The Tennessee Supreme Court will hear an appeal in a case centered on a former worship pastor accused of abuse who filed a defamation lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention.
In a per curiam order issued last week, Tennessee's highest court agreed to hear the SBC's appeal against a lower court ruling in favor of Preston Garner and his wife's defamation suit.
Daniel Blomberg, senior counsel for Becket, which is helping to represent the SBC, said in a statement published by Baptist Press on Tuesday that he was "confident the Tennessee Supreme Court will safeguard that freedom for Southern Baptists and all religious groups across Tennessee."
"Churches have a sacred calling to protect their flocks. When a church leader in a position of trust is accused of serious misconduct, religious bodies must be free to take action without being dragged through intrusive, costly, and unnecessary litigation," Blomberg stated.
Garner was serving as a worship pastor at Everett Hills Baptist Church when, in January 2023, a representative of the SBC Executive Committee sent a letter to the congregation leadership claiming that Garner had a credible allegation of abuse leveled against him.
The letter was also sent to the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board President Randy Davis, who sent it to The King's Academy, a Baptist-affiliated school where Garner was working at the time.
As a result, the academy suspended and eventually fired Garner, while a church that Garner had just accepted a position with after leaving Everett Hills withdrew the employment offer.
In May 2023, Garner and his wife sued the SBC Executive Committee, the SBC Credentials Committee, Guidepost Solutions and SBC EC Committee Relations Manager Christy Peters.
According to their amended complaint, filed a month later, the Garners accused the defendants of defamation, defamation by implication, false light invasion of privacy and loss of consortium.
A trial court entered an order in January 2024, partly denying the SBC's request to dismiss the defamation complaint based on the matter purportedly being ecclesiastical in nature.
Last September, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Knoxville ruled in favor of Garner, with Judge Kristi Davis writing the unanimous opinion.
"Appellants in this case have not raised any argument that their conduct resulted from the application or interpretation of any religious canon," Davis wrote. "Accordingly, considering the Garners' claims will not require the trial court to resolve any religious disputes or to rely on religious doctrine."
"The ecclesiastical abstention doctrine does not apply to this case, and the trial court did not err in denying the Appellants' Rule 12 motions."
In response, the SBC filed an appeal with the Tennessee Supreme Court, arguing that their actions were protected by "the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine" and the Tennessee Public Participation Act, which protects organizations "based on, relates to, or is in response to that party's exercise of the right to free speech, right to petition, or right of association."
