New Life Overseers Never 'Addressed or Discussed' Homosexuality

Plus: Last-minute campaign efforts, the Episcopal Church's new female leader, and other stories from online sources around the world.

Compiled by Susan Wunderink|November 7, 2006 01:17 PM

Be sure to check out our live blog on all the religion news from today's election, updated throughout the night as results come in.

Ted Haggard and homosexuality:

Haggard firing, gay question separate | Haggard's infidelity, not with whom, ended prominent pastor's tenure, official says (The Denver Post)
Pastor gets sympathy from gay community | Many involved on both sides of the gay rights movement who have, for the most part, put aside their political views in connection with the Haggard scandal (The Rocky Mountain News)
Gays, Evangelicals urged to seek common ground | Some good could come from the downfall of disgraced pastor Ted Haggard if it leads to a reconciliation between the evangelical and gay communities, a leading evangelical Christian said on Monday (Reuters)
Truth frees minister to walk a different path | We should talk today about another Colorado Springs minister, one who also came face to face with the reality of homosexuality and gave up his ministry over it. But this one never thought twice about blaming a hotel concierge (Bill Johnson, Rocky Mountain News)
Gay pastors reflect on events | They say Christian therapy is damaging (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
Fired evangelist slams gays in new mvie | The Rev. Ted Haggard has been fired amid allegations of gay sex and drug use, but the evangelical leader can still be seen at the height of his powers preaching to thousands and condemning homosexuality in the documentary "Jesus Camp." (Associated Press)

New Life Church:

Finding strength in the storm | Absent pastor's words hit home with followers who believe everyone is vulnerable to falling (The Denver Post)
Church puts faith in interim leader | The Rev. Ross Parsley is "a man of convictions" who will offer "steady and strong" guidance at New Life, an elder says (The Denver Post)
Church altered Springs; will scandal change city? | New Life Church is one of two institutions that established the community as a conservative evangelical center in the early 1990s (The Denver Post)
Church leaders looking to future | Outside panel stepping in to help congregation move on from scandal (The Rocky Mountain News)
Shame and solace | Haggard's apology met with resolve (The Colorado Springs Gazette)
Disgraced minister's church try to cope | New Life Congregation faces the (The New York Times)

Ted Haggard reaction:

Allegations shake up Evangelical group | Leaders and scholars of evangelical Christianity say their religious movement is at a critical moment (USA Today)

Most Christian radio static on story | As the Ted Haggard story continued to unfold Friday, most Christian-oriented radio stations in Denver basically stayed with regular programming (Dusty Saunders, Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
Preachers respond with prayer, worry, empathy | Around Colorado Springs, church leaders dealt with the Rev. Ted Haggard's fall from New Life Church's pulpit in ways as different as their theologies (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
Dobson, 2 ministers to offer counsel | The three men chosen to oversee the Rev. Ted Haggard's spiritual restoration are well-known in conservative Christian circles and are old pros at such work (The Gazette, Colorado Springs)
Haggard flap may spur some conservatives | Colorado Republicans haven't given up yet (Associated Press)
Morality tale: A pastor's fall from grace | He was a national evangelical leader, until a scandal brought him low. The Rev. Ted Haggard's rocky journey (Newsweek)

Ted Haggard recovery:

Leaders see long road back | Focus founder, two others will oversee pastor's 'recovery' (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)
Dobson to aid in counseling Haggard | Focus on the Family founder James Dobson will be one of the people overseeing counseling for the Rev. Ted Haggard (Associated Press)

Three to oversee | Fellow evangelicals will direct Haggard in his rehab program (The Rocky Mountain News)

Ted Haggard's son:

Haggard's eldest son leads his own flock | Marcus Haggard, 23, the eldest of Ted and Gayle Haggard's five children, started the Boulder Street Church - a satellite of New Life Church - about two years ago in a downtown neighborhood (The Denver Post)
Son's sermon gets applause | Younger Haggard tells flock: 'We don't shoot our wounded' (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)

Mike Jones:

Escort says Haggard's apology "hollow" | Mike Jones, the gay prostitute who brought down a Colorado Springs evangelical pastor with allegations the two had a three-year homosexual affair, said today that he feels the minister still hasn't been completely honest (The Denver Post)
Jones gets mixed reception | Man whose revelations felled pastor a folk hero to some, villain to others (Rocky Mountain News, Denver)

Ted Haggard (opinion):

Haggard and tolerance | The evangelical leader has often been a sensible voice of moderation when others were more strident in their beliefs. He faces legal scrutiny and the judgment of congregants (Editorial, The Denver Post)

The scandal | If we look to Ted Haggard as a representative of all that is wrong in Evangelicalism, I think we miss the most important lesson (Tim Challies, Challies.com)

Church life:

Rev. Moon and the black clergy | Taking down the cross (and taking trips) part of an unlikely alliance with local pastors (The Chicago Tribune)
Earlier: Why Are Pastors Flying to Moon? | Recent black clergy firings are only the latest chapter in Unification Church's efforts to court Christian leaders (Christianity Today, August 8, 2001)
Roman Catholics and Anglicans express solidarity over women bishops | Roman Catholics and Anglicans have teamed up in a joint letter to their bishops over women's ordination. (Ekklesia)
They come—sick, weary, or desperate—seeking his touch | A Massachusetts Catholic priest has earned fame as a healer (The Boston Globe)
Pornography inquiry unsettles church | Loss of the computer with pornographic images has slowed the inquiry (The New York Times)
1st Catholic Cathedral in the US reopens | The 200-year-old Basilica of the Assumption opens after a 2-year restoration (ABC News)

Hip-hop worshippers hope to spread the rap | A group of hip-hop Christians are hoping to spread the word across the United States with a new CD that puts their service to music (Reuters)
Increasingly, clergy seek sabbaticals | It's Sunday at 11 a.m. Do you know where your pastor is? (The Dallas Morning News)

Episcopal Church:

Episcopalians install female leader | Katherine Jefferts Schori took office Saturday as the leader of the Episcopal Church (Associated Press)
Episcopal membership loss 'precipitous' | The Episcopal Church has suffered a net loss of nearly 115,000 members over the past three years—with homosexuality issues fueling the departures (The Christian Century)
The bishop presiding is a woman | Jefferts-Schiori's new job will include shepherding a denomination on the verge of a historic split over homosexual clergy, same-sex blessings and biblical authority (The Washington Times)

Books and media:

How children grieve for a loved one | A new book is designed to help Christian kids deal with the deaths of grandparents (The Boston Globe)
God and America | In a real sense this book places Mr. Gingrich at one end of the log and a willing American pupil at the other (Ernest W. Lefever, The Washington Times)

'City of Light' TV center launched | Condemning commercial television as the devil's conjuring, some of the nation's foremost evangelical broadcasters gathered Sunday to christen the new home of Charlotte-based Inspiration Networks (The Charlotte Observer)
Pregnant with meaning | A closer-than-ever look at Jesus' birth in "Nativity Story" (Glenn Whipp, The Los Angeles Daily News)
They have seen the light, and it is green | In many ways, the movie is testament (no pun intended) to the profoundly changed attitudes in Hollywood toward religion as mainstream entertainment (The New York Times)

Schools:

An issue of fair pray | Disagreement sends coach, school to court (The Boston Globe)
For some local schools, prayer part of the tradition | In the wake of a July court decision that allowed Brunswick (N.J.) High football coach to participate in student-initiated pregame prayers, the Globe asked five Eastern Mass. high school athletic directors or football coaches to share their thoughts on the issue (The Boston Globe)
Bible club studies in secular setting | Kids For Christ USA is one organization taking advantage of laws that permit student-initiated and led religious clubs to meet in schools (The Washington Times)

Bible class idea stirs debate | Despite opposition, Wilson school board OKs course in some form (The Tennessean)

Science and life ethics:

God vs. science | We revere faith and scientific progress, hunger for miracles and for MRIs. But are the worldviews compatible? (Time)
A neuroscientific look at speaking in tongues | Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania took brain images of five women while they spoke in tongues (The New York Times)
Exploring the links between psychotherapy and health | Mental health professionals and religious workers are breaking out of their traditional ways to adopt holistic approaches (The Los Angeles Times)
Plan to create human –cow embryos | UK scientists have applied for permission to create embryos by fusing human DNA with cow eggs (BBC News)
Baby 'mercy killing debate' call | Doctors are calling for a debate over proposals for the "mercy killing" of severely disabled babies (BBC News)
Doctors urge euthanasia of newborns; headlines absent for liver creation using non-embryonic stem cells | A British medical organization has called for the consideration of "active euthanasia" for severely disabled infants (Baptist Press)

Election Day (general):

An evangelical identity crisis | Sex or social justice? The war between the religious right and believers who want to go broader (Newsweek)
Church meets state | The left often complains that evangelicals have too much influence in American life. But evangelicals themselves grumble that the politicians they help elect leave much of their agenda undone. So what impact has the religious right actually had on public policy? (Newsweek)
A new social gospel | Many evangelicals are chafing at the narrowness of the religious right. A new faith-based agenda (Mike Gerson, Newsweek)
The case against faith | Religion does untold damage to our politics. An atheist's lament (Sam Harris, Newsweek)
Evangelicals no longer lock for GOP | Moderates, liberals redefine 'values' vote (The Chicago Tribune)
GOP control of Congress hangs in balance | Voters put the Republican congressional majority and a multitude of new voting equipment to the test Tuesday in an election that defined the balance of power for the rest of George W. Bush's presidency (Associated Press)
"Bible Belt" boosts Bush, Republicans | For millions of Americans, support for Bush runs deeper than the debate over the direction of the war on terrorism and can be summed up by what his backers view as old-fashioned conservative values (Reuters)

Pat Buchanan: more Christians dissatisfied with GOP than ever | while they won't change their vote over Haggard, there's a sense that core Republicans have been let down (ABC News)
Pastors, priests urge faithful to vote | Many preachers are telling their congregations to vote, in view of close elections and ballot issues (Reuters)
Bush aims to mobilize values voters | President Bush was in Colorado Saturday to urge voters to vote for traditional values (Associated Press)
U.S. churches sharply divided on Iraq war | America's churches are still sharply divided on the war in Iraq as their flocks prepare to go to the polls, although backing for the conflict has dimmed even among the once solidly supportive evangelical community (Reuters)

Specific campaigns:

Looking for votes in church pews | Candidates show up in churches (The Washington Times)
Candidates hit the pews in Maryland home stretch | Black Church Community Deemed 'Exceptionally Important (The Washington Post)
Black ministers with clout back Erlich | Ministers of large churches endorse Republican for governor of Maryland (The Washington Times)

Corker has swayed Tennessee toward GOP | While Harold E. Ford Jr. continues to talk about how much he loves Jesus (The Washington Times)
In Missouri, a forecast for voter misery | Missouri voters are deadlocked on candidates and stem cells; in Ohio, faithful Christians on the left are working to turn the tables on the Christian right (The Washington Post)
Abortion ban battle heats up in S. Dakota | Poll shows voters uneasy about law (The Boston Globe)
Trailing badly, Republicans take long-term approach | The Ohio Christian Alliance, which supports Republicans trailing in polls, begins to think beyond elections (The Washington Post)
Mo. Catholics back stem cell research | A group of prominent Catholics is challenging church leaders' opposition to stem cell research and to the proposed Constitutional amendment that would protect such research in Missouri (Associated Press)

Church and state (international):

Religious leaders unite to launch vaccine bond | Representatives of the world's leading religions will on Tuesday buy the first bonds in a pioneering $1 billion issue to fund life-saving vaccine projects (Reuters)
Vatican, Catholic officials say "Don't hang Saddam" | In a place where so many are dying, Iraqis should recognize the sanctity of life, Catholic officials urge (Reuters)

Why the U-turn on faith schools? | On 17 October the government said it would amend the Education and Inspections Bill to require new faith schools to accept 25% of their pupils from families with other faiths or no faith at all. Nine days later, it dropped the plan. (BBC News)
Bishop attacks 'Muslim hypocrisy' | A senior Anglican bishop has accused many Muslims of being guilty of double standards in their view of the world (BBC News)
Pressure on Pope to rebuild ties with Islam | Pressure is growing on Pope Benedict to use a trip to Turkey this month to rebuild badly strained ties between the Vatican and the Muslim world (Reuters)
Muslims rally to cause of hardline Christians | A hardline Christian party which is campaigning against new rights for homosexuals has won significant support from Scotland's Muslim community (Scotland on Sunday)
Leaders back faith in public life | People who campaign against religion in public life have an "intolerant faith position", Anglican and Roman Catholic church leaders have said (BBC News)

Gospels return raised in Commons | A campaign to return the Lindisfarne Gospels to the north-east of England has been raised in Parliament (BBC News)
Church challenges festive stamps | The Church of England has challenged the Royal Mail's move to issue festive stamps without a Christian theme (BBC News)
Congolese learn to keep lid on politics | As Congo takes its first steps toward democracy, some voters are keeping their allegiances private and influential institutions like the country's main churches are staying neutral (Associated Press)
Eritrea releases gospel singer Berhane | Gospel singer Helen Berhane, who belonged to a banned evangelical church in Eritrea, has been released after more than two years in detention (Associated Press)
Also: Eritrean gospel singer 'released' | An Eritrean Christian gospel singer, detained by the authorities without charge for more than two years, has been freed, Amnesty International says (BBC News)
Church of Cyprus elects new leader | The Church of Cyprus on Sunday elected its first new leader in 29 years (Associated Press)
Reborn Ortega enlists God in presidential bid | While revamping his public image and embracing former enemies, Nicaraguan presidential hopeful Daniel Ortega added the most unlikely of allies to his campaign—God (The Washington Times)

U.S. urged to keep pressing Vietnam on religious curbs | A government panel on Monday urged the United States to keep Vietnam on a list of serious violators of religious freedom, saying the communist state's reform of policies on faith did not go far enough (Reuters)
Fears for Pakistani Christians | Concerns have been raised about the welfare of Christians in Pakistan after a record number of arrests for blasphemy. Audio/video (BBC News)
The bodies pile up as Baghdad asks 'are you Sunni or Shi'ite?' | Even Christians caught up in Baghdad sectarianism (Los Angeles Times)

Other stories of interest:

2 gangs find real peace, in secret | Two gangs have kept their truce since July; now police and clergy are talking with eight other street gangs, hoping to broker truces across Boston (The Boston Globe)
A civil abortion debate? | Where has one of this country's most divisive issues been debated largely without the expected histrionics? South Dakota. Today's ballot referendum has provided a refreshing model of public discourse (Laura Vanderkam, USA Today)
Prayer letters to pastor's daughter | the fisherman who found the letters to God will give them to the daughter of the addressee (Associated Press)

Church quiet on abuse for 26 years | The Anglican Church waited 26 years before reporting to police that one of its priests had a sexual relationship with a teenage boy, but a jury took just six hours yesterday to convict the pedophile cleric on four child abuse charges (The Australian—The Nation)
King memorial groundbreaking set | On Nov. 13 a diverse group of celebrities, corporate leaders and ordinary Americans will help turn the first shovels of dirt for a memorial honoring the civil rights leader (Associated Press)

Be sure to check out our live blog on all the religion news from today's election, updated throughout the night as results come in.