Shock: Haggard had other "improper relationships"

And "sordid conversation":

The Rev. Ted Haggard's former congregation was told Sunday that while an investigation uncovered new evidence the influential evangelical leader engaged in "sordid conversation" and "improper relationships," the church can heal its wounds.

More than 100 days after Haggard's firing amid a gay-sex scandal, 14,000-member New Life Church received a progress report from its board of overseers, an outside panel of pastors.

The Rev. Larry Stockstill of Baton Rouge, La., an overseer, read a letter describing results of "extensive fact-finding" into Haggard's claim he had long struggled with a "dark side."

Strange way to put it. Were they confirming things Haggard told them, or ferreting out information he tried to hide?

"We have verified the reality of that struggle through numerous individuals who reported to us firsthand knowledge of everything from sordid conversation to overt suggestions to improper activities to improper relationships," Stockstill said. "These findings established a pattern of behavior that culminated in the final relationship in which Ted was, as a matter of grace, caught."

As a matter of grace, caught. Stockstill sounds like one scary dude, man.

Update: The Rocky: Haggard dragnet revealed "unrelated sin issues" among church staff.