(RNS) — A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in a lawsuit brought by current and former church members who challenged senior pastor the Rev. Kevin Johnson’s 2024 election and sought to remove him.
Johnson succeeded the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who served as a minister at the historically Black church for 50 years and died in 2022. Johnson was installed in September 2024.
In their lawsuit filed in October 2024 in the Civil Branch of the New York Supreme Court, the plaintiffs — Kevin McGruder, Jasmine McFarlane-White, Clarence E. Ball III and Rev. C. Vernon Mason Sr. — claimed Johnson’s election as Abyssinian’s senior pastor didn’t comply with the church’s bylaws. The group sought to nullify his election and render him ineligible in future church elections.
But Judge James G. Clynes sided with Johnson and his church in a Monday (Dec. 22) decision, denying the request and saying the plaintiffs incorrectly construed the bylaws’ statement that a senior pastor needs to be elected by “the majority vote of the members in good standing who are eligible to vote.” The members who filed suit had argued the election was invalid because of a low voter turnout. In total, 44% of registered church members voted in Johnson’s election.
“The court disagrees with petitioners’ interpretation that the word ‘majority’ as used in the bylaws means anything other than a majority of the votes of the members who voted, not the majority of the members who were eligible to vote,” Clynes said. “As argued by respondents, …