Second Colorado Pastor Says He’s Gay, Resigns
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
The founding pastor of a second Colorado church has resigned over gay sex allegations, just weeks after the evangelical community was shaken by the scandal surrounding megachurch leader Ted Haggard.
A gay-marriage opponent, Mr. Haggard confessed to unspecified “sexual immorality” when he resigned last month as president of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs. A male prostitute had said he had had sex with Mr. Haggard for three years.
Yesterday, the founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel in this Denver suburb, Paul Barnes, told his evangelical congregation in a videotaped message that he had had sexual relations with other men and was stepping down.
The associate pastor of Grace Chapel, Dave Palmer, told the Denver Post that Mr. Barnes confessed to him after the church received a call last week.
The church board of elders accepted Mr. Barnes’s resignation on Thursday.
