Louisiana Appeals Court Affirms Trial Court Decisions In Church's Factional Dispute

A Louisiana state appeals court last month issued two decisions in the ongoing litigation between factions of a 130-member Baptist church. (See prior posting.) In Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church v. Jones, (LA App., Feb. 1, 2012), the court upheld the trial court's determinations that the pastor at the center of the controversy had been properly dismissed by the church's board, and in issuing a TRO barring the fired pastor's supporters from conducting any meeting to change the make-up of the church's board. In Ambush v. Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Inc., (LA App., Feb. 22, 2012), the court upheld the appointment of a special master to hold a church election.