LOUISVILLE, Miss. — A lawsuit filed by former Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCMD) executive director Will McRaney alleges the North American Mission Board (NAMB) wrongly influenced his separation of employment from BCMD in 2015. The suit also claims NAMB personnel engaged in “slander and/or libel” of McRaney and attempted to interfere with his speaking engagements after he left the state convention.
In response to the suit, NAMB said April 12 in written comments it “strongly denies Dr. McRaney’s allegations,” adding the next day, “No one from NAMB has attempted or will attempt to interfere with Dr. McRaney’s ministry efforts and we have not asked anyone else to do so.”
The lawsuit was filed April 7 in Winston County, Mississippi, where McRaney claims he was “uninvited” to speak at a 2016 “missions symposium” because of “intentional interference by NAMB leaders.” The suit asks a county court to award unspecified punitive damages to McRaney.
The lawsuit’s claim that McRaney “was terminated” by BCMD after NAMB leaders threatened to withhold funding from the two-state convention appeared to contrast with BCMD’s March 2016 claim that he “resigned.”
Other allegations include: NAMB leaders made “false and libelous” statements about McRaney in 2014–2015; in late 2015, NAMB posted McRaney’s photo at the welcome desk of its Alpharetta, Georgia, headquarters, communicating implicitly “that he was not to be trusted;” NAMB President Kevin Ezell attempted “to interfere” with McRaney’s scheduled speaking appearance at the 2016 Florida Baptist Convention Pastors Conference.
NAMB said April 13 the entity had not yet been served with the lawsuit and planned to file a legal response within 30 days. (BP)
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