Friday, May 18, 2001
New church hires minister who claimed amnesia
DALLAS (AP) — A pastor with a mysterious past has been hired
at a newly created church, almost three months after he resigned
from his former church when members doubted his story of amnesia.
The Rev. James Simmons, who was recognized in December as a man
who had disappeared from Abilene nearly 17 years ago, has become
the pastor of Faith Community Church in Garland, according to
Friday's editions of The Dallas Morning News.
Simmons, whose wife, daughter and other relatives had presumed
him dead, declined to comment about his new position.
“May God's indescribable peace be with you all,” Simmons
wrote in program for the Garland church's May 13 service. “Please
use me and my life as your servant in our Savior's love.”
The Faith Community Church was opened in a small Garland shopping
center that includes an Army recruiting office, beauty college
and video store. The church program states: “Founded in Faith,
United in Faith, Strengthened by Faith.”
Faith Community Church members declined to comment on Simmons'
hiring, saying they needed time out of the spotlight.
The Dallas minister resurfaced in January after disappearing in
West Texas in 1984.
Simmons became senior pastor at White Rock Community Church, a
predominantly gay and lesbian congregation, in January, before
losing a vote to reaffirm his leadership once widespread media
attention cast doubt about his story of a mysterious disappearance
and amnesia.
Simmons was known as Barre Cox when he disappeared while driving
to San Antonio from Lubbock, where he was finishing work on his
doctorate at Texas Tech University.
His disappearance spurred a massive air and ground search, but
he never was found.
Simmons was declared dead, and his marriage to Beth Cox was dissolved.
However, in December, Simmons was recognized while giving an audition
sermon at the church in east Dallas, and a friend put him in touch
with his family.
Simmons said he only remembers waking in the trunk of his car,
bloody and badly beaten, hundreds of miles from his San Antonio
home, with no memory of his wife, his 6-month-old daughter, or
his life as a youth minister at a prominent San Antonio church.
Simmons said he was found in a junkyard outside of Memphis, Tenn.,
although he does not remember the name of the town, the hospital
that treated him, or the name of the family that found him.
No police or hospital records have been found to verify his account.
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©2001, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps.
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