The website for Fort Worth's Stedfast Baptist Church describes it as an "old-fashioned" institution that goes in "hard against sin" and "stands for the old paths and zero compromise preaching." Its notorious founder, however, who railed against the Pulse nightclub victims as "perverts" and "scum of the Earth," apparently made some compromises, and he's now stepping down as pastor of the church. The New York Times reports Donnie Romero resigned his post last week after reportedly paying prostitutes for sex, using drugs, and gambling. "I haven't been ruling my house well. I've been a terrible husband and father," Romero told congregants on Jan. 2 during a brief speech at the podium, which was captured on video.
Another pastor who led that meeting, Steven L. Anderson, put up his own video that elaborated on Romero's "major sins." "Basically, the major sin involved was being with prostitutes, and then there were also marijuana and gambling that were also discovered," he noted. Anderson founded Arizona's Faithful Word Baptist Church, which is tied to Stedfast and more than two dozen other independent Baptist churches around the country. Anderson himself prayed in 2009 for President Obama's death of "natural causes." Stedfast, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as an anti-LGBT hate group, now has a new pastor: Jonathan Shelley, who NBC News notes also "strongly condemns homosexuality." (More Pulse Orlando shooting stories.)
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