The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether courts can step into resolve a dispute between members of a church, or if that’s forbidden by the separation of church and state.
The members of the Pilgrim’s Rest Baptist Church were divided as to whether keep or fire their pastor, who had embezzled money from the church. The argument got so fierce that eventually there were two competing boards of directors that both claimed they were in charge. The faction that wanted to fire the pastor went to court. The supporters argued courts had no place meddling in the church’s business. They are challenging a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling. It held this is a property dispute, not a theological one, and it’s exactly the sort of argument courts are supposed to resolve.