New Life's New Life, and Why Love Isn't Winning Out

Paul Harvey

This says something about the state of contemporary evangelicalism. Or not. I report, you decide.

New Life Adding Services Amid Growing Attendance, in today's Colorado Springs Gazette, chronicles the turnaround and revival of the New Life Church of Colorado Springs, most recently famous for its latest celebrity evangelical bad boy caught in flagrante, Ted Haggard. Under new management now, the church is thriving, with a steady and distinctly uncharismatic pastor, Brady Boyd. I am quoted in the article, as usual pontificating on matters of which I know little or nothing. Gayle Haggard (a strikingly calm and composed woman given the hell she's been through) is writing a memoir of her famous marriage. The church has largely withdrawn from social commentary, engaging in grassroots growth efforts, especially with local military families, and apparently with success.

Meanwhile, budget shortfalls at Focus on the Family (due largely to declines in philanthropic giving over the last two years, a problem not unique to Focus for sure) have compelled it to cut its "Love Won Out" conferences, which purportedly helped "men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually [to] understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome." Responding to the latest report of the American Psychological Association, a "gender issues analyst" at Focus said "that the APA report is flawed because the agency begins with the false assumption that homosexuality is ok." More on the story here.