Harlem‘s Abyssinian Baptist Church is facing another lawsuit regarding the election process of its new pastor.
The church has a strong foundation within the Harlem community since 1808. And in 2022, Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts, who pastored the cathedral since 1989, died at 73 years old, CBS News reported. After two years of careful review, Rev. Dr. Kevin Johnson was recently appointed the new senior pastor. However, four church members, one of whom was a deacon part of the original search committee, have filed a lawsuit against the church over the election process.
Per the lawsuit (filed on Oct. 11), the election did not follow the bylaws.
“It’s supposed to be widely representative,” one of the plaintiffs Dr. Kevin McGruder said, according to CBS News. “It was mainly deacons and trustees who are the officers of the church. So they were both officers, and they were in the search committee.”
A church representative released a statement also denying that a third-party voting system was used for the election.
It read, “Abyssinian Baptist Church stands behind the ethical, legal and valid election of its new Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson. We will continue to defend the church, legacy and pastoral selection process from baseless attacks by a disgruntled few who simply refuse to accept the results of a fair election.”
Members were supposed to vote on a new pastor’s compensation package, but the lawsuit says that never happened. It also mentions that fewer than half of church members voted.
“I know we can do better than we’re doing now,” McGruder said. “And we have to, if we want to have a tricentennial history book about Abyssinian.”
The complaint requested that Johnson’s pastor nomination be repealed and a new search committee be formed.
On Oct. 13, Johnson emailed his congregants to address the lawsuit, calling the claims “baseless” and saying that “it really just boils down to not accepting the results of the election.”
“Everything that they did was done the way it should be done, according to the church’s bylaws,” Johnson said, according to CBS News New York. “And I support what they did because it’s helping to move the church forward. And my prayer is for those who are on the outside, come on back home, because we want you to be a part of Abyssinian again.”
Earlier this year, Yale Divinity School Professor Eboni Marshall Turman filed a lawsuit against the church after running against Johnson, citing gender bias in filling the senior pastor position, per a CBS News report.
So, what’s next? Abyssinian Baptist Church will host a private town hall meeting with Johnson and lawyers to discuss the bylaws rubric for pastoral elections.
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