Haggard's back in the Springs

Ted Haggard, the disgraced founder of New Life Church, is back in Colorado Springs.

He's not saying why - at least not to members of the press.

"I can't talk to you. I am forbidden from talking to the media," Haggard said Saturday evening after answering the doorbell at his home on Old Ranch Road in north Colorado Springs.

He declined to elaborate.

Haggard and his wife, Gayle, are still listed as the owners of the five-bedroom, three-bath home, whose market value was assessed at $715,000 earlier this year, according to the El Paso County Assessor's Office.

It sits behind a gated entrance on 5.1 acres two miles from the 14,000-member megachurch Haggard founded in his basement. He was asked to leave in late 2006 after admitting to unspecified "sexual immorality."

The confession came after he first denied knowing a former male prostitute from Denver who claimed Haggard paid him for sex nearly every month for three years.

At the time, Haggard was a national player in the politically powerful evangelical movement.

He was named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the nation by Time magazine in 2005.

The magazine reported that he was among "a handful of Christian conservatives" who participated in weekly teleconferences with the White House to help plan strategy on gay rights, abortion and other social issues.

After his ouster, Haggard was given a severance package that paid his salary through the end of 2007. He was barred from making public statements under the agreement, though he appeared to ignore that condition on several occasions, including a public plea for financial help last August.

At last report, he was living in Phoenix, Ariz., with his family with plans to study psychology in graduate school. It was unclear whether those plans have changed.

Haggard's gate stood open at the time of the visit, about 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Water was burbling from an electric fountain in the front yard, and five vehicles sat near a multi-car garage, including two motorcycles and a cream Cadillac Escalade.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0366 or lance.benzel@gazettecom