3 things to know about the Bossier City Baptist church lawsuit

In a pair of court filings, then members of First Baptist Church Bossier City accused its pastor, Brad Jurkovich, of diverting funds meant for missions, blocking them from seeing financial records and illegally changing the bylaws.

First Bossier, as the church calls itself, is part of the Conservative Baptist Network, a group of Southern Baptists who believe the larger Southern Baptist Convention is too liberal and has been taken over by ideas such as critical race theory and women ministers and vows to change the direction of the organization.

In May, a judge ruled on one of the suits. A hearing is set for June 21 for the other. Here's what you need to know:

1. Why is the church being sued?

According to court documents, on or about June 8, 2021, members requested to inspect the church's "corporate records."

The members personally delivered a letter to Jurkovich outlining concerns including a high rate of staffing turnover, lack of accountability in personnel decisions, lack of accountability and oversight and management of the church's finances and misrepresentation of facts.

The members claimed they initially tried to address their concerns directly with the pastor and hoped to avoid involving the entire congregation.

On March 4, 2022, the group would file the first lawsuit.  The members requested 34 items; the church produced 17. The judge found that 12 of those 17 were within the scope of what the members should have access to and ordered the information be made available.

The second suit centers around a 2014 change to the church's bylaws. The suit alleges that the former members were removed from the church rolls and the pastor changed illegally changed to the bylaws.

The church denies these allegations.

More: Read legal documents, the church's full statement and more

2. How is First Bossier affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention?

First Bossier, as the church calls itself, is part of the Conservative Baptist Network, a group of Southern Baptists who believe the larger Southern Baptist Convention is too liberal and has been taken over by ideas such as critical race theory and women ministers and vows to change the direction of the organization.

Jurkovich serves as spokesman for the conservative group. He also serves on the steering committee

Court documents submitted in evidence include the church's "Constitution and Bylaws," which put forth beliefs such as:

• Civil government is ordained of God and it is the duty of Christians to "render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God."

• A wife should "submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of the husband."

• The church believes that "sexual immorality" is "sinful and offensive to God." It includes in this list homosexuality, bisexual conduct and "disagreement with one's biological sex" along with incest, bestiality and pornography.

• Employees of the church and volunteers are required to "abide by and agree to this Statement on Marriage and Sexuality."

The church claims it is autonomous and independent of any denominational control, though it affiliates itself with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Louisiana Baptist Convention.

2018: Investigators determine origin, cause of First Bossier fire

3. What did the judge rule?

In May, 26th District Judge Charles Smith ordered the church to turn over financial records dating back to 2013, including W-2 statements purchase orders, paid invoices and bank statements such as well as staff housing allowances, those with church credit cards and cellphones, and any nondisclosure agreements related to First Bossier.

The judge did rule that the church could withhold donation information and access to its servers.

During his sermon on June 5 after laying out the improvements the church was making, including a nine-hole golf course, Jurkovich addressed the lawsuit to the congregation.

He said the church fought to keep donation information confidential, saying that tithing is between individuals and God.

He also addressed the judge's order to keep the information confidential.

“This means that absolutely none of the information already produced or to be produced over this ruling is to be shared or leaked,” he said. “And if any of it is then this group will be held accountable legally.”

He then encouraged those listening that if they heard information about the church being discussed publicly they should report it to their leadership, using the example that if they overhear it being discussed in a restaurant it should be reported.

"Satan wants to absolutely destroy this ministry," he continued. "And I’m going tell you right now in the name of Jesus you cannot destroy his church. You can’t do it. You can’t do it.”

He said they should continue as an example for their children. "It ain't about us. It ain't about our agenda. It's about Jesus."

Misty Castile is the editor of the Shreveport Times. You can reach her at mcastile@gannett.com or on Twitter at @castilemisty.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: What you need to know about the First Bossier Southern Baptist lawsuit