- Born Name: Fred Waldron Phelps Sr.
- Place of birth: Meridian, MS
- Birthday: November 13, 1929
- Died: March 19, 2014
- Occupation: preacher, church founder
- Church: Westboro Baptist Church
- Wife: Margie Simms
- Children -Children: Shirley Phelps Roper, Nathan Phelps
- Net worth: $ 10 million
Fred Phelps founded one of the most controversial churches in the past century. For almost every news, church members are vocal about their opinions. This is new to the leaders and members of Westboro chose the funeral of the late Paul Walker quoting him in hell because he chose to worship money, fame, and excessively over God. Wow!
The church has pursued almost everyone with their traditional views on homosexuality as well. On January 15, 2006, Westboro members protested a warning for victims of the 2006 SAGO mining disaster, claiming that mining accidents were God’s revenge for America because of their homosexuality tolerance. Phelps is also very vocal about the Laramie project, a drama about the life and death of the Matthew Shepard racial crime victim.
Fred Phelps has led his church in more than 100 protests, demonstrations since 1991. Critics have seen Phelp’s attitude and church about public issues as publicity. This must be successful, if that’s the problem. The church has a large membership and receives a number of donations from rich donors. A church member claims that the church spends more than $ 250,000 a year for protests and pickets. The church has received money from lawsuits and legal costs. In one case they sued the city of Topeka several times in the 1990s. WBC received $ 16,500, and pursued another $ 100,000, in legal costs for the case won in court. WBC is considered a non -profit organization by the federal government, and therefore it is freed from paying taxes, church net worth is estimated at $ 10 million.
The death of Fred Phelps SR has caused the same commotion as his life. Satan has come out and said “God will change the gay Phelps when he dies”. Ouch!!!
It seems that all the chaos caused by the church expresses their views has backfired. In 2007 members of the Westboro Baptist Church were sued for the demonstrations they held during the Gay Marine cemetery. The church believes that the death of the army in the Iraq war is a punishment for the acceptance of homosexuality services. An honorable Marine family was awarded $ 11 million from the jury who found the leaders of the fundamentalist church had invaded family privacy and causing emotional pressure. The government was also offended by the group’s constant protests and created several bills in various states including Indiana, to prohibit protests in a cemetery called “let them rest” which could carry up to three years in prison.
Drama Westboro and Phelps is a bigger story in the church. In August 2013, Fred Phelps was excluded from the Westboro Baptist Church after advocating a better approach between church members. Excommunications occurred after the formation of a male elder council in the church. Among the Elder Council all male are drainage, Timothy Phelps, Jonathan Phelps, Samuel Phelps-Roper, Charles Hockenbarger and Fred Phelps Jr. The council has defeated Shirley Phelps-Roper, a old church spokesman, in the struggle for power. After Phelps was elected from the Westboro Baptist Church last summer, he was moved from the church and entered a house, where he was monitored to ensure he would not endanger himself.
In 2014 Fred Phelps died because of his natural destination and his daughter Shirley, a former church spokesman said his funeral would not be held there because Westboro did not believe in the funeral.
