COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Church officials supervising fallen evangelical leader Ted Haggard plan to meet with him because of an e-mail he sent soliciting donations for himself through an organization that has been linked to a registered sex offender in Hawaii.
In an e-mail to KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs, Haggard said he would seek financial support while he pursues a master’s degree in Phoenix and works in a halfway house. The e-mail from the New Life Church founder said supporters could send donations either directly to his family or to a Colorado Springs post office box held by a group called Families With a Mission if they wanted a tax deduction.
Families With a Mission lists the Colorado Springs post office box as a mailing address for Paul Huberty, the group’s registering agent, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. It also lists an address in Monument as its principal mailing address, according to the office. Huberty is listed in Hawaii’s sex offender registry for attempted sexual assault under the Monument address.
The spokesman for New Life’s board of overseers, the Rev. Michael Ware, said Monday that the meeting was scheduled because Haggard sent the e-mail before the overseers were able to discuss whether Haggard would work at the halfway house. Ware said he didn’t find out about Huberty and his connection with the group until later but said it would be discussed during the meeting with Haggard in Phoenix on Tuesday. He said the board would continue to support Haggard’s restoration but said the process can sometimes be lengthy.
“We’re not just thinking about Ted, we’re thinking about his family and his children,” Ware said.
The Rocky Mountain News reported the group’s connection with Huberty on Monday, the same day that members of New Life Church picked a new leader to succeed Haggard. He left the church in November after admitting to “sexual immorality” and after a former male escort had alleged Haggard paid him for sex.
More than 95 percent of church members backed Brady Boyd, 40, in an up-or-down vote by secret ballot and he will begin serving immediately, associate pastor Rob Brendle said.
“We’re grateful to Brady for his willingness to serve our church family and we’re grateful to God for sustaining us over the last 10 months. We look forward to a bright future serving our community and loving one another,” said Brendle, who declined to comment on Haggard’s e-mail.
Phone messages left for Huberty were not returned Monday. Haggard told The Associated Press he could not comment.
Huberty also is listed in El Paso County’s sex offender registry in Colorado, sheriff’s officials said. The online database was not working Monday, so his address could not be verified.
A nonprofit corporation, Families With a Mission was listed as delinquent in 2005 and was voluntarily dissolved in Colorado in February, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. The group was still listed as active in Hawaii, where Huberty was listed as the group’s registering agent.
When Haggard left New Life Church, he also agreed to leave Colorado Springs and not to publicly discuss the scandal that led to his departure. Ware, of Victory Church in Westminster, declined to comment on whether the e-mail violated the deal.
In the e-mail to KRDO, Haggard said he planned to move this fall into the Dream Center, a faith-based halfway house in Phoenix affiliated with Phoenix First Assembly of God, to counsel people there. Phoenix First Assembly of God’s senior pastor is Tommy Barnett, who is part of Haggard’s “restoration” team that is described as helping Haggard get a new start.
On Monday, church pastor Leo Godzich said Haggard would not be moving in to the Dream Center or counseling people there, as Haggard said in the e-mail.
“That was premature,” Godzich said. “That is not part of his restoration plan. I think he visited the Dream Center saw it was a good place for people to rehab and got excited.”
He said details of Haggard’s restoration were private and confidential.
Godzich said his church had no knowledge of Families With a Mission or Huberty. He said Haggard and his wife have been regularly attending Phoenix First Assembly of God.
