Ted Haggard

==Period between church leadership positions==
In April 2007, the Haggard family moved to [[Phoenix, Arizona]], to start a restoration process. They attended [[Phoenix First Assembly of God|Phoenix First Assembly of God Church]], whose pastor, Tommy Barnett, was on Haggard's counseling team. Haggard reached an agreement with New Life Church on a severance package that would pay him through 2007; one of the conditions was that he had to leave the Colorado Springs area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=68347 |publisher=9 News |place=Colorado, USA |title=Ted Haggard leaves Colorado for Phoenix |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525150636/http://www.9news.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=68347&catid=222 |archive-date=May 25, 2012 |url-status=dead }}.</ref> His last reported income was $138,000, not including benefits.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/041907dnnathaggard.2acf8d8.html | title = Disgraced minister Ted Haggard moving to Phoenix | newspaper = Dallas Morning News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617135739/https://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/041907dnnathaggard.2acf8d8.html|archive-date=June 17, 2008 }}</ref> On February 6, 2008, the new pastor at New Life Church issued a press release announcing that Haggard had requested to leave the team created to "restore" him and that as Haggard's restoration was "incomplete," he was not welcome to return to vocational ministry at New Life.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3422 |journal=Colorado Confidential |title=Ted Haggard Quits New Life 'Restoration Team' |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070811085917/http://www.coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3422 |archive-date=2007-08-11 |url-status=dead }}.</ref>

In August 2007, Haggard released a statement asking for monetary donations to help support his family while he and his wife attended classes at the [[University of Phoenix]]. Questions surfaced about the tax-exempt group "Families With a Mission" to which Haggard had urged people to contribute. According to Haggard, the group would use 10% of donations for administrative costs and forward 90% to Haggard; however, the group was dissolved in February 2007, according to the [[Colorado Secretary of State]]. A few days after Haggard's initial email statement, his restoration team stepped in to say his statement was "inappropriate" and that "Haggard was a little ahead of himself." They indicated that Haggard would not be working at the Dream Center or in ministry of any kind and that they advised Haggard to seek secular employment to support himself and his family.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.gazette.com/articles/haggard-26460-church-new.html | title = Haggard appeals for financial help | publisher = Colorado Springs Gazette | date = August 25, 2007}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://krdo.images.worldnow.com/images/INCOMING/haggardletter.doc |title=Text of a letter from Haggard, undated (Word document)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218032655/http://krdo.images.worldnow.com/images/INCOMING/haggardletter.doc|archive-date=December 18, 2008}}, posted by KRDO (via worldnow.com).</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294538,00.html "Disgraced Pastor Ted Haggard Asks Supporters for Cash"], ''Associated Press'', August 25, 2007.</ref><ref>Tillie Fong, [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5685442,00.html "Overseers tell Haggard: Stop asking for money and get a job"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070906055138/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5685442,00.html |date=September 6, 2007 }}, ''Rocky Mountain News'', August 29, 2007.</ref><ref>Nicole Vap, [https://archive.today/20120721213735/http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=76354 "Haggard told to change his plans"], 9News.com, August 29, 2007.</ref>

In June 2008, with the severance deal of the New Life Church at an end, Haggard was "free to live where he wanted" and returned to his Colorado Springs home. Also in June, an email surfaced in which Haggard admitted [[masturbation|masturbating]] with Jones and taking drugs, as alleged in 2006. Kurt Serpe, who provided the email, said Haggard "craved sex, he was a [[sex addiction|sexaholic]]." In November 2008, Haggard said in guest sermons at an Illinois church that his actions had roots in sexual abuse by an adult when he was seven years old. He also agreed to appear in [[Alexandra Pelosi]]'s [[HBO]] documentary about his sex scandal titled ''The Trials of Ted Haggard'', that premiered on HBO in January 2009. According to the documentary, Haggard had begun a new career selling insurance.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YepvM7qBanw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/YepvM7qBanw |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=The Trials of Ted Haggard Trailer|date=January 29, 2009|work=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>Dan Harris and Lee Ferran, [https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6235564&page=1 Exclusive: Ted Haggard Breaks His Silence], ''ABC News'', November 12, 2008.</ref><ref name="Sexaholic">{{cite news|url=http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8556903&nav=menu552_1 |title=Former Pastor Ted Haggard Sexaholic, says Friend |publisher=[[KRDO-TV]] |date=June 25, 2008 |access-date=2008-07-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303081451/http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8556903 |archive-date=March 3, 2009 }}</ref><ref>The Associated Press, [http://www.365gay.com/news/defrocked-pastor-promoting-documentary-about-own-gay-sex-scandal/ "Defrocked pastor promoting documentary about own gay sex scandal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130061504/http://www.365gay.com/news/defrocked-pastor-promoting-documentary-about-own-gay-sex-scandal/ |date=January 30, 2009 }}, "365 Gay: News", December 18, 2008.</ref>

In January 2009, after the release of ''The Trials of Ted Haggard,'' Haggard and wife Gayle appeared on ''[[The Oprah Winfrey Show]]'', ''[[Larry King Live]]'', ''[[Good Morning America]]'', and other national media programs to offer a public apology and confession for the issues that spurred his resignation. The couple also appeared on the syndicated television show ''[[Divorce Court]]'' in April 2009. On the program, Ted says he wanted his wife to divorce him after the scandal, saying that he thought he had become so "toxic" that divorce was best for Gayle and their children. On March 11, 2009, Haggard attended a performance in New York of ''[[This Beautiful City (play)|This Beautiful City]]'', a play about him and the Colorado Springs evangelical community. In August 2009, Haggard told ''Charisma'' magazine: "I do not believe my childhood experience is an excuse. I fell into sin and failed to extract myself. I am responsible, and I have repented." He also extols the benefits of qualified counselors: "I highly recommend qualified Christian counseling... for anyone losing their fight with any kind of compulsive thoughts or behaviors. ... I believe our generation of believers is going to have to accept that it's not always lack of faith if we need counseling for assistance with integrity. If I had gone to counseling, I probably could have completely avoided my crisis."<ref name= "charismamag.com">{{Cite web | url = http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/features/2009/august/22523-ted-and-gayle-haggard | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302004918/http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/features/2009/august/22523-ted-and-gayle-haggard|archive-date=March 2, 2012| first = J. Lee | last = Grady | title=Ted and Gayle Haggard Interview|publisher = Charisma Magazine | date = July 7, 2009 | access-date= 2009-08-03}}.</ref><ref name="aboutus">{{cite web | url = http://www.tedhaggard.com/about_us.htm | title = About | publisher = Ted and Gayle Haggard | access-date= 2009-07-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014105856/http://www.tedhaggard.com/about_us.htm|archive-date=October 14, 2009}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web | publisher = Broadway.com | url = http://www.broadway.com/buzz/this-beautiful-city-performs-for-a-special-guest-ted-haggard/ | title = This Beautiful City Performs for a Special Guest: Ted Haggard! | date = March 11, 2009 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/upstaged/2009/03/pastor-tense-ted-haggart-visits-this-beautiful-city/ | title = Pastor tense: Ted Haggard visits This Beautiful City |website=Time Out | place = NY | date = March 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420064746/http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/upstaged/2009/03/pastor-tense-ted-haggart-visits-this-beautiful-city/|archive-date=April 20, 2010}}.</ref>

''[[Newsweek]]'''s June 7, 2010, issue's "Back Story" listed Haggard among prominent conservative activists who have a record of supporting anti-gay legislation and are later caught in a [[gay]] sex scandal.<ref>''Newsweek'', June 7, 2010, p. 56.</ref> In a July 2010 interview he gave to CNN,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/21/haggard-back-in-the-pulpit/ | work=CNN | title=2010: Ted Haggard's new church growing}}</ref> Haggard claimed that his feelings of sexual attraction to other men had miraculously disappeared. Haggard portrayed his encounter with the male prostitute as a massage that went awry.<ref name="Simon">Simon, Stephanie. "[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704249004575385170843908594 Humbled Haggard Climbs Back in Pulpit]". The ''Wall Street Journal'' (New York), p. B1, July 24, 2010.</ref>