Who recommended Haggard's removal
Posted November 5, 2006
Overseers for New Life Church sought advice from three leading evangelicals before they dismissed Ted Haggard.
The first name will be recognized even by many non-evangelicals: Dr. James Dobson. The head of Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family may be the most influential leader of the Christian Right. He's got clout at the White House and his radio program is listened to by millions. His books are best-sellers. His doctorate is real (from USC). He's a psychologist and the author of "Dare to Discipline" -- a primer on child-rearing for Christian parents.
The second adviser is Jack Hayford, who served as pastor of Church on the Way, a Pentecostal megachurch in Van Nuys, California. Hayford is the leader of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel -- the denominaton launched by radio evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in the early twentieth century. Highly respected in pentecostal-charismatic circles, his name can also be found in the United Methodist Church's hymnal. Hayford wrote "Majesty" -- a favorite praise and worship anthem.
The third wise man consulted is Tommy Barnett, pastor of First Assembly of God in Phoenix, Arizona. Barnett, son of a legendary Pentecostal preacher, leads the biggest Assemblies of God megachurch in the country. His son, Matthew Barnett, is pastor of TWO Los Angeles megachurches -- Angelus Temple (the 5,000-seat Los Angeles Foursquare tabernacle constructed by Aimee Semple McPherson in the 1920s) and Dream Center (an Assemblies of God church which meets in an old hospital building.)
It's hard to imagine three leaders who would be more highly regarded in pentecostal-charismatic circles.
Among New Life Church's four overseers, three were Colorado pastors who I know very little about. But the fourth, Larry Stockstill, has been highly visible -- especially in the past year. After Jimmy Swaggart's collapse, many of Swaggart's old followers switched to Stockstill's Bethany World Prayer Center. It's now one of the nation's largest congregations. After Hurricane Katrina, it opened its doors to storm survivors. President Bush even visited its campus soon afterward to learn about its disaster relief efforts. Haggard was youth pastor at Bethany before starting New Life in 1985.
I wonder . . . is this the same James Dobson who, thirty seconds into the scandal, said that he personally knew that the accusations against Haggard were all politically motivated lies?
I'm still waiting for HIS apology for that one . . .