The New Independent Fundamental Baptist network, most prominently associated with anti-LGBTQ pastor Steven Anderson, appears to be in turmoil as infighting again erupts, this time between Anderson and fellow pastors in the network. The New IFB website and social media accounts – launched in early 2018 – have been taken down, and some pastors have distanced themselves from Anderson and his movement. This is the second time over the course of 12 months that controversy roiled the network. In January 2019, a previous conflict emerged when a New IFB pastor named Donnie Romero resigned after admitting to gambling and engaging with sex workers. Anderson, pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, is currently banned from 34 countries for his anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in addition to calling for the deaths of LGBTQ people. Last summer, he and a few other New IFB pastors convened in Orlando for the first “ Make American Straight Again” gathering, at which they all preached about the evils of homosexuality and called for state-mandated executions of LGBTQ people. Anderson had celebrated the June 2016 massacre at Pulse, an LGBTQ bar in Orlando where a gunman murdered 49 people by saying that the world now had “fifty less pedophiles.”
Anderson founded Faithful Word in 2005 and since then has traveled extensively and created a worldwide network of like-minded pastors who have launched similar churches in several different countries. With over 100,000 followers on YouTube, Anderson has an international media reputation for his fiery anti-LGBTQ statements. He also has a reputation for antisemitism. In 2015, Haaretz reported that Anderson had duped four rabbis – including a Holocaust survivor – into appearing in his film “Marching to Zion” in an attempt to prove that Jews are not the chosen people. He has preached several antisemitic sermons in recent years, including one in 2019 titled “The Jews and Their Lies.” The New IFB had been serving as a vehicle for Anderson and like-minded pastors in the network, which included Australia, the Philippines, Canada and South Africa. Its website had been a hub of sorts for information about the network itself, as well as upcoming events and a list of the more than 30 churches and pastors involved with contact information. Hatewatch first noticed in mid-January that the website for the New IFB, which also frequently posted videos, interviews and updated information about events relevant to the New IFB, was no longer available, not even on web archives. All of its social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were also gone.
via splcenter: In the Midst of Infighting, Anti-LGBTQ Church Network’s Website and Social Media Disappear