Anti-gay Stedfast Baptist in Watauga moving again: ‘Nobody really wants to lease to us’

Stedfast Baptist Church, which was evicted from its Hurst building in February over sermons about violence against LGBTQ people, is being forced to move again, its pastor says.

Stedfast moved into a strip center on Denton Highway in Watauga in May. Nearly every week, people have protested on the sidewalk in front of the property.

In a video posted Sunday, Pastor Jonathan Shelley stood in the parking lot with protesters behind him and told his viewers “we’re going to have to move again” in the new year. He indicated that his independent fundamental Baptist congregation does not yet have a new home.

“The reality is nobody really wants to lease to us, so it makes it very difficult,” Shelley said. “I am still working a few options, as far as lease options, or maybe even getting a building.”

In May, Shelley spoke to the Arlington City Council and said that gay people deserved to be killed. He advocated for enforcing an old Texas law outlawing “sodomy” that has since been ruled unconstitutional.

Residents in Watauga have said they want Stedfast out of their community because it promotes hate-filled, violent rhetoric that causes them to be concerned about their safety. Lynette Sharp of the group No Hate in Texas, which has picketed the church all year, said she and other protesters were “all on top of the moon” that the church is moving.

In September, Stedfast faced an eviction hearing with its Watauga landlord. The hearing was canceled after the property owner and the church reached an undisclosed agreement. Church officials also have said they’ve been harassed by protesters.

Shelley mentioned the legal issues in his video posted Sunday and asked for donations.

“We’ve been hit with a lot of legal fees and all kinds of different issues. Fortunately, our legal cases are looking very positive, and we are champions of free speech here in America. We’re trying to set precedent where churches can preach the Bible.”

In the most recently posted livestream on Stedfast’s website, Shelley described Christians who criticize his message as “cowards” and his neighboring churches as caring only about money. He said he doesn’t “preach my sermons to please everyone.”

“It’s like, hey, the law for hundreds of years in our country said put them to death. And then I just bring up the historical fact and everyone freaks out,” he told his congregants. “... I’d rather be the most despised church in our area as long as we are getting more people saved, than be the most pleasing and get one kid saved a year, or a nothing burger that a lot of these churches do.”

Shelley’s comments have been roundly denounced by faith leaders in Tarrant County. This summer, several pastors told the Star-Telegram that hate speech is dangerous.

“It’s hateful and could hurt people who are LGBTQ and could push others to go and be violent,” said Jorene Taylor Swift, pastor of Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth.

“I find it appalling,” said Tom Plumbley, senior minister of First Christian Church in Fort Worth. “Anybody calling for the killing of other people, that’s just way out of line.”

Plumbley said not everybody in his church agrees completely on doctrine regarding the sinfulness or lack thereof in the LGBTQ community, but that nobody in the congregation would ever advocate for killing people for their sexual orientation or gender expression.

“The church that I’m a part of and the church that I see described in the New Testament is one so very different from anything that would lead one to hate or hurt anyone else,” Plumbley said. “Please, do not understand this as what the Christian faith is. Christ came that all might have life and have it abundantly.”

Sharp of No Hate in Texas said the group will be back to protest Wednesday and Christmas to “celebrate.”

“It’s a huge win. It’s incredible,” she said.

Staff writer Elizabeth Campbell contributed to this story.