Pastor Sues Parent Group and Paper For Defamation

The Dallas Morning News and the Associated Baptist Press report on a defamation lawsuit filed against the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the Baptist Standard and several other defendants by Rev. Otto Arango. The charges grow out of an investigation by the BGCT of Arango's claims that he and two other pastors started 258 new churches. The investigation questioned the use by Arango of some of the $1.3 million in start-up funds for these churches, many of which failed. The lawsuit says that statements published in the Standard were false and malicious, wrongly suggesting that he had improperly used church funds and lied about the number of churches he started.