Christian leadership to retreating to private life, London said Tuesday.
“My concern is for Ted and his family,” said London, who heads a little-known Focus on the Family division that supports pastors in crisis, offering a toll-free hotline and other resources free of charge. “That’s my biggest concern. My least concern has to do with ministry or future ministry.”
London said he expected to meet as soon as today with the other members of the panel: Southern California pastor and author Jack Hayford and Phoenix megachurch pastor Tommy Barnett.
Haggard, one of the nation’s most prominent evangelicals, was fired as senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs by a board of overseers investigating allegations that he paid a gay prostitute for sex.
Haggard confessed to “sexual immorality” and called himself a “deceiver and a liar” who had long struggled against a “dark and repulsive” part of his life. But he has denied being gay.
The head of a church board that fired Haggard has said the new board counseling the ex-pastor will delve into his sexuality, including consulting with a psychologist, conducting a polygraph test on Haggard and possibly examining his computer hard drive.
Dobson, who bowed out of the Haggard panel last week citing time constraints, praised London’s experience as a “pastor to pastors.”
“As I’ve said, I wanted to assist Ted and New Life Church personally through this difficult period, but there was no way I could devote the kind of time and attention to the process that it deserves,” Dobson said. “With H.B. joining the team, Ted’s care and restoration could not be in more capable hands.”
Staff writer Eric Gorski can be reached at 303-954-1698 or egorski@denverpost.com.
