A trial date has been set for Will McRaney’s appeal of a single judge’s dismissal of his defamation case against the Southern Baptist Convention North American Mission Board.
McRaney and NAMB representatives have been summoned to New Orleans April 4 for oral arguments before the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
This is the latest step in a pivotal case that has been on again-off again for more than six years.
After many twists and turns, McRaney’s case was just 33 days away from trial last September when federal Judge Glen Davidson unilaterally dismissed it, saying it would be impossible to “adjudicate the plaintiff’s claims in this case without impermissibly delving into church matters in violation of the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.”
That legal doctrine says secular courts cannot meddle in matters of internal church governance. McRaney contends his claim is not a matter of internal church governance because he was defamed by NAMB and its president, who had no direct supervision of his work as executive director of a state Baptist convention.
In historic Baptist polity, state conventions are autonomous from the national convention just as all churches are autonomous. Judge Davidson’s ruling has been interpreted by some as assuming all levels of Southern Baptist life constitute a single “church” in the same way The United Methodist Church or the Roman Catholic Church might be viewed.
McRaney and others maintain that ruling not only is wrong but endangers every Southern Baptist church and all denominational entities at every level. He predicted Davidson’s ruling opened the door for others to sue the SBC for hundreds of millions of dollars now due to the implications of ascending liability.
The case stems from McRaney’s firing as executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware. Although it was the state convention’s Executive Board that fired him, McRaney contends they did so under threat from NAMB President Kevin Ezell of losing $1 million in SBC funding if they did not fire McRaney, who had refused to go along with changes Ezell was forcing on state conventions related to church planting strategies and funding. McRaney also contends Ezell and NAMB officials defamed him by threatening other Baptist groups not to hire him as a consultant or speaker.
Troves of depositions have been taken for the case that hasn’t yet been tried. Those include under-oath interviews with Ezell, McRaney and a cast of others with knowledge of McRaney’s firing and of NAMB’s operation.
The ruling in this appeals hearing will determine whether it was right for Judge Davidson to throw out the case or whether it should be reinstated.
Related articles:
U.S. district judge dismisses McRaney’s case against NAMB
Seven years later, Will McRaney might get his day in court against NAMB — maybe
Key witness offers damning testimony against Ezell as NAMB gets McRaney trial delayed two months
McRaney warns dismissal of his case against NAMB raises urgent threat to Baptist autonomy
NAMB’s lies are worse than McLaurin’s, Will McRaney charges
