December 2, 2002
Missouri convention's suit against
5 agencies may proceed, judge says
___JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.--Legal action against five institutions of the Missouri Baptist Convention that declared self-perpetuating boards may proceed, a judge has ruled.
___Cole County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Brown on Nov. 20 overruled motions for dismissal of legal action by the Missouri Baptist Convention against The Baptist Home, Missouri Baptist University, Missouri Baptist Foundation, Windermere Baptist Conference Center and Word & Way newspaper.
___In August, the convention filed a petition for declaratory judgment against the five entities. The convention seeks to void new charters adopted by each agency that allow for election of their own trustees.
___The Missouri Baptist Convention has been wracked with turmoil over the last two years, as fundamentalists led by layman Roger Moran launched a campaign to gain control of the convention, its executive board and the boards of its agencies. As that effort neared success, the state convention's executive director resigned and the five agencies amended their charters to avoid a hostile takeover of their boards.
___Those now in control of the convention also want control of the agencies and their estimated $200 million in assets.
___In the last 23 years of conflict among Southern Baptists, several schools or agencies affiliated with state Baptist conventions have amended their charters to create self-perpetuating boards. The Missouri actions, however, are the first to result in lawsuits against any of those entities.
___The Missouri Baptist Convention's lead attorney is Michael Whitehead, former vice president and interim president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., and former legal counsel for the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
___The latest court ruling in the case proves that the explanations given by the five agencies are wrong, Whitehead said. "They have told themselves and they have told the world that the law is so clear that they are right, that it is beyond dispute. But today they must admit they were wrong. Their legal theory was not convincing enough to win these motions."
___However, attorneys for the agencies said the judge's decision is not that unusual.
___"The ruling determines only that the plaintiffs can proceed to trial. It made no specific findings," said the foundation's attorney, Lawrence Tucker.
___"This is nothing more than a preliminary ruling," added Jim Shoemake, who represents The Baptist Home, Windermere and Word & Way. "It doesn't go to the merits of the claim at all."
___Both sides said they believe the final ruling in the case will vindicate their positions.
___Despite the looming threat of a trial, leaders of the Missouri institutions said their trustees stand by their charter decisions.
___"The actions taken by the board of trustees were legal and proper," said Alton Lacey, president of Missouri Baptist University. "The university remains steadfast in its commitment to serve all Missouri Baptists."
___Arguments at the hour-long hearing centered on the convention's legal standing to file the petition and whether the convention is a "member" of the agencies.
___Shoemake noted the institutions previously had given the convention the "privilege" of electing trustees, not the "right." He cited a Missouri Supreme Court decision in 1935 that protected the Missouri Baptist General Association (now the Missouri Baptist Convention) from a claim by Farm & Home Savings and Loan Association of Missouri. The bank had tried to collect from the convention money it was owed by a Baptist-affiliated college that no longer exists.
___In that case, the court determined the convention could not sue or be sued.
___According to defense attorneys, the Supreme Court ruled that the association's right to elect trustees was an "incidental" benefit. Selecting trustees was "simply a privilege," Shoemake said. "That's the same position we are in today."
___Agency lawyers argued the convention also has no standing with the court because it is not a direct beneficiary of the institution's ministries.
___On the other hand, Whitehead used a chart to demonstrate his position that the convention takes two forms--the annual meeting of messengers that exists for a few days each year and an unincorporated association of churches with continuous ministry that funnels money from cooperating congregations to each agency.
___The institutions' charters, he said, gave the convention the right to elect trustees through messengers' votes.
___Another convention attorney, Stan Masters, argued that statutory law has changed since the 1935 case. Under those changes, he said, an unincorporated entity could be a member of an institution and has rights as a member.
___Reported by Vicki Brown of Word & Way
___Arguments at the hour-long hearing centered on the convention's legal standing to file the petition and whether the convention is a "member" of the agencies.
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