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HBO Doc Unveils Down-and-Out Haggard

"Wincingly candid" documentary set to air Jan. 29 on HBO

By Rebecca Smith Hurd, Newser User

Posted Jan 11, 2009 5:47 PM CST

(Newser) – A new HBO documentary on Ted Haggard catches the disgraced minister at his most candid and vulnerable, Newsweek reports. Emmy-winning director Alexandra Pelosi shot the film impromptu, capturing Haggard the failed insurance salesman as he struggles with gay feelings and looks out the window at his old church. But hasn't gone back, he says: “The Church has said go to hell."

“I understand why when a criminal is caught they sometimes admit to things they didn’t do," says Haggard, who remains married 2 years after his gay sex scandal shocked the evangelical world. "I wanted to overrepent." The New Life church later surprises Haggard by inviting him back as a congregant, but he declines to avoid causing a stir. Still, "I am what I am," he says in the film, set to air Jan. 29. "I was born an evangelical."

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

[Quotes (3)]

Rev. Ted Haggard preaches on film in the documentary "Jesus Camp." Two years after being embroiled in a gay sex scandal, the ex-pastor says his relationship with his wife is stronger than ever. (AP Photo/Magnolia Pictures, File)

Rev. Ted Haggard delivers a 2002 sermon at the New Life Church below a live video feed of himself. The disgraced evangelical leader says he still struggles with his sexuality. (AP Photo/The Gazette, Andy Rogers)

A portrait of Ted Haggard hangs at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. The church, which banished him post-scandal, recently said he could return as a member of the congregation. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, FILE)

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Two years ago, Ted Haggard was one of the most powerful Christians in America. Now he sells insurance. A new documentary by filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi and HBO chronicles his fall and rise. (MissMelodia)

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Sexuality is complex and confusing. I no longer struggle with homosexual compulsions. I still have thoughts from time to time, but they're not powerful.
- Ted Haggard, who is still married but doesn't clarify whether he's gay or straight

We don't attend a church because it would create news, and we don't want to put our children or the church pastor through that."
- Ted Haggard, former minister of
New Life Church

I am what I am.
I was born an evangelical."
- Ted Haggard, in the new HBO documentary, The Trials of Ted Haggard

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HBO Doc Unveils Down-and-Out Haggard