Blue suede pews: Elvis church is thriving

From "The You Can't Make This Stuff Up" Department- Canadian Division.

Elvis may have long ago shuffled off this mortal coil, but his spirit still has a home at a Newmarket veterans' hall that stands in as a church.

That's where Archbishop Dorian Baxter has channelled the King of Rock `n' Roll each Sunday for seven years. An eclectic mix of more than 300 people gathered Sunday to mark the breakaway Anglican church's anniversary and celebrate what would have been Elvis's 75th birthday on Jan. 8.

"We honour Elvis's commitment to the Lord," said Baxter, 59, who explained he first heard Elvis when he was 5 and has been "trying to sing like him for 54 years.

"Like Elvis, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, we worship Jesus, the King of Kings."

It was Baxter's Elvis act, his long sideburns and big black pompadour that got him in trouble with Anglican Church bishops in the first place. He was removed from his parish in 1998 and stripped of his right to perform marriages.

After battling the church hierarchy for years, he formed Christ the King, Graceland Independent Anglican Church in 2003. Anglican bishops gave his fledgling church just a few months, but Baxter's congregation has continued to grow.

But as Baxter, who also performs as impersonator Elvis Priestley, is quick to point out, the main reason they assemble in the Spartan surroundings of the Royal Canadian Legion hall is to praise God.

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http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/752000--blue-suede-pews-elvis-church-is-thriving?bn=1