JEFFERSON CITY, Mo — The conservative leaders of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) have won one battle and lost another in their fight against five breakaway convention agencies.
Cole County (Mo.) Circuit Court Judge Thomas Brown has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit MBC leaders filed against five MBC-related institutions.
The convention is seeking to regain control of the institutions’ governing boards.
However, Brown will allow a group of Missouri Baptist individuals and churches to file a friend-of-the-court brief saying the convention does not represent them in its lawsuit against the agencies.
Brown’s decision came on Nov. 20, the day after attorneys for the institutions and the convention presented arguments in court. The judge’s ruling means the case will go to trial.
In August, the convention filed a petition for declaratory judgment against the Baptist Home, a statewide system of assisted-living and nursing-home facilities; Missouri Baptist University in suburban St. Louis; the Jefferson City-based Missouri Baptist Foundation; Windermere Baptist Conference Center in Roach, Mo.; and Word & Way, historically the convention’s weekly newspaper.
The convention’s petition seeks to void changes the institutions made to their charters over the last two years that allow them to elect their own trustees rather than accepting trustees appointed by the convention. Attorneys for the institutions filed motions to dismiss the suit on Oct. 15.
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