Garner v. Southern Baptist Convention

A fellowship of churches rooted in faith for 180 years

Founded in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. It includes nearly 47,000 independent churches, with nearly 13 million members, who voluntarily cooperate to share the Christian faith, provide advanced Christian training at Baptist seminaries, and demonstrate the love of Christ through ministries such as disaster relief efforts and services to at-risk children and families. While each cooperating church is autonomous and governs itself, the SBC sets standards for “friendly cooperation” based on shared theological commitments. Those commitments include expectations for how churches respond to issues like abuse. 

In 2022, the SBC received an anonymous report alleging that a pastor at a cooperating church had engaged in sexual misconduct. To ensure the church was remaining faithful to their shared theological commitments, the SBC sent a letter to the church asking whether it was aware of the allegation and how it addresses such situations.  

The SBC dragged into court for protecting the faithful  

After the letter was sent, the pastor named in the report—Preston Garner—sued the SBC, claiming the letter had harmed his reputation. But the SBC never published the letter publicly, never identified him publicly, and never took formal action against him. All it did was conduct an internal inquiry with cooperating religious bodies to ensure they were meeting their commitments to protect church members from predatory shepherds. The SBC argued in court that the First Amendment protected its right to do that. But a Tennessee trial court and an appeals court allowed the case to move forward—opening the door for courts to second-guess how churches respond to serious allegations within their congregations, and discouraging churches from addressing allegations of abuse. 

The Tennessee high court steps in 

In June 2025, the Tennessee Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. At stake is whether churches, denominations, and other religious organizations can be dragged through litigation over how they investigate allegations of pastoral abuse within their own ministries. Becket argues that churches must remain free to protect their faith communities from abuse without facing intrusive and costly lawsuits. The Tennessee high court now has the opportunity to affirm what the U.S. Supreme Court has long made clear: civil courts have no business interfering in how churches govern themselves, particularly when it comes to internal decisions rooted in faith. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

  • Religious Communities: Churches and religious organizations have a right to live, teach, and govern in accordance with the tenets of their faith. When the government unjustly interferes in internal church affairs, the relationship between church and state is threatened. The First Amendment ensures a church’s right to self-definition and free association. 

 

Islamic Center of Murfreesboro v. Rutherford County

A faithful congregation outgrows its mosque

For 30 years, the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro offered worship services, religious education, and community service in Rutherford County, Tennessee. As its congregation grew, the mosque’s 2,100 square foot space became too small for the hundreds of families and local college students it served. In 2010, the congregation obtained county approval to begin building a larger community center for religious ceremonies and other events.

Religious hostility and a heated lawsuit

After construction began, the congregation faced vocal protests from local residents who claimed, among other things, that Islam is not a religion, and that the First Amendment doesn’t protect Muslims. Unfortunately, these hostile words were also backed by acts of violence—including vandalism, arson, and even a bomb threat that ended in a federal indictment.

Hostility to the mosque culminated in a lawsuit led by local residents. Although the mosque was approved at a typical meeting of the county planning commission in 2010—the same way the county had approved the last twenty local churches—the judge ruled that the mosque should be subject to a heightened legal standard, due to “tremendous public interest.”

Becket defends the Muslim community’s right to build a house of worship  

The case was urgent—the congregation wanted to be allowed to use its mosque in time to celebrate Ramadan, the holiest time in the Muslim calendar.

So Becket filed a federal lawsuit seeking an emergency order allowing the congregation to use its mosque. We argued that subjecting the mosque to a higher legal standard than a Christian church violates the Free Exercise and Equal Protection Clauses of the Constitution.

In July 2012, Chief Judge Todd Campbell of the Nashville federal district court ruled in our favor, saying that Rutherford County, Tennessee, must allow the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro to complete the inspection process so it can use its mosque building in time for the religious holiday of Ramadan. Finally, in August 2012, members of the Islamic Center used their newly built mosque for prayer services for the first time. And in June 2014, the Supreme Court rejected the mosque opponents’ final appeal, preserving Becket’s victory and ensuring that the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro is free to continue worshipping at its newly built mosque.

No religion is an island. When the rights of one faith are threatened, the rights of all faiths are threatened. All religious communities must be free to gather together in worship.

To hear the full story and learn more about this case, listen to Becket’s Stream of Conscience Podcast episode, “Permits and Prejudice”.

Importance to religious liberty:

  • Property Rights: When it comes to property rights, religious communities—especially minority religious groups—often face discrimination from local governments or their communities. Becket defends the right of all faiths the practice their religion, which includes the crucial ability to build and gather in a house of worship.
  • Religious Communities: Religious communities have the right to operate according to their religious beliefs even if the wider community around them disagrees with those beliefs.

Romeike v. Holder

In January 2010, the Romeikes were presented with a choice no parents should have to make: abandon their religious beliefs, or lose custody of their children.

The Romeike family is from the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and chose to educate their children at home in order to follow their Evangelical Christian beliefs. However, state authorities refused to accept this and sent police to march the Romeike children to the local public school, invoking the Schulpflichtgesetz, or School Duty Law. The family fled from their homeland to Tennessee, and sought asylum in the United States.

In July 2010, Becket submitted an amicus brief to the United States Board of Immigration Appeals. It described the disturbing Nazi-era background of the School Duty Law, and explained that the original purpose of the law was to suppress “the development of religiously and philosophically motivated parallel societies.” The Romeikes were not evading their duty to educate their children, only the state’s attempt to indoctrinate their children against their religious beliefs.

An immigration judge granted the Romeikes’ request for asylum, but the federal government appealed that decision, and in May 2013 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately ruled against the Romeikes.

Watch Becket’s Daniel Blomberg discuss the religious liberty implications of this case at FRC University (starts at 22:00 min).

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Watch Becket’s Luke Goodrich debate Does Germany’s Ban on Homeschooling Count as Religious Persecution? at the University of St. Thomas.

http://www.frc.org/eventregistration/should-the-state-raise-your-kids