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An appeals court panel has ruled against Will McRaney, a former Southern Baptist state convention leader in his lawsuit accusing a missions agency of defamation.

McRaney had filed a lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board, claiming that it had gotten him fired from a position with the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.

However, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled 2-1 last week to uphold a lower court dismissal of McRaney’s lawsuit against NAMB.

Circuit Judge Andrew S. Oldham authored the majority opinion, writing that NAMB was protected by “the church autonomy doctrine,” which “prohibits any court from adjudicating McRaney’s claims.”

“Civil courts cannot adjudicate ecclesiastica

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