KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) — A Missouri appeals panel announced March 31 that it will not re-hear the Missouri Baptist Convention’s argument against Windermere Baptist Conference Center, nor will it transfer the case to the state’s highest court.
Convention officials had hoped for an opportunity to argue that a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District erred in a Feb. 3 decision. The appeals court had upheld a lower court’s ruling that Windermere trustees had acted legally in 2001 when they changed the agency’s articles of incorporation, removing the convention’s control over appointment of the Windermere board.
In their February ruling, the appellate judges agreed with Cole County Circuit Court Judge Richard Callahan. He originally ruled that the MBC is not a member of Windermere’s corporation and that no contract exists between the two entities.
The MBC may directly petition the Missouri Supreme Court to hear the case, but must do so by April 15. The convention may face a hard sell to the higher court, though. The Supreme Court’s procedural rules call an appeal to that body “an extraordinary remedy” in most cases. The high court usually will only hear cases of broad general interest or importance or cases that re-examine existing law.
“We urge the MBC to accept these judicial rulings and allow Missouri Baptists to put this sad conflict behind us. We pray no additional money, energy or time will be wasted by further litigation efforts,” Windermere CEO Dan Bench said in a written statement March 31. “Lives are being forever changed because of the life-changing ministry of Windermere, and we welcome all Missouri Baptists to join with us.”
Convention officials did not respond immediately to an Associated Baptist Press reporter’s request for reaction to the ruling March 31.
The appeals-court action is the latest in the nearly seven-year-long legal saga that began when the convention sued five formerly affiliated institutions in an effort to force the entities to rescind corporate charter changes.
The Baptist Home retirement-home system changed its articles of incorporation in 2000 to elect its own trustees. Windermere, the Word & Way newspaper, the Missouri Baptist Foundation and Missouri Baptist University took similar actions in 2001. The convention filed suit on Aug. 13, 2002.
Word & Way is a participant in the New Voice Media partnership that includes Associated Baptist Press.
Hearing dates have not yet been set in Cole County in the cases pending against the other four institutions.
A hearing in a separate case against Windermere in Camden County is scheduled for April 14. The MBC filed that suit in 2006 in an effort to stop all land transactions at Windermere pending the outcome of the conflict over control of the agency.
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— Vicki Brown is a Missouri-based freelance journalist and former Word & Way reporter.
Related ABP stories:
Appeals court sides with Missouri Baptist conference center (2/3)
Judge rules in Windermere’s favor, against convention (3/6/2008)