Garth Turner, the outspoken Conservative MP for Halton,  is facing a mobilization of some members of the Christian community who are determined to keep him from running in the next election.

Turner, who favours the status quo on the controversial issue of gay marriage -- though his party's election policy is to take the issue to another vote -- has been embroiled in a war of words with some members of the nation's Christian community.

Charles McVety, the president of both Canada Christian College and the Canada Family Action Coalition, has been his chief opponent.

McVety is working to destabilize MPs who don't support the traditional view of marriage, and is currently focusing his efforts on toppling Turner.

Conservative Party rules could work in his favour. Unlike the other parties, Conservative incumbent MPs aren't guaranteed the right to represent their party in an election. Rather, they must first win the party nomination.

"Mr. Turner could find himself a sitting MP who is unable to stand in the next election. It's remote, but it's a possibility," said CTV's David Akin, reporting from Ottawa.

With that in mind, McVety and others were meeting this week to determine whether they could run a candidate against Turner at a Sept. 11 Halton nomination meeting.

"Potential contenders have until next week to come forward, then we duke it out at a nomination meeting on September 11th," Turner wrote in his blog.

"The candidate who can drag out the most supporters on the first school night of the season will win the right to be the Conservative horse in the next election."

But Turner told The Canadian Press he's ready for a fight.

"I'm still the member of Parliament, and I'm still going to do what I said I'm going to do. They're not going to threaten me, they're not going to intimidate me, they're not going to scare me and my tail is not between my legs."

Turner wrote that his team received word that his opponents had organized a campaign, rented a hall, brought in outside organizers, mailed out newsletters promoting "anti-Garth campaign events" and started soliciting support by phone all in a couple of days.

In response, he said his staff and volunteers launched an email and letter-writing campaign, got on the phones, and began mobilizing people to drum up support.

"The response was thunderous. New and renewed memberships for the Halton Conservatives started trickling in around noon today, and became a torrent by tonight," Turner wrote in his blog.

Turner would likely find himself facing off against D'arcy Keene. In 1997 Keene was a candidate for the Progressive Conservatives, but Turner won the nomination before the 2006 election.

Keene told CP that voters have turned against Turner because of his roguish tendencies. He said that since his election he has picked fights with specific groups, and hasn't represented his Christian constituents.

"Our party's platform was pretty clear in the last election that we're in favour of reopening the debate on the same-sex issue, and now Garth says he's not in favour of reopening that debate," Keene said.

McVety, meanwhile, said Turner has a "disease called entitlement," and can't entertain the notion of anyone challenging his nomination.

Regardless, McVety told CP the nomination process is so short that it's unlikely he and his supporters will be successful in replacing him with another nominee.

He restated his opposition to Conservative candidates such as James Moore and Gerald Keddy who support gay marriage, and said he wants to see them replaced with "truly conservative candidates."

The battle that could unfold in a number of ridings across the country could hurt the Conservatives in the long run, said Akin.

"The Conservatives want a majority in the next election, and to get a majority they're going to have to hold onto the seats they have."

With files from The Canadian Press