KANSAS CITY – The Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City heard oral arguments on July 25 in the appeal by the Missouri Baptist Foundation regarding its attempted breakaway from the Missouri Baptist Convention.
The three judge panel sitting as Division Four included presiding Judge James Welsh, Judge Thomas Newton and visiting judge Owens Lee Hull, Jr. Judge Hull is a trial court judge in Platte County sitting as a “special judge” in Division Four for the day.
The appeal is from a trial court ruling in favor of the Convention and against the Foundation which was initially entered by Cole County Judge Paul Wilson on Dec. 31, 2010. The judgment was later affirmed by Judge Byron Kinder, Cole County senior judge.
In a 37-page decision, Wilson stated that “[i]n October of 2001, the Foundation deliberately, repeatedly, and surreptitiously ignored the Convention’s right [to approve charter changes] solely for the purpose of … eliminating it.” The convention’s rights were “plainly and unequivocally provided” by the 1994 charter, and the foundation’s trustees “knowingly and purposefully violated the provisions of the 1994 charter by attempting to … cut off MBC’s rights….” In one section, the judge described the actions of the breakaway board as trying to “cheat the Convention out of its rights.”
As a result of these actions, the trial court ordered the Foundation to return control of the board to the MBC-elected trustees, and to pay the convention’s attorneys fees and costs for the past 8 years, plus the appeals costs. Judge Kinder stayed the order pending the appeal.
Appearing for the MBC legal team was Michael Whitehead and Michael Blanton. Counsel for the Foundation, Laurence Tucker, spoke first for ten minutes. Blanton then fielded questions for 11 or 12 minutes. Tucker then was allowed 3 minutes for rebuttal. The court then took the case under advisement. A decision is expected within the next 3 to 6 months.
Judge Newton asked a number of questions to both sides about whether Judge Wilson’s order was final and appealable, or whether there were still issues which the trial court should resolve first before an appeal. The Foundation argued that the case should be returned to the trial judge to set the amount of attorneys fees which the Foundation would owe to the Convention, before court of appeals considered the merits of Judge Wilson’s ruling in favor of the Convention.
When the Foundation attorney argued that the MBC lacked standing to even bring this lawsuit, Judge Newton mentioned the prior Windermere case in which MBC standing was upheld. He asked, “Doesn’t that case mean that the MBC has standing?” Convention counsel agreed, while the Foundation counsel argued that the Windermere corporation was based on a different corporate statute, so it was not binding precedent in the Foundation case.
Attending the hearing for the MBC were Dr. John Yeats, Executive Director, and his wife, Sharon. Rev. Randy Comer, Barry County Associational Missionary and chairman of the MBC Agency Restoration Group, also attended.
Present in the courtroom for the Foundation was Chris Calmer, President and CEO, and John Hardin, Foundation legal counsel. Also present was attorney Eric Walter, attorney for the Baptist Home. The facts of the Foundation case are substantially similar to the Baptist Home case, so the Foundation ruling might be a precedent for the Baptist Home and Missouri Baptist University cases.
After the hearing, Whitehead said he believed the MBC had “made its case” before the panel, and he was satisfied “with the questions that were asked and the way we answered them.” He observed that the trial judge’s order was forcefully written and well-reasoned. “We simply asked the court of appeals to affirm the trial court’s judgment, upholding the Convention’s rights and restoring the Foundation to the MBC family.”