• Key point 2-04.1. Most courts have concluded that they are barred by the first amendment guarantees of religious freedom and nonestablishment of religion from resolving challenges by dismissed clergy to the legal validity of their dismissals.
Termination
* An Arkansas court ruled that a church congregation lawfully removed a pastor from office. A church's pastor and 70 members left to form a new church. At that time, a majority of the congregation voted that the departing pastor and members would be allowed to take half of the church's funds with them. An interim pastor was selected, and the church appointed a pastoral search committee to find a permanent pastor. Conflict arose almost immediately between the interim pastor and members of the congregation. Chief among the problems was the interim pastor's decision to file a lawsuit to recover the money that had been given ...
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