NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) — One week after an effort to oust 71 members of Two Rivers Baptist Church failed by four votes, the Nashville megachurch voted again and this time removed the dissidents on a show-of-hands vote.
The congregation was told that the 71 plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit against church leaders last September should not have been allowed to vote May 4 on a motion for their own dismissal, according to Robert's Rules of Order. Members then voted not to allow the votes of the plaintiffs to count, effectively reversing the outcome of the May 4 vote.
The 71 members filed a lawsuit against Pastor Jerry Sutton for refusing to release church records to members and with using church funds on his daughter's wedding reception and other questionable expenses. The suit requested that Sutton be fired and sought compensatory and punitive damages. Sutton has repeatedly denied the allegations.
In the first vote May 4, 1,000 secret ballots were cast; 663 people voted to dismiss the plaintiffs, while 337 voted “no” — four votes shy of the two-thirds majority required for removal from membership.
In April, Sutton requested that the plaintiffs be dismissed from membership “because of the damage done to the witness, reputation, and welfare of Two Rivers Baptist Church,” leading to the May 4 vote.