Faithful Word Baptist Church

33°23′31″N 111°58′39″W / 33.391824°N 111.977496°W / 33.391824; -111.977496 Faithful Word Baptist Church is a New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church in Tempe, Arizona, that was founded by Steven Anderson. The church describes itself as "an old-fashioned, independent, fundamental, King James Bible-only, soul-winning Baptist church."[1] Members of the church meet in an office space that is located inside a strip mall.[1][2] Anderson established the church in December 2005 and remains its pastor.

In August 2009, the church received national attention when Anderson stated in a sermon that he was praying for the death of then-president Barack Obama. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) listed Faithful Word Baptist Church as an anti-gay hate group, citing its pastor's "extremely radical stance" that homosexuals should be judged and executed according to the Law of Moses.[3] Its documentary titled Marching to Zion was labeled as antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League.[4] Its pastor was refused entry to South Africa,[5] Botswana,[6][7] Jamaica, Canada, the United Kingdom,[8][9] the Schengen Area, the Republic of Ireland,[10] Australia,[11] and New Zealand.[12]

  1. ^ a b Faithful Word Baptist Church. "Faithful Word Baptist Church – Phoenix, AZ". Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ABC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference EvelynS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "ADL Deeply Troubled at Upcoming Documentary Film Denigrating Jews and Judaism". Anti-Defamation League. November 24, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  5. ^ "South Africa bars anti-gay US pastor Steven Anderson". BBC News. September 13, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  6. ^ "Botswana to deport anti-gay US pastor Steven Anderson". BBC News. September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  7. ^ "Botswana deports U.S. pastor Steven Anderson over anti-gay views". Reuters. September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  8. ^ "Gay hating preacher who called Orlando victims 'paedophiles' banned from coming to UK". September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  9. ^ "Anti-gay pastor Steven Anderson banned from UK | Christian News on Christian Today". www.christiantoday.com. September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  10. ^ McGee, Harry. "Anti-gay preacher is first-ever banned from Ireland under exclusion powers". The Irish Times.
  11. ^ Eno Adeogun (July 23, 2019). "Australia becomes 33rd country to ban entry to pastor who said gay people should die". www.premier.org.uk. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  12. ^ "New Zealand Bans Homophobic Pastor Steven Anderson". On Top Magazine.