Gay pastors reflect on events

Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News

Monday, November 6, 2006

Ted Haggard was among his toughest critics Sunday in a letter read to followers after he was dismissed from the church he founded.

Haggard, a nationally recognized figure who was fired from New Life Church in Colorado Springs on Saturday, said he is "guilty of sexual immorality," adding "the darkness increased and finally dominated me."

"There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life," Haggard wrote.

Haggard is facing allegations of gay sex, illegal drug possession and use, and infidelity to his wife.

But being gay does not have to be equated with immorality, the Rev. Nori Rost, who is lesbian, said Sunday.

"All that energy that you put into struggle and shame can be put into positive things, like a happy, healthy life and being reintroduced to a God who loves you just as you are," said Rost, executive director of Colorado Springs-based Just Spirit, which aims to counter the religious right.

While Rost was bothered by what she saw as anti-gay remarks, she supports Haggard in whatever path he chooses.

"If what brings him the most peace is to continue to deny that (he's gay), if that's what it is, that's OK," she said.

In his letter, Haggard said he will "submit to the oversight" of three Christian leaders, including Dr. James Dobson, head of the conservative Focus on the Family.

Haggard did not directly say he will undergo a Christian-based, -anti-homosexuality program. He noted, however: "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."

Rost declined to offer Haggard any advice, but she said she has met with many people who have gone through the Christian therapy and found it "incredibly damaging."

"They had to live a lie because they knew in their heart they were gay," she said.

"The truth," Rost added, "will set you free."

The Rev. Benjamin Reynolds, who is gay, stepped down from Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church in Colorado Springs in September after telling his congregation he was homosexual. (He said the break was not over his sexuality, however.)

Reynolds also was critical of Christian-based, anti-homosexual programs.

"I would tend to say it manipulates who a person is," he said. "Having struggled with my own sexuality, I don't see a pill to make it go away. There is not a class to make it go away."