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Ministry activities bring spotlight back to Colorado Springs
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Dr. James Dobson
Sometimes referred to as the "evangelical Jerusalem" because of the concentration of evangelical Protestant parachurch ministries headquartered there, Colorado Springs has often brought national attention to the city at the gateway to Pikes Peak and the home of the United States Air Force Academy.
This week two of its most famous ministry figures, Ted Haggard and Dr. James Dobson, brought Colorado Springs more attention through unrelated reports. Mark Barna, religion writer in the local daily newspaper, the Gazette, reported on Thursday that Haggard, the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals who was forced to resign the ministry of the Colorado Springs megachurch he had built as well as his post with the NAE after being exposed by a gay former sex partner, has resumed ministry against the advice of the overseers of his spiritual recovery. Barna's report suggested that a home study group Haggard is now leading looks a lot like the one he started that evolved into the 11,000-member New Life Church.
And Dobson, the most famous of Colorado Springs' many evangelical leaders as the radio voice of Focus on the Family, which claims an audience of 220 million daily listeners in 164 countries, was called in a separate report by Barna the driving force behind the successful campaign in the state of Maine to reverse the gay marriage law the state's legislature and governor put in place earlier this year.
"Focus donated $115,266 to a coalition supporting repeal, Maine records show," according to Barna. The defeat in Tuesday's election "means gay marriage has lost in all 31 states where the public has voted on it."
Dobson also made national news when he announced on October 30 that he will leave his on-air post with Focus on the Family at the end of February. He had earlier resigned as the ministry's president in 2003 and as chairman of its board last February.
