The Missouri Baptist Foundation violated the provisions of its 1994 charter when it broke away from the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) in 2001, a three-judge panel of the state appeals court ruled Tuesday.
In the latest chapter of a case that began in August 2002, the appeals court upheld Cole County Circuit Court rulings the MBC was entitled to regain control of the foundation.
This week's 26-page ruling, written by Chief Judge Alok Ahuja, noted three different orders by Cole County circuit judges - Paul Wilson in 2010, Senior Judge Byron Kinder in 2011 and Special Judge Frank Conley in 2014 - all reached the same conclusion: "Amendments made by the Foundation to its organizational documents in 2001 were void those amendments had the effect of eliminating various rights of the Convention to oversee and influence the Foundation's actions."
The MBC originally sued five "break-away" entities - the foundation, Windermere Conference Center, Missouri Baptist College (now University), The Baptist Home and the Word & Way newspaper.
It accused all five of violating contractual agreements with the convention by creating separate entities outside MBC's control.
In a 2006 amended petition, the MBC explained its case against the five entities "involves the fundamental right of a religious denomination to maintain authority over its subordinate ministry corporations by reserving the rights to elect trustees and to approve charter amendments."
The MBC asked the court for "a declaration that the dishonest and deceptive breakaway of five subsidiary corporations, with ministry assets totaling about a quarter of a billion dollars, violated contract promises, statutory rights and other duties owed to the Missouri Baptist Convention."
Although the original suit named five defendant agencies, the case generally has proceeded against them one at a time.
The circuit court ruled for the Windermere Conference Center in 2008, and the appeals court upheld that decision in 2009.
The MBC voluntarily dismissed its claims against Word and Way in 2010, but left the door open for a future lawsuit.
The case is still pending against the Ironton-based Baptist Home and the university in St. Louis County.
Wilson upheld the convention's position in the foundation's part of the case in a December 2010 ruling as he was leaving office after losing the November election to current Judge Dan Green.
The following May, Kinder modified Wilson's judgment, staying the ruling until appeals had been exhausted.
However, Kinder's ruling also adopted Wilson's judgment and found a "simple truth" was apparent: "The unavoidable and uncontested fact is that - prior to the Foundation's actions in October of 2001 - the Convention had an absolute and unqualified right to approve or reject all amendments to the Foundation's Charter (and, later, the Foundation's Articles of Incorporation) before those amendments could take effect.
"In October of 2001, the Foundation deliberately, repeatedly, and surreptitiously ignored the Convention's right solely for the purpose of circumventing and, ultimately, eliminating it."
The appeals court ruled in 2012 that Wilson's decision wasn't final for appeals purposes, as required by the Supreme Court's procedural rules, and sent the case back to the Cole County Circuit Court, where Conley got the assignment.
In 2014, he upheld Wilson's and Kinder's findings, then resolved other issues the appeals court had said weren't covered by the previous orders.