JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Attorneys for the Missouri Baptist Convention have appealed the dismissal of a lawsuit against five breakaway institutions — and convention messengers will be asked to authorize the use of Cooperative Program funds to pay for the ongoing lawsuit.
Lawyers representing the convention and a group of convention-affiliated churches filed a notice of appeal April 16 to the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals in Kansas City. The appeal will challenge Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas Brown’s March 11 dismissal of the suit against the agencies, as well as three related rulings.
In the March dismissal, Brown ruled that the convention’s executive board and the six churches had no standing to bring legal action against Missouri Baptist University, the Baptist Home retirement-home system, the Missouri Baptist Foundation, Windermere Baptist Conference Center or Word & Way newspaper. Brown concluded the convention legally consisted only of individual messengers rather than churches or elected representatives.
Brown later reaffirmed that ruling and denied the convention the opportunity to amend its lawsuit to include a group of individual messengers as plaintiffs.
The convention has already spent approximately $1 million on the lawsuit. The funding for the legal fees initially came from convention reserve funds.
Share with others: