Ted Haggard Starts New Church in Colorado

More than three years after stepping down as pastor of the 14,000-member congregation he founded in Colorado Springs, Colo., Ted Haggard announced that he is starting a new church in the same city even though he once agreed not to start a church within 100 miles.

Flanked by his wife, Gayle, and their four children, Haggard said there will be a “launch party” Sunday at his house for the newly formed St. James Church, which will seek to help people “go through the difficult times in their lives.”

“Though many believe that I am not qualified nor will I ever be qualified again to be a pastor … because of what we have been through I may be qualified to help other people in need,” Haggard said Wednesday at a press conference outside his Colorado Springs home.

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