Incident occurred as Pastor Tom Ascol was returning home from visit with family of Voddie Baucham By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter Friday, October 03, 2025Tom Ascol (left) and Voddie Baucham of Founders Ministries during a livestream from the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention. | Screenshot/YouTube/Founders MinistriesA Florida pastor says an Islamic cleric physically blocked him from entering an interfaith chapel at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Tom Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral and president of Founders Ministries, shared the incident on social media, where he said that, as he was returning home from visiting the family of pastor and theologian Voddie Baucham, who died after suffering an emergency medical incident last week, he heard an announcement over the PA system in Terminal D of DFW Airport. The announcement, which Ascol said was repeated “more than once,” featured a woman’s voice saying that a prayer service would be held at Meadows Chapel near gate D40 and that “all are welcome.”“I had a heavy heart, and hours before my flight back to Cape Coral was scheduled to depart,” Ascol wrote in an Oct. 1 X post. “Though I had very low expectations, thinking that this might be some weak ecumenical offering, I thought that perhaps someone might read Scripture during the service.”When Ascol walked over, he says he saw the entry to the chapel “lined with Muslim prayer mats” along with two stalls with water faucets for Islamic ritual washing. “They had signs saying that the stalls were not to be used for showers,” he added.In the chapel’s main room were several men kneeling on the prayer mats as an imam stood in the far corner of the room, while another man recited a Muslim prayer near the chapel entry. “I looked through the door, bags in hand, processing the fact that what the travelers in DFW were invited to was, in fact, Muslim prayers,” said Ascol.Once the prayer was finished, Ascol said he attempted to enter the room to observe further, but was blocked by the man near the entrance as the chapel’s imam started speaking about Muhammad, who is considered a prophet in the Islamic faith. “He said there was a chair in the back for me, but that I must take off my shoes,” he said. But as Ascol moved closer to the door, he says the man “shifted his position to stand directly in front of me, making it clear that this prayer service was only for certain kinds of people, namely Muslims.”“A kafir like me was not welcome except to a chair in the back and only if I removed my shoes,” Ascol said, using the Arabic term for an unbeliever. “I had no energy to press the issue of the dishonesty of the announcement. So, I walked away, took out my phone, and snapped a picture.” Ascol shared the image in a Sept. 26 post on X showing three apparent airport employees sitting on Islamic-style prayer rugs while an imam stood at a podium. The caption read: “With broken heart I went hoping maybe Scripture would at least be read. Instead I found this [and] was denied access.”In the image, a placard above the entrance for Meadows Chapel reads, “In Honor of the Military Service of the Men and Women of Texas.” The image also shows a symbol on the ceiling of the chapel resembling a qibla, which is used to indicate which direction Muslims are required to face during prayer. Ascot says he posted the images on social media because he was “grieved [and] angered…that this type of false worship is not only taking place in a public facility but also is being promoted in deceitful ways by DFW authorities.”As I await my flight home from seeing Voddie’s family an announcement in @DFWAirport says “all are welcome” to a “prayer service” in the chapel. With broken heart I went hoping maybe Scripture would at least be read. Instead I found this & was denied access. Imam-led Salah. pic.twitter.com/p6GhJ4IESB— Tom Ascol @tomascol (@tomascol) September 26, 2025 A statement from the Rev. Greg McBrayer, executive director of the DFW Airport Interfaith Chaplaincy, called the report “disheartening,” and added, “We never refuse others from observing any service, or place requirements or restrictions on entering the space during any services.”McBrayer said upon learning of Ascol’s allegations, the chaplaincy — a nonprofit organization that operates independent from the airport — investigated the claims with its Muslim cleric, whom McBrayer said was “shocked and saddened” by the report.“He was not aware of the incident, and it was not brought to his attention until after the post was made online,” the statement added. “Had he been made aware of the alleged encounter, he would have made clear that the space is open and available to all people with no restrictions on entry.”According to the chaplaincy’s website, DFW Airport chapels are “all inclusive and “used by a variety of faith groups.” The site also adds, “We never refuse others from observing any service or require waiting for a particular service to end.”In April, the DFW Airport Chaplaincy, which boasts a team of over two dozen chaplains representing several faith traditions and denominations, marked its 50th anniversary and is considered to be the world’s largest airport chaplaincy.While a new chapel space is set to open in Terminal F in 2027, DFW Airport’s chapel is modest compared to a new ablution room and prayer room in Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). Following its debut in February 2024, the ritual space, located in Terminal D, which services international flights, made IAH among the first U.S. airports to offer such accommodations for passengers.
Pastor says he was ‘denied access’ to interfaith chapel at DFW
