The North American Mission Board (NAMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is one of the most institutionally corrupt religious organizations in the world. Reviewing the tell-all book by the highest ranking woman in NAMB’s history, Mary Kinney Branson in Spending God’s Money: Extravagance and Misuse in the Name of Ministry will quickly dispel any myths that NAMB is an instrument of God. NAMB is a corrupt money-laundering scheme designed to enrich a few, well-entrenched denominational bureaucrats. NAMB regularly lies to Southern Baptists about numbers reported of churches planted and the extent of their support of church planters, usurps local church autonomy, and attacks local church pastors who don’t lead their churches to give more money to the Cooperative Program.
Most recently, NAMB had a lawsuit dropped against them in court after perjuring theirselves in arguments claiming the court didn’t have jurisdiction.
As we reported in January of 2018…
A District Judge is allowing a lawsuit to proceed from a former North American Mission Board (NAMB) regional president against NAMB by essentially blackmailing state officials (which are supposed to be an autonomous entity from NAMB) by withholding funds, by covering that blackmail up, and then acting vindictively and punitively against him afterward.
Southern Baptist officials regularly mistreat employees – like Southwest Baptist University’s and Eric Turner’s firing of professor Clint Bass – in ways that would be litigated and handed in civil court, should it not be a religious institution. Hiding behind ecclesiastical protections, the SBC treats its employees and associates with far more guile and disrespect than would ever be allowed in the secular world.
When faced with lawsuits for their mistreatment of whistle-blowers, SBC entities claim ecclesiastical exemption, even though the SBC is not a church. In short, they lie to secular courts to avoid accountability and often, secular courts fall for the deceit, not knowing that Southern Baptists don’t consider the SBC to be ecclesiastical in nature.
Initially, a federal judge in Mississippi agreed with Will McRaney and turned down a request to dismiss a lawsuit against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention on religious liberty grounds.
Senior U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson ruled Jan. 18 that claims by a former Baptist state convention executive that leaders of the mission agency orchestrated his firing and tried to interfere with other business arrangements can move forward.
As reported in Baptist News Global…
“NAMB lawyers had argued the dispute with former Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware Executive Director Will McRaney was over internal workings of a religious organization and not subject to judgment by a secular court.
The judge disagreed, however, finding that a First Amendment doctrine that limits civil courts from resolving disputes about ecclesiastical polity applies only to employer/employee relationships.
Because the 560-church two-state convention is a separate organization from NAMB, the judge said the “ministerial exception” does not come into play.”
The Southern Baptist Convention is not a church, it does not have the power of ordination or the right to dispense the Lord’s Supper, and it is a corporate entity rather than ecclesiastical body. However, whenever sued, the SBC perjures itself and claims it’s a church.
A judge in Mississippi just agreed with NAMB’s argument that because they’re ecclesiastical, the courts have no jurisidiction.
In a seven-page opinion, the judge wrote, “ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, rooted in the First Amendment’s free exercise clause.” The judge then adds, “The Court dismisses this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.”
Therefore, it is the ‘free exercise of religion’ that allows NAMB to treat people like dirt, defame their character, and act like knee-breaking mob protectionists to keep the money flowing into the organization. In reality, according to Southern Baptist polity, the SBC is not a church and should not be treated as an ecclesiastical organization.
