Nashville judge dismisses lawsuit against church

A Nashville judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against the leadership at Two Rivers Baptist Church.

The Donelson church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Jerry Sutton, said he was glad.

“Sometimes you have unhappy people and they want to express their unhappiness,” Sutton said at a press conference after the ruling. “And this situation, it caused a lot of distraction for me and the staff and our key leadership, and we’re just grateful that it’s over.

Seventy-five church members sued Sutton and other Two Rivers leaders, demanding access to financial records. Those members accused Sutton of misappropriating funds, including using church money for personal trips and paying for his daughter’s wedding reception. They also said he didn’t properly account for money going into the church, including a $1 million gift.

They asked the court to remove Sutton as officer and director of the church. The group also sought an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages, along with court costs and attorneys fees.

Sutton and others have repeatedly denied the allegations and said the church members had no right to sue just because they didn’t like the way the church spent their weekly offerings. They also had argued that how a church decides to spend its money is a religious matter that judges have no authority to decide.

In her ruling Friday, Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman agreed.

The chancellor, who has repeatedly told the church members that the courts have limited authority in church activity, said the court lacked the jurisdiction to be involved.

Bonnyman did give members a sliver of hope. She said they were entitled to see more financial documents. Some of the church members said they were grateful for that.

“Even though she dismissed the case, that’s fine with me,” said Jerry Patchell, who’s been a member of Two Rivers for about 10 years. “We’re getting the documents, and that’s what we asked for in the first place, so I’m happy. This isn’t over as far as I’m concerned.’’

But a lawyer, who represented the church leadership, said it’s basically over.

“She granted the motion to dismiss,” said Larry Crain, a Brentwood attorney who represented Sutton and other church leaders. “The case is dismissed as to all claims. The only thing that she left was the previous order allowing inspection” of the financial documents.

The judge’s ruling, he said, sends a message that civil courts aren’t going to get involved in internal church disputes.

“This case was being watched around the country by a number of other churches,” Crain said. “And so we’re pleased that this sets a useful precedent in the other cases as well, that courts should not interfere in the self-governance of a church.”
It’s not clear whether church members will appeal.

“Right now, we’re less concerned about appealing her decision than seeing the documents that we’ve never gotten,” said Mark Freeman, an attorney who represented the church members. “And once we get that, who knows, we’ll file a whole other lawsuit potentially.”

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