Banks v. St. Matthew Baptist Church

I respectfully dissent. I would reverse the court of appeals’ decision holding that the circuit court should have exercised jurisdiction over the Trustees’ defamation claim against Brantley.

At the time of the events in question, the Trustees were members of the Board of Trustees (the Board) at the Church, an independent Baptist Church. According to its constitution, governance of the Church “is vested in the body of believers who compose it.” As a “sovereign and democratic Baptist church,” the “membership retains unto itself the exclusive right of self-government in all phases of the…