And Again!

Evangelical leader quits amid male escort's allegations
POSTED: 8:46 a.m. EST, November 3, 2006

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- The president of the National Association of Evangelicals resigned Thursday after accusations by a male prostitute that the pastor paid him for sex over three years.

The Rev. Ted Haggard said he also is temporarily stepping aside from the pulpit of his church in Colorado Springs pending an internal investigation by the church.

The church official who temporarily has assumed Haggard's post said late Thursday that there has been "some admission of guilt," but not to all of the allegations. He did not give any more details.

In 2005, Time magazine put Haggard on its list of the 25 most influential evangelical leaders, noting his participation in a weekly conference call with White House staffers and other religious leaders.

The National Association of Evangelicals is an umbrella group for more than 45,000 churches and some 30 million members across the country. (Watch Haggard deny the accusations -- 2:07 Video)

"I've never had a gay relationship with anybody. I'm steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife," Haggard told KUSA-TV, a CNN affiliate in Denver, on Wednesday.

Haggard is married and has five children, according to the National Association of Evangelicals Web site.

Colorado is one of eight states where voters will consider bans on same-sex marriage in Tuesday's elections, and Haggard has been a supporter of the measure.

Haggard, 50, put himself on administrative leave as senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church.

Read the full story at CNN.com.