Double Take

The hits just keep on coming!

Just days after the Rev. Ted Haggard of Colorado officially started his recovery efforts from his gay sex and drugs scandal, comes word that a second pastor from Colorado has officially left his church under tawdry circumstances.

In this case, Paul Barnes, founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel near Denver, yesterday told his evangelical congregation in a videotaped message he had sinned and was stepping down from the church he has led for the past 28 years. So, just what did Rev. Barnes admit to?

A. Embezzling some $1.27 million from church coffers
B. Impregnating his daughter’s 18-year-old babysitter
C. Being addicted to prescription pain killers
D. Have sexual relations with men


ANSWER
D: As if taking a page out of the Ted Haggard playbook, Barnes too confessed to having gay sex while leading his anti-gay church.

"I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy,” Barnes told his church. “I can't tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away."

Added Dave Palmer, associate pastor of Grace Chapel, "While we cannot condone what he has done, we continue to support and love Paul."