Church Litigation 03/24/2023

(March 21) Judge Rejects Lawsuit Against United Methodist Church Over Disaffiliation Process | St. Louis, MO

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit by over 30 congregations that sued a regional body of The United Methodist Church and its bishop, accusing the denomination of an unfair disaffiliation process.

Last November, a group of 38 congregations filed a lawsuit against the UMC Western North Carolina Conference, its board of trustees and its bishop, Kenneth H. Carter, arguing that the regional body had an unfair disaffiliation process.

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(March 21) Church ERISA Charges Dismissed, But Fiduciaries Newport, Symetra Still On The Hook | Newport, TN

The African Methodist Episcopal Church retirement plan and third-party administrators had federal ERISA charges from a class action retirement complaint dismissed by a Tennessee federal judge’s ruling, but they still face state charges.

The court order on the defendants’ motions to dismiss the consolidated amended complaint were granted, in part, and denied in part, by U.S. District Judge S. Thomas Anderson, of the Western District of Tennessee’s Eastern Division.

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(March 20) Longtime Pastor Johnny Hunt files Defamation Suit Against Southern Baptists | Nashville, TN

Complaint also names third-party investigator of allegations of sexual misconduct in the denomination

Johnny Hunt, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has filed a lawsuit against the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, alleging defamation and invasion of privacy.

The lawsuit — which also names the SBC’s Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions, which was hired to conduct a lengthy investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and mishandling of complaints in the denomination — was filed Friday in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville.

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(March 19) US Christian Group Accused Of Covering Up Sexual Abuse Of Minors | Los Angeles, CA

Lawsuits claim International Churches of Christ leaders failed to report as well as plotted to conceal abuse of women and children

Michele “Chele” Roland was looking for salvation when she joined the International Churches of Christ. She never imagined that, three decades later, she would lead a legal battle accusing the controversial Christian religious organization of enabling and covering up the sexual molestation of children in its congregation, among other alleged abuses, but that’s exactly what she’s doing.

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