News
2006-11-08
Focus on the
Family founder Dobson to counsel Haggard
Focus on the
Family founder James Dobson will be one of the people
overseeing counseling for the Reverend Ted Haggard, the
Focus on the
Family founder James Dobson will be one of the people
overseeing counseling for the Reverend Ted Haggard, the
evangelical pastor who was fired amid allegations of
gay sex and drug use, a senior official of Dobson's
organization said Monday. The counseling process,
called restoration, could take years, said H.B. London, vice
president of Ministry Outreach and Pastoral Ministries
for Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs,
Colo.–based ministry.
''I think it may be more in helping to set the
requirements of the restoration, set the ground
rules,'' London told the Associated Press.
Haggard was forced out as senior pastor of the
14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs on
Saturday after a former male escort alleged they had
engaged in sex repeatedly and that Haggard sometimes was on
methamphetamines during their trysts. In a statement read at
the church Sunday, Haggard confessed to unspecified
''sexual immorality,'' accepted responsibility for his
actions, and asked forgiveness.
Dobson will join the Reverend Jack Hayford
of the Church on the Way, located in the Van Nuys
district of Los Angeles, and the Reverend Tommy
Barnett of First Assembly of God in Phoenix in
overseeing Haggard's restoration, according to a letter from
Haggard that was read at New Life services on Sunday.
''Those men will perform a thorough analysis of my
mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical life. They
will guide me through a program with the goal of healing and
restoration for my life, my marriage, and my family,''
Haggard wrote.
Hayford's spokesman said he was not available
for comment Monday. Barnett did not immediately return
a call to respond. (AP)
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