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‘Breakaway' Baptist group wins court ruling
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By Bob Watson
bwatson@newstribune.com
The Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) plans to appeal Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan's ruling last week that the Windermere Conference Center had a right to amend its corporate articles without getting the convention's approval.
The MBC has argued, since at least August 2002, that a 2001 change to Windermere's corporate articles was a breach of the original contract with the MBC that created Windermere as a separate board.
That change allowed Windermere's board to elect its own members, instead of having only directors chosen by the MBC at its annual convention.
Callahan issued his 43-page judgment last Tuesday, saying the jury trial scheduled to begin that day wasn't needed because the motions filed by attorneys for both sides “set forth uncontroverted facts ... on enough legal issues to dispose of every claim between Plaintiffs and Windermere.”
David Tolliver, the MBC's interim executive director, told the convention's “Pathway” news journal: “I wholeheartedly disagree with the judge's verdict. Missouri Baptists purchased Windermere, funded Windermere and built Windermere and now it has been taken from us.”
But Dan Bench, Windermere's current president and CEO, said in a news release: “We look forward to putting this unhappy event behind us and to have all the Baptists of Missouri rejoicing and serving together. Although the past few years have been difficult, God has continued to bless the life-changing ministry of Windermere as we have been able to serve record numbers.”
When asked to comment on the case, Michael Whitehead, the MBC's legal counsel, pointed to his comments in The Pathway story.
“We are deeply disappointed that a jury did not get to hear the evidence,” he said. “We're confident in our case on appeal.”
Callahan's judgment focused on a series of legal issues involving how various state laws affected and controlled the relationship between Windermere and the MBC.
“The Original Articles (of Incorporation, in 2000) clearly and unambiguously state that the corporation shall have no members,” Callahan ruled.
He said the original articles also did not give the convention specific rights to elect Windermere's directors, nor did it refer to any contracts or agreements giving those rights to the MBC.
Whitehead called Windermere's charter change a “flimflam,” and told The Pathway the convention likely will ask the state Appeals Court in Kansas City “to enter judgment in MBC's favor rather than sending it back to the circuit court for a trial.”
Callahan's judgment does not directly affect the MBC's case against four other agencies the convention says are “break-away” organizations - the Jefferson City-based Missouri Baptist Foundation and Word and Way news journal, the Baptist Home, Ironton, and Missouri Baptist College (now University) in St. Louis County.
But the MBC's original 2002 lawsuit included them, and many of their legal defenses are similar to Windermere's.
The MBC has argued, since at least August 2002, that a 2001 change to Windermere's corporate articles was a breach of the original contract with the MBC that created Windermere as a separate board.
That change allowed Windermere's board to elect its own members, instead of having only directors chosen by the MBC at its annual convention.
Callahan issued his 43-page judgment last Tuesday, saying the jury trial scheduled to begin that day wasn't needed because the motions filed by attorneys for both sides “set forth uncontroverted facts ... on enough legal issues to dispose of every claim between Plaintiffs and Windermere.”
David Tolliver, the MBC's interim executive director, told the convention's “Pathway” news journal: “I wholeheartedly disagree with the judge's verdict. Missouri Baptists purchased Windermere, funded Windermere and built Windermere and now it has been taken from us.”
But Dan Bench, Windermere's current president and CEO, said in a news release: “We look forward to putting this unhappy event behind us and to have all the Baptists of Missouri rejoicing and serving together. Although the past few years have been difficult, God has continued to bless the life-changing ministry of Windermere as we have been able to serve record numbers.”
When asked to comment on the case, Michael Whitehead, the MBC's legal counsel, pointed to his comments in The Pathway story.
“We are deeply disappointed that a jury did not get to hear the evidence,” he said. “We're confident in our case on appeal.”
Callahan's judgment focused on a series of legal issues involving how various state laws affected and controlled the relationship between Windermere and the MBC.
“The Original Articles (of Incorporation, in 2000) clearly and unambiguously state that the corporation shall have no members,” Callahan ruled.
He said the original articles also did not give the convention specific rights to elect Windermere's directors, nor did it refer to any contracts or agreements giving those rights to the MBC.
Whitehead called Windermere's charter change a “flimflam,” and told The Pathway the convention likely will ask the state Appeals Court in Kansas City “to enter judgment in MBC's favor rather than sending it back to the circuit court for a trial.”
Callahan's judgment does not directly affect the MBC's case against four other agencies the convention says are “break-away” organizations - the Jefferson City-based Missouri Baptist Foundation and Word and Way news journal, the Baptist Home, Ironton, and Missouri Baptist College (now University) in St. Louis County.
But the MBC's original 2002 lawsuit included them, and many of their legal defenses are similar to Windermere's.
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unreconstructed wrote on Mar 11, 2008 2:17 PM: