Information and Instructions for the Amicus Curiae Brief

For the Lawsuit Against The Baptist Home, et al.

 1.   What is an amicus curiae brief?  “Amicus Curiae” means friend of the court.  In this matter the friends of the court will be churches and individual members of churches who do not feel it is right that the Executive Board and six Missouri Baptist churches are suing The Baptist Home, Missouri Baptist College, The Missouri Baptist Foundation, Windermere and Word & Way.  The brief that will be filed will present legal arguments in support of the five institutions.  The arguments presented in the brief will be in addition to the legal pleadings which the attorneys for the institutions will present.

2.    Is there a cost to serve as a friend of the court?  No.  It simply involves the filing of a brief addressing legal issues in support of the five Missouri Baptist institutions.  The brief will be drafted and filed by W. B. Tichenor, as attorney for the various friends of the court.  Mr. Tichenor is not charging a fee for his legal work.

3.    Does a friend of the court have to appear and give testimony?  No.  There is no trial at which friends of the court have to appear.  The attorney will simply file the brief at the appropriate time to bring to the court’s attention the legal arguments set forth in the brief.

4.    If a person or church agrees to be a friend of the court, doesn’t that mean that the individual or church is suing the Executive Board and the six churches?  No.  It is the Executive Board and the six churches that have acted contrary to scripture (I. Corth. 6:7) and sued these Baptist institutions.  The institutions must now defend against the lawsuit.  Churches and church members who agree to become a friend of the court and authorize W. B. Tichenor to file the amicus brief are not suing anyone.  By agreeing to sponsor the amicus brief, churches and church members are only stepping forward and defending these institutions, which are providing ministry for all Missouri Baptists.

5.    If my church votes to support the friend of the court brief, is it mandatory that I as an individual member also agree to support the filing?  No, however, it is important that the court understand that not only individual churches, but also individual members of churches are in support of the five Missouri Baptist institutions and their right to have a self-perpetuating board of trustees, like William Jewell College has always had.  This does not mean that every church member must agree to sponsor the amicus brief, if the church votes to do so, but by having individual members also sponsor, along with the church, gives additional weight to the brief.

6.    If my church does not vote to support the friend of the court brief, does that mean that I cannot individually agree to sponsor the brief?  No.  Just because your church does not wish to serve as a friend of the court in this matter does not prevent you from agreeing to do so. 

7.    Why are these institutions being sued?  These five Missouri Baptist institutions are being sued because they changed their charters to permit the board of trustees to elect the board (like William Jewell), instead of messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention electing the trustees.

8.    Didn’t these institutions violate the law by their action? The boards of trustees believe that they acted lawfully.  However, it must be remembered that the right for a board to elect their own trustees is the right that William Jewell College has always had.  These boards did nothing more than put themselves on the same level as William Jewell.  More importantly, it must be remembered that none of the institutions have changed or altered their ministry, mission and work on behalf of and for all Missouri Baptists.

9.    Didn’t the Board of Trustees steal these institutions from the Missouri Baptist Convention? No.  You can’t have stolen from you what you never owned.  Since 1876, five different committees of Missouri Baptists have studied the issue of whether the Convention owns and controls Missouri Baptist institutions.  Each of the committees brought reports to the Convention that they either declare directly or establish by implication that the institutions are not owned by the Convention.  The trustees hold them in trust for all Missouri Baptists.  That has not changed.  The trustees did not steal any institution.        

10.  Did the institutions make any changes in their charters that would make them non-Baptist institutions?  No.  The boards of trustees of these institutions are still Baptists.  They are lead and governed, as they have always been, by Baptist ministers and lay people, pastors, deacons, WMU leaders, Sunday School teachers, etc. are the individuals who make up the boards of trustees.  The administrators are still Baptists.  These are still Missouri Baptist institutions; the only thing that changed is how their trustees are elected.  They will be elected the same way William Jewell’s trustees have always been elected – by the board.

11.  Won’t this lawsuit cost a lot of money?  Who is going to pay the legal costs?  Yes, litigation always costs a lot of money.  Lawyers make money litigating. The Executive Board will be paying the costs and attorney’s fees to bring this suit.  Each of the institutions will have to pay various costs and attorney’s fees to defend the suit.  In the end, the losing party may be required to pay the costs that the winning party has incurred.  In any case, no matter what the court may ultimately decide, money that could and should be used for Kingdom work is going to go for court costs and legal fees. 

12.  Wasn’t there another way to settle this dispute?  Yes.  The Executive Board of the MBC could have carried out the scriptural mandate that Paul gave the church at Corinth (I. Corth. 6:7).  Even though the Executive Board is convinced that the institutions acted illegally (the institutions are certain they acted within the law), the Board could have simply said, we are willing to continue to work in a cooperative manner in doing Kingdom work with these institutions and not filed the suit.  The Executive Board could have simply said, it is not important enough for Baptists to be suing Baptists to determine whether the boards should elect their own trustees and not filed the suit.  However, the suit has been filed and these institutions which have served Missouri Baptists well and continue to do so deserve to be supported and defended as strongly as possible.

13.  What should my church do to join as a friend of the court?  The church simply needs to adopt the motion that is provided with the form for a church to authorize the filing of the amicus brief (form is enclosed), have the moderator sign and date and the church clerk attest as to the church’s action and then mail it to: W. B. Tichenor, P. O. Box 393, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0393.

14.  What do I need to do to join as a friend of the court?  Fill out a copy of the form which is provided, sign it and mail it to: W. B. Tichenor, P. O. Box 393, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0393.  Copies of this form may be made for use in a church so that as many individuals as want to can sign.