Editing Fred Phelps (section)

==Excommunication and death==
Fred Phelps preached his final Sunday sermon on September 1, 2013. Five weeks later, sermons resumed from various members.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.godhatesfags.com/audio/index.html |title=Sermons, Parodies, Hymns And Other Audio From Westboro Baptist Church |publisher=Godhatesfags.com |access-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Fred Phelps Sr: 'on the edge of death'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/faith/fred-phelps-sr-on-the-edge-of-death-9198142.html|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=March 18, 2014}}</ref>

On March 15, 2014, [[Nathan Phelps]], Phelps' estranged son, reported that Phelps was in very poor health and was receiving [[hospice]] care.<ref name="path2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/03/15/fred-phelps-founder-of-the-god-hates-fags-westboro-baptist-church-is-on-the-edge-of-death/|title=Fred Phelps, Founder of the 'God Hates Fags' Westboro Baptist Church, is on the 'Edge of Death'|publisher=Patheos|date=March 15, 2014|author=Hemant Mehta|author-link=Hemant Mehta}}</ref> He said that Phelps had been [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] from the church in August 2013, and then moved into a house where he "basically stopped eating and drinking".<ref name=path2014 /><ref name="wap2014">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/founder-of-anti-gay-kansas-church-in-care-facility/2014/03/16/e9fc6ad8-ad2a-11e3-b8b3-44b1d1cd4c1f_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316234308/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/founder-of-anti-gay-kansas-church-in-care-facility/2014/03/16/e9fc6ad8-ad2a-11e3-b8b3-44b1d1cd4c1f_story.html|archive-date=March 16, 2014|title=Founder of anti-gay Kansas church in care facility|newspaper=Washington Post|date=March 17, 2014}}</ref><ref name="phelps-excommunication">{{cite news|last=Fry|first=Steve|title=Elders excommunicate Phelps after power struggle, call for kindness within church|url=http://m.cjonline.com/news/2014-03-17/elders-excommunicate-phelps-after-power-struggle-call-kindness-within-church|access-date=March 20, 2014|newspaper=The Topeka Capital-Journal|date=March 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730201037/http://m.cjonline.com/news/2014-03-17/elders-excommunicate-phelps-after-power-struggle-call-kindness-within-church|archive-date=July 30, 2016}}</ref> His statements were supported by his brother, Mark. Church spokesman Steve Drain declined to answer questions about Phelps' excommunication, and denied that the church had a single leader.<ref name=Biles>{{cite news|title=Son of Fred Phelps Sr. says father voted out of church. WBC spokesman: Church doesn't have a designated leader of church, adding WBC doesn't operate that way|url=http://cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-16/son-fred-phelps-sr-says-father-voted-out-church|access-date=March 16, 2014|newspaper=[[Topeka Capital-Journal]]|date=March 16, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229222652/http://cjonline.com/news/local/2014-03-16/son-fred-phelps-sr-says-father-voted-out-church|archive-date=December 29, 2016}}</ref> The church's official website said that membership status is private and did not confirm or deny the excommunication.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.sparenot.com/|title=Recent Media FAQ|work=godhatesfags.com|date=March 16, 2014|access-date=March 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411035432/http://blogs.sparenot.com/|archive-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref>

Phelps died of natural causes shortly before midnight on March 19, 2014, at the age of 84.<ref name="Hanna">{{cite news|last=Hanna|first=John|title=Anti-gay pastor Fred Phelps Sr. dies|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/anti-gay-pastor-fred-phelps-sr-dies-84-22986518|newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref><ref name="BBC 967">{{cite news|title=Anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church leader Fred Phelps dies|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-26669967|work=[[BBC]]|date=March 20, 2014|access-date=March 20, 2014}}</ref><ref name="cnn-fredphelpsdead">{{cite news|last=Burke|first=Daniel|title=Westboro church founder Fred Phelps dies|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/20/us/westboro-church-founder-dead/|access-date=March 20, 2014|newspaper=CNN.com|date=March 20, 2014}}</ref> His daughter, [[Shirley Phelps-Roper|Shirley]], stated that a funeral for her father would not be held because the church does not "worship the dead".<ref name="cnn-fredphelpsdead" /> According to Nathan Phelps, Fred Phelps' body was immediately cremated,<ref name="Traumatic Loss">{{cite book |last1=Thompson|first1=Neil|last2=Cox|first2=Gerry R.|last3=Stevenson|first3=Robert G.|date=January 28, 2017|title=Handbook of Traumatic Loss A Guide to Theory and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nqfZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT458|publisher=Routledge|page=286|isbn=978-1-138-18233-2}}</ref> and according to his granddaughter [[Megan Phelps-Roper]], Phelps' cremated remains were buried in an unmarked grave in Kansas.<ref>{{cite book |title=Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church |last1 = Phelps-Roper|first1 = Megan|date = October 8, 2019}}</ref>

Phelps had been reportedly suffering from some form of [[dementia]] in his final year, and started behaving
irrationally. This led to church members believing that God had condemned him.<ref>{{cite book |title=Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church |isbn = 978-0-374-71581-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZmEDwAAQBAJ&q=unfollow+gramps+was+the+heretic+now&pg=PT382 |access-date=January 22, 2020|last1 = Phelps-Roper|first1 = Megan|date = October 8, 2019| publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux }}</ref> It has been stated that Phelps "had a softening of heart at the end of his life,"<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Chen |first1=Adrian |title=Conversion via Twitter |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 16, 2015 |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> according to accounts published in a memoir written by Phelps' granddaughter Megan Phelps-Roper, and reporting from ''[[The New Yorker]]'' citing former members of the church.<ref name="Chen 2015">{{cite magazine |last1=Chen |first1=Adrian |title=Conversion via Twitter |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/11/23/conversion-via-twitter-westboro-baptist-church-megan-phelps-roper |magazine=The New Yorker |date=November 16, 2015 |access-date=May 6, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> This includes an incident in 2013, in which Phelps is said to have stepped outside the church and called over to members of [[Planting Peace]], a nonprofit organization that bought a house on the other street and painted it with an LGBTQ rainbow, saying: "You're good people!"<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lasdun |first1=James |title=Kinks and Convolutions |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n04/james-lasdun/kinks-and-convolutions |journal=The London Review of Books |date=February 9, 2020 |volume=42 |issue=4 |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[NPR]]'', Megan Phelps-Roper said this outburst was "the proximate cause" of Phelps being excommunicated,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gross |first1=Terry |title=Fresh Air, October 11 2019 | url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/768894901 |website=WBFO NPR |date=October 10, 2019 |publisher=NPR |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> a claim that the church has denied.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mangan |first1=Lucy |title=Louis Theroux: Surviving America's Most Hated Family review – a deeply uncomfortable watch |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/14/louis-theroux-surviving-americas-most-hated-family-review-a-deeply-uncomfortable-watch |website=The Guardian |date=July 14, 2019 |access-date=March 3, 2020 |quote="On the other hand, Theroux hears a persistent rumour that Gramps died excommunicated after shouting "You're good people" at the gay rights charity HQ across the street. Did dementia strip him down to a better man at the core? Was it a moment of simple madness that meant nothing? Or was it, of course, demonic possession? It seems clear, however, that something has shaken members. Is the gentler preaching a sign that cracks in the certainties upon which Gramps's church was built are starting to appear? No one is willing to admit the event even happened."}}</ref> According to Phelps' grandson and former church member Zach Phelps-Roper, Phelps' actions were regarded as "rank blasphemy" by the church members.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/23/fred-phelps-equality_n_5378433.html|title=Fred Phelps May Have Had A Change Of Heart Toward Gays, Relative Says|first=Cavan|last=Sieczkowski|date=May 23, 2014|via=Huff Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=644133125676725&id=427599210663452|title=Equality House|website=www.facebook.com}}</ref>