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.
Another business meeting was called following the May 11 service so deacon chairman Carlos Cobos could officially report the May 4 vote, according to an article in the Nashville newspaper, The Tennessean. David Mills, a former trustee and deacon chairman, then challenged Cobos' decision that allowed the 71 plaintiffs to vote, the newspaper reported.
Two Rivers attorney Larry Crain attended the 9:15 a.m. service but told the paper he was not expecting a revote. He defended the action, however. “If you're charged with a crime, you can't sit on the jury,” he told The Tennessean.
Cobos also told the paper he was surprised by the move to disallow the 71 votes, but he refused to comment further.
Last October, Sutton, who has served Two Rivers for more than two decades, easily won a churchwide vote of confidence in his leadership — 1,101-286. The plaintiffs had asked a local judge to stop the vote-of-confidence meeting, but she refused.
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.
Neal Buchanan, a long-time member of Two Rivers and a plaintiff, said he went to church May 11 without a suspicion that “anything would happen.”
Buchanan told the Baptist and Reflector, the Tennessee Baptist news journal, that Sutton had prayed last week that the Lord's will would be done. After the vote to oust the members came up short, “we thought that it was over,” Buchanan said. He noted some plaintiffs had gotten together to discuss ways to reconcile.
When the matter was brought up following the 9:15 a.m. service, it was a total surprise, Buchanan said. “There was no warning whatsoever. In fact, many of the plaintiffs weren't there because they were visiting family members in other churches” for Mothers' Day.
Plaintiff Peggy Lewis, one of the ones who was not in attendance, said she found it ironic that the pastor had previously said he would accept God's will concerning the original vote, according to The Tennessean. “Evidently he didn't like what he heard from the Lord,” she told the paper.
Buchanan said no effort was made to see that only members voted. “Last week we had to show our driver's license and sign a ballot. This week, it was done by a show of hands vote.”
Buchanan disagreed with The Tennessean's report that the vote passed by an “overwhelming” majority, adding, “It was a travesty of justice in the way it was handled.”
“It is a sad day for the church. They can't blame all that has happened on the plaintiffs,” Buchanan added.
Two Rivers Baptist is one of the most prominent congregations in the Southern Baptist Convention, which is headquartered in Nashville. Many of the denomination's top leaders attend the church. Sutton, a one-time SBC first vice president, lost a three-way race for the SBC presidency in 2006.
A message for Scott Hutchings, executive pastor of Two Rivers, was not returned May 12.
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