Church vs State or Employer vs Employee
Posted on 01. Dec, 2008 by Brad in Economy | Twitter: @bradhart |
At first I was about to ignore this story thinking it was just one more story about Crazy Alaskans and their religions, but the more I read the more I felt I needed to address the situation.
Church dispute ends up in superior court
AT ISSUE IS FIRED PASTOR: Hearing scheduled Feb. 27.
Published: November 30th, 2008 10:08 PM
Last Modified: November 30th, 2008 10:35 PMFAIRBANKS — A dispute at a Baptist church in Fairbanks between the pastor, church leaders and members of the congregation has ended up in court.
Members of the Corinthian Baptist Church were in Fairbanks Superior Court last week. At issue is whether a vote earlier this month by church leaders to remove Pastor S. Anthony Justice was legitimate.
Some members of the congregation also say the locks have been changed and they are being kept out of the church building.
Justice, 30, had been at the church for 15 months. During his tenure, he was credited with boosting the congregation, particularly with younger members. But in August, church leaders met and decided Justice’s performance was lacking.
They suggested some areas for improvement, according to Gregory Silvey, the Anchorage lawyer representing members of the church’s board of trustees.
Three months later, four trustees and a deacon voted to dismiss the pastor. Two trustees dissented.
At first glance this looks like a simple matter of an employer and employee dispute. The church’s board, who is responsible for staffing, seems to have a clear cut case of being the employer simply firing an employee it no longer wished to retain. Alaska isn’t known for being on the side of working stiffs, even if Sarah Palin says Wasilla Main Street is all about the people. On second look though I am not sure this is simply a matter of employment disputes.
About two dozen members of the church and at least one trustee took the matter to court, saying the church leaders did not follow church bylaws when they fired the pastor. They asked Superior Court Judge Paul Lyle to reinstate Justice. “This is some church members trying to stop other church members from hijacking the church,” said John Franich, the attorney for those in favor of keeping Justice as pastor.
After having talked to a friend in Fairbanks who knows a bit more about the story (see guest post coming soon) this seems like just the sort of case that needs to be in the courts. The pastor had a softer gentler view of the world than the fire and brimstone old guard wanted to hear being preached. To me this seems like the church board, most of who may or may not be pastors in their own right hired a man to minister to the flock.
They decided this man of god’s views, actions and by extension conscience and wasn’t the sort of hate mongering bigotry they wanted after the fact. This screams to me of an employer trying to force and employee to say something against their conscience to further the goals of the employer. This isn’t something I am sure they have legal ground to require. If they don’t have that sort of standing it might be sufficient grounds not only for reinstatement, but for a wrongful termination lawsuit.
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