Church Members Fight To View Records
Plaintiffs Say They Want Explanation Of Funds Spent
POSTED: 5:49 pm CDT April 24,
2008
UPDATED: 11:25 am CDT April 25,
2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Plaintiffs are suing the Two Rivers Baptist Church to retrieve financial records involving Rev. Jerry Sutton.The case was heard by a Nashville judge on Friday who said she would issue a decision in one week.Judge Claudia Bonnyman said church members will be able to see the records, but she wanted to look at previous cases before ruling on the issue.On Wednesday, Sutton sent a letter to members saying those who've sued the church will be thrown out if they don't shape up.But the members aren't apologizing or repenting as they were instructed, and they're launching some new allegations against the church.Under a torn garbage bag there are thousands of financial records from Two Rivers Baptist Church, and Dennis Shipp said they are records he believes the church never wanted anyone to see."It's very obvious that it was something they wanted to get rid of, it appeared to me," he said.Shipp said some of the documents they found raised some serious questions.Plaintiffs suing the church retrieved the records and others from a trash bin outside the church early in March. Shipp said some of the documents they found raised some serious questions."There's all kinds of (credit card) charges on there that don't seem proper to me," he said.Tickets to an Atlanta Braves baseball game, a $300 deck hand fee for a lavish sport fishing outfit out of Cape Hatteras were charged to the church credit card, and a number of handwritten notes indicating that a church staffer is to be “paid in cash” were found."There was a note on there that said to give her half in cash and half in a check. … I don't know why you would do that," Shipp said.The group also found finance charges on the credit card statements that indicate the bills aren't being paid on time, and there were dozens of additional tabs found to expensive restaurants all over Nashville."We saw a lot of Ellendale's and other charges to real expensive restaurants. A lot of our members don't have enough (money) to eat at McDonald's," said Shipp.In a letter sent to the congregation this week, Sutton encouraged disgruntled members to repent, apologize and drop their lawsuit to avoid being kicked out of the church. Shipp said such a move isn’t likely."We don't have anything to apologize for," he said.Church leaders declined to comment on the ouster of the plaintiffs and said the issue is an internal church matter that will be determined by church members.On Friday, both sides are set to go to court, where a judge could throw out the suit or decide that the dissatisfied members deserve more answers.
Previous Stories:
- January 17, 2008: Second Suit Filed Against Prominent Pastor
- January 4, 2008: Majority Of Case Against Pastor Dismissed
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