Scandal

Yesterday was our first visit back to New Life Church since the Ted Haggard scandal broke. As Catholics our family, obviously, doesn't attend services at New Life but my kids do participate in their kick-ass enrichment classes. At least one of my kiddoes has been enrolled in their classes each semester for the past five years. Joey is currently taking physics and guitar.

New Life also puts on a magnificent play of the Passion of Christ every year called The Thorn. I've gone to it a couple of times and was quite impressed. At the conclusion, Pastor Ted comes to the stage giving a “Come to Jesus" talk. Catholic services are so completely different from the Evangelical approach. I always found the talks to be a bit comical and kind of uncomfortable, too touchy feely for my liking but effective nonetheless.

Despite his faults, Pastor Ted did a lot of good for our community. The New Life campus is extraordinary. The youth program especially is outstanding. Pastor Ted brought thousands of teens and young adults to the Lord. No matter what personal demons he struggles with he will always be recognized for the success of the New Life community.

I’m not going to lie, I’m a gossip whore. I was curious to hear the buzz at the church. I was almost giddy with anticipation as we arrived for the classes. I must be the most non-Christian minded person in the community. There was no buzz. No scandalous gossip, no news about the wife or children, nothing. There was, however, many people praying and a form letter asking us to, well, pray. Imagine that. Everything else was going on as normal. Joey did mention that his guitar teacher didn’t ask for prayer intentions as she normally does at the start of class. She instead asked them to pray for Pastor Ted and his family. She gave a little talk about how important it is to live Godly lives and that it is never too late to ask for God’s love.

I was humbled. Ho hum.

On a different note, there was a huge book fair going on in the lobby and I scored some awesome Christmas presents for the kids. :-)