Monday, August 14, 2006

Anti-gay minister Terry Fox to lead new church after abruptly resigning from his old post

By Diane Silver

Terry Fox is setting himself up with a new church just seven days after he stood up in a Sunday service and stunned the congregation he had lead for 10 years by resigning -- effective that instant.

Fox's resignation from Wichita's Immanuel Baptist Church left many folks in his congregation and the city scratching their heads. Although Fox has tried to portray his resignation as being a normal evolution of his political ambitions, others have noted that it probably was not based on "love and understanding." I also blogged about the oddities of Fox's departure, which didn't follow the normal procedure for a minister leaving a post. Lay leaders of Fox's old church have remained silent on the reasons he left.

The Wichita Eagle reports today:
After he (Fox) announced his resignation, he said he received between 200 and 300 calls from people -- many from Immanuel -- who wanted him to stay in Wichita
and continue to preach on Sundays.

He said he and his wife, Barbara, agreed to take on the new church late Friday night with the uderstanding that he would continue to travel many weeks during the year to work on the issues he wants to address.

"That's the only way I agreed to do this," he said by telephone Sunday night, "because I didn't want to change what I feel God has called me to do."
Fox is best known for his successful campaign to ban same-sex couples in Kansas from marriage, civil unions and any other legal right that married couples enjoy.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Terry Fox is human and as such can make mistakes and decisions without praying them through-a mistake that all Christians make at times. I'm not saying that happened here; however, it very well could have. I wish him well and being a former member of Immanuel Baptist (I now live out of state) I wish the church (a great church) only the best in their search for a new leader. May God Bless You All.

David Auner said...

Mr. Fox certainly has a right to express his views in this country. I am concerned when I see a significant weight gain in any adult over the last 3 years as evidenced by video of Mr. Fox on PBS tonight. In my experience this usually means too much fastfood and especially chicken intake. Perhaps when Mr. Fox realises he has been poisoned by Rightwing corporate interests he will recycle himself and try to change the food industry.