Terry Jones (pastor)

Jones in March 2011.

Terry Jones (born October 1951) is the senior pastor of Dove World Outreach Center in Gainsville, Florida, the author of book Islam Is of the Devil, and a 2012 Independent presidential candidate.

Biography

Jones is a native of Cape Girardeau, Missouri and was born in October 1951. He graduated from Cape Girardeau's Central High School in 1969 and then attended Southeast Missouri State University for two years. Jones received no academic degree in theology but was given an honorary degree from the unaccredited California Graduate School of Theology in 1983, which now seeks to disassociate itself from him. His first wife died in 1996, after which he married Sylvia Jones, with whom he runs TS and Company; a vintage furniture outlet on eBay.

Jones worked as an assistant hotel manager in the late 1970s, then he became an assistant pastor with Maranatha Campus Ministries in Kentucky. He went to Cologne with his first wife (who is now deceased) to work as a missionary and founded the CGK in 1981, with that church growing to as many as 1,000 members over the years.

Career

Jones came to lead the Florida church by way of his association with the Marantha Campus Ministries. Jones founded and led the Christliche Gemeinde Köln (CGK), a church in Cologne, Germany in 1981 initially as a branch of the Maranatha Campus Ministries and a sister church to Dove World. In 2002, Jones was fined $3800 by a Cologne court for falsely using the title "doctor" when all he had was an honorary degree from an unaccredited school. According to the German Evangelical Alliance, Jones was released from the leadership of the Christliche Gemeinde Köln in 2008 due to his indefensible theological statements and his craving for attention. The Gainesville Sun reported that he left the church in Germany after being accused of fraud. A leader of the Cologne church said that Jones, "didn't project the biblical values and Christianity, but always made himself the center of everything." German press agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that church members said Jones ran the Cologne church like a sect leader and used psychological pressure on members, “subordinating all activities to his will.” Following Jones' departure, the CGK closed, then reopened under new, independent, leadership.

Jones attended Cape Girardeau Central High-school in Missouri where he graduated alongside Rush Limbaugh. He formerly worked as a hotel manager and missionary in Germany for over 30 years. In 2009, he was ejected by a church congregation in Cologne for creating "a climate of control and fear." He holds an honorary degree from the unaccredited California Graduate School of Theology.

Terry Jones was invited to an English Defence League rally in Luton in February 2011 to share his views on Islamic extremism. Anti-fascist group Hope not Hate successfully petitioned the Home Secretary to have Jones banned from entering the UK.

Qur'an burning controversy

Main article: 2010 Florida Qur'an-burning controversy

Jones and his followers at a march in Washington DC.

Jones believes Islam promotes violence and that Muslims want to impose sharia law in the United States. He became widely known after announcing plans to burn copies of the Koran.

2012 presidential candidacy

Main article: United States presidential election, 2012

On October 27, 2011, Jones announced that he was running for President of the United States. He remarked that "I am not anywhere as intelligent as a Herman Cain...But as a I listened to [the presidential candidates], they are not letting the American people know the condition that we are in."

His platform calls for the deportation of all illegal immigrants, withdrawal of American troops abroad, and a reduction in bureaucracy and corporate tax rates. Under party, his FEC filing lists NPA.

External links

• Campaign website
• FEC filing