His was a huge growth by any standard, and part of a success story of the astonishing movement of Pentecostalism. This is the brand of Christianity that is only 100 years old, but which has made its way around the globe in only a few years. Those who study the growth of the church, forecast it will number about a billion adherents by 2050. In the United States alone, there are 300 Pentecostal denominations and the short history of this rollicking movement is full of salacious stories of humanity.

The greatest contribution of Pentecostalism to Christianity, says history professor and author C. Peter Wagner, is "restoring the reality of the power of the New Testament concept of miracles." Oh, how the Haggard family needs one now.

I'm having trouble believing what has happened to Ted Haggard could happen to someone who was voted to represent 30 million evangelicals in the United States.

This group traces its roots to the holiness piety of Great Britain, a movement that instigated every form of social reform in England. From creating the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to abolishing slavery, these holiness passions also saw their manifest destiny in establishing the American colonies. So, in choosing a president to represent them, social involvement is paramount. Evangelicals don't stay quiet about public life, they never have.

The irony that gay sex should take down the evangelical leader just as evangelicals are entering the battle over gay marriage is surely enough to send us all to our prayer chairs. Perhaps there should have been more caution about putting an independent charismatic church leader into such a prestigious position or, perhaps there is something about gay marriage and free will we need to be considering.

But, in the short term, it's only fair that a watching world looks closely at what repair work is being done for these evangelicals, who do, after all, want the whole world to follow the Jesus they do.

I, for one, think there should be a public statement on behalf of the National Association of Evangelicals, not just from Mr. Haggard's church.

I also think the gay community is owed an apology for our duplicity on this issue — our own leadership couldn't wrestle out the biblical ideals of sexuality we want to legislate on. The NAE, however, has said nothing about that.

It has rushed to find an interim replacement president, a stalwart Baptist from Minnesota who they say will bring "a calming presence like baking soda on a frying pan." But what about the accountability the NAE failed to give to its followers? The NAE had moved its offices into Mr. Haggard's church, staffed the NAE with church employees, but surely the NAE now has a responsibility to explain what they actually understand leadership to be, and how they feel about Mr. Haggard's decline.

I know it's just one messy leader and, like the stock exchange, the viability of the group doesn't crash on one fallen person, but still, this was THE spokesperson and a statement bigger than "we're praying for him" is needed.

A confession and apology of what Mr. and Mrs. Haggard have apparently written is spamming its way around the world and there is a sense of relief that Mr. Haggard has admitted to being a liar.

But at the great risk of being an absolute crank, I have to say I'm not so impressed at the composition of the oversight board appointed to look into Rev. Haggard's behaviour. It is said to include Focus on the Family chairman James Dobson, Southern California Pentecostal preacher and author Jack Hayford and Tommy Barnett, a Phoenix pastor and evangelist.

Given Rev. Haggard's status as former NAE president, that official stuff was expected, but what the man needs now is what he's needed all along, a small group of ordinary followers of Jesus who'll just be daily, hourly, available for the honest soul searching of sin.

The best part of this scandal so far has been the painful letter Gayle Haggard wrote to the women of her church where she appears to have been a regular teacher on the Bible. In it, she said more about marriage and Evangelicals than any gay amendment vote ever will. Gayle wrote: "My test has begun; watch me. I will try to prove myself faithful ... [Ted] is now the visible and public evidence that every man, woman and child needs a Saviour."

I write about this, we read it, we'll discuss it, but we should do so with a keen sense of that sentiment. People trying to figure out how to speak for a Holy God are just that — people.

Lorna Dueck is the host of Listen Up TV, a spiritual perspective on current events seen Sundays on Global TV, and weekly on CTS, Salt and Light TV, and Christian Channel TV.