PASTOR HAUNTED BY OLD DRUG CONVICTION LOSES HIS MINISTRY

NEWARK, N.Y. (AP) -- A Canadian-born clergyman whose quest for U.S.
citizenship has been stymied by a teen-age marijuana conviction was stripped
of his ministry for writing an abusive letter to immigration agents.

The Rev. Steven Mullenix, the 36-year-old son of an American, was summoned
before top officers of the Assemblies of God church Tuesday and given a
one-year suspension for "conduct unbecoming a minister of the gospel," said
the Rev. Saied Adour, district superintendent in New York.

Mullenix was raised in Canada. He was caught with a bag of marijuana at 18
and spent three months in jail. He moved to upstate New York in 1995 and had
hoped to become a U.S. citizen.

But under a law designed to exclude terrorists, Nazi war criminals and other
undesirables, Mullenix is deemed "excludable" for life. Anyone arrested with
more than an ounce of drugs is considered a potential dealer.

He lashed out in a letter to the Immigration and Naturalization Service on
June 7, writing: "You evil bastards. ... You are all guilty, and compared to
my teen-age stupidity, it is a far more grievous sin."

The church's general secretary, the Rev. George Wood, a lawyer who has been
trying to help Mullenix obtain citizenship, advised church officials that
Mullenix may have breached a church bylaw governing moral conduct.

"His language is extremely intemperate and becomes outright sinful when he
labels the persons to whom he is writing as `evil bastards,"' Wood said in a
letter.

Mullenix said he apologized to the church for his remarks, which he
explained were made in frustration.

"It's a very stressful situation for me dealing with the INS," he said. "To
be basically put out of the ministry is a little bit extreme. The phrase I
used is a rude but culturally acceptable idiom in my family."

Losing his ministry means Mullenix will probably have to leave the country
with his wife and two children. His religious-worker visa, which expires in
December 2000, will be revoked in four months unless he finds another job.

Mullenix expects the church will allow his family to remain living at the
rectory in this village 35 miles from Rochester for a few months while he
looks for pastoral work.

"We have a faith that no matter what happens, God is going to take care of
us," he said.