Why I Am Suing My Church: Because Elections Matter, Even For Churches

By Dr. Kevin McGruder Photos: YouTube Screenshots “Do not major in bylaws and minor in the Bible…. America is counting on you, Abyssinian. This is holy ground, not a battleground.” These were remarks made by Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock at the September 29th installation ceremony for Rev. Kevin R. Johnson, the announced new pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. Warnock, as a legislator, advising a congregation to not to ‘major in bylaws’ when electing its new pastor was oddly unusual, particularly at a time when this country was moments away from perhaps the most consequential presidential election in our history. Further, he had been on the frontlines campaigning for the Democratic candidate, Vice President Harris. One of the central Democratic critiques of the first Trump presidency was the fact that he repeatedly broke the law, the rules. Yet, the Georgia Senator, and former Abyssinian Assistant Pastor, disapprovingly referred to a months-long effort by groups of Abyssinian members to get the church leadership to follow its own rules in selecting a new pastor who would be the successor to Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, the previous Abyssinian pastor, who died in October of 2022.& Our efforts were unsuccessful, largely...