EDINBURG, Texas (ABP) — A former Hispanic church planter implicated in a 2006 Baptist General Convention of Texas scandal has filed a defamation lawsuit against the BGCT and several other Texas Baptist entities and individuals.
Otto Arango, founder of the now-defunct Piper Institute of Church Planting, was one of three pastors accused in 2006 of misappropriating funds the Texas convention provided for new Hispanic church starts.
In addition to the BGCT, the lawsuit names the Baptist Standard, the BGCT's news journal; David Montoya and Calvary Baptist Church in Mineral Wells, Texas, where he is pastor; Palo Pinto Baptist Association, which includes the Mineral Wells church; David Tamez and Dexton Shores and the Rio Grande River Ministry for which they worked; Roberto Rodriguez and the church he serves as pastor, Primera Iglesia Bautista in Harlingen, Texas; and Eloy Hernandez.
Arango's legal action stems from allegations that he and two other church planters, Aaron de la Torre and Armando Vera, misused BGCT church-start funds. The trio claimed 258 churches had been started in Texas between 1999 and 2005 through a training system Arango had devised. The system was based on the house-church approach.
Questions about Arango's reportedly lavish lifestyle and suspicions about the use of some funds prompted BGCT officials to ask an independent counsel, Diane Dillard of Brownsville, to investigate. Her team included Brownsville attorney and former prosecutor Michael Rodriguez, certified public accountant and fraud examiner Carlos Barrera and investigator Gregorio Castillo.
The investigative team reported that the BGCT had given more than $1.3 million for start-up funding for the program and monthly support for Aranago, de la Torre and Vera. Investigators also noted that 98 percent of the congregations they claimed to have planted via the program either no longer existed or existed only on paper.
The team noted that the Piper Institute had delayed providing information requested of it and that de la Torre admitted to falsifying some documents.
Investigators also accused some BGCT staffers of poor oversight of funding, uneven management, failure to follow the convention's guidelines and failure to investigate when staff became aware of possible problems.
In the lawsuit, Arango alleges that the defendants made “false and malicious statements” about him, and that they have harmed his “reputation, credibility and integrity.”
He alleges that the statements were published in the Standard's print edition and on its website “with malice and a lack of good faith.”
The statements, he contends, convinced others that he had “stolen funds, had improperly used church funds and had lied about the number of new Hispanic Baptist churches he had started.”
Arango's lawsuit, filed in Texas's 139th Judicial District Court in Hidalgo, primarily points to the convention and the Standard. He did not list specific charges against the other defendants.
Defendant Montoya, on his blog and in convention meetings, had spoken against Arango. He had also been openly critical of the way in which the Texas convention and its then-executive director, Charles Wade, had handled the situation.
Arango is suing for lost earnings, including back pay and benefits, retirement benefits, and lost future earning or diminished earning capacity. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for past and future mental and physical pain and anguish.
He also asks for unspecified punitive damages, claiming that the defendants “acted with malice, actual malice and/or a specific intent to injure” him. Arango is seeking a jury trial in the case.
In a written statement, BGCT Executive Director Randel Everett expressed surprise and disappointment that Arango had turned to litigation. But, he added, “we believe this suit is totally without merit and that the BGCT has no liability in the matter.”
“The Standard denies the allegations and expects to be exonerated,” noted newsjournal editor Marv Knox, via email.
The Standard is one of three Baptist state newspapers with which Associated Baptist Press has formed a news partnership. In addition, Knox serves on ABP's board of directors.
Montoya said he welcomes the opportunity to face Arango in a legal setting. “I will not settle with the man, period,” he said in a telephone interview Aug. 14. “I want to go to court.”
He argued that the legal confrontation is the only way the “full story” will become available to all Texas Baptists. “It is the only way we are going to get the complete investigative report out,” he said, calling the BGCT report released after the investigation “only the tip of the iceberg.”
Montoya added that a court hearing also “would be an opportunity to get E.B. Brooks and Otto under oath …. Then we will see these non-disclosure agreements they made with the BGCT.”
Brooks became executive director of the Piper Institute in 2005, after retiring as director of the BGCT;s missions, evangelism and ministry area.