February (Web-only) 2001

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Amnesiac pastor's post precarious
He reportedly can't remember his past, and now his future's shaky too. As noted earlier in Weblog, married youth minister Wesley Barrett "Barre" Cox disappeared one day near San Antonio. He reappeared 16 years later as James Simmons, an amnesiac but still a preacher. Now he's senior pastor at White Rock Community Church, a predominantly gay congregation in Dallas. As doubt continues to swirl around Cox's/Simmons's story, the pastor has called for a vote. Unless two-thirds of his new congregation affirms him, he'll leave. Apparently the vote is in doubt: message boards on the church Web site indicate a pretty divided congregation.

More churches and pastors in trouble:

• Baptist Temple congregation moves on | More than 600 people gathered Sunday morning in a high school auditorium for first services after federal seizure (Associated Press/The Indianapolis Star)
• Church won't discipline pastor | United Methodist pastor who pleaded guilty last fall to a charge of giving false testimony in a road-rage case (The Seattle Times)
• Church child care needs more oversight by state, say groups | Laws exist governing church-run locations in Indiana, but critics would like to see more. (Associated Press/The Indianapolis Star)

Pop culture:

• Pat Boone backs Eminem | "We must respect an individual's right to speak his mind," says Christian musician (Associated Press)
• Earlier: Why Pat Boone went "Bad" | His controversial mission to interpret pop culture for cranky Christians. (Christianity Today, Oct. 4, 1999)
• Mexican Pokemons in symbolic burning (BBC)

Homosexuality:

• Religious outrage over pink tourism | Religious leaders tell Cape Town mayor to stop promoting the city as the "gay capital of the world." (The Independent, Johannesburg, South Africa)