IRONTON — The Baptist Home board unanimously voted February 26, 2019 to cease further appeals in the 17-year civil case over the issue of governance. The board action to not appeal ends one of the longest civil cases in Missouri jurisprudence.
The Missouri Western District Court of Appeals ruled February 19 in favor of the Missouri Baptist Convention. In 2002 the MBC brought suit against The Baptist Home over whether The Baptist Home had the legal right to change its charter without the authorization by the Missouri Baptist Convention. The Home changed the charter to create a self-perpetuating board in the place of the duly elected board selected by the MBC.
Steven Jones, president of The Baptist Home, announced that the board wanted to cease spending money on the litigation and focus on ministry to the residents.
Executive Director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, John Yeats, shares a similar sentiment with Jones, “The decision by The Baptist Home to cease the appeals and begin the transfer from the self-perpetuating board to the members of the MBC duly-elected board is welcomed news. The opinion by the Court of Appeals was precedent setting for non-profits. We are anxious to close this chapter in our history. We welcome The Baptist Home back to our family of churches.”
Jones and Yeats both agree that it will take several weeks of meetings and conversations for the transition to be complete. We want the residents to have confidence in the current staff and their leadership while the transition to the MBC board is taking place.