Two hearings set in MBC legal case with breakaway agencies
March 11, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY — Two major hearings in the Missouri Baptist Convention’s legal case against five breakaway agencies have been scheduled, the first on April 5 in Cole County Circuit Court in Jefferson City and the second on April 20 in the Western Division of the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City.
The first hearing, to address several procedural motions filed by both sides in the new messenger case, will be before Circuit Judge Richard Callahan at 2:30 p.m. Callahan will be hearing arguments pertaining to the case for the first time since attorneys representing the MBC filed a new petition naming messengers as MBC representatives, as required by the judge in the first case, Circuit Judge Tom Brown.
The second hearing will be before a three-judge panel of the state court of appeals. The MBC case is the fifth of eight cases the court is scheduled to hear April 20, with the first to be heard at 9 a.m. Both sides have filed initial briefs and MBC must file its reply brief by March 14. Oral arguments usually last about 30 minutes, although more time may be requested in this case due to the number of parties and issues.
The MBC has been involved since August 2002 in a legal proceedings with the five breakaway agencies – Windermere Baptist Conference Center, Missouri Baptist College, Missouri Baptist Foundation, Word & Way and The Baptist Home – after moderate trustees on each board voted to make their boards self-perpetuating by amending their charters. The former charters promised the MBC had the right to elect trustees and control charter changes.