Initially, the 22 people who met in the basement of Haggard's house formed his church, which then grew to rented spaces in strip malls. Īfter 22 years, New Life Church operated from a campus in northern Colorado Springs and had a congregation of 14,000. In 1993, during what Haggard describes as his 'first prayer journey,' he traveled with a group to Israel. They stood on the Mount of Olives, where Haggard claims that he felt the Holy Spirit speak to him. My only problems are with me - not with the enemy, not with circumstances, not with people.' 'From that time until now,' Haggard writes in The Life-Giving Church, 'apostolic power has blessed me. Under Haggard's leadership, New Life Church formed the Association of Life-Giving Churches. It has been listed as a denomination by the U.S. As of 2006, Harper's Magazine reported that it comprised some 300 congregations. In November 2006, male prostitute and masseur Mike Jones alleged that Haggard had paid him for sex over a three-year period and had also purchased and used crystal methamphetamine.
