ST. LOUIS — A Missouri appeals court has reaffirmed its decision to dismiss a negligence lawsuit against the First Baptist Church of Pierce City (FBC) related to sexual assaults that occurred during its youth ministry program.
The court's ruling is based on First Amendment protections that prevent judicial interference in religious organizations' internal governance, according to the Missouri Court of Appeals document filed Jan. 17.
The case, initially transferred to the Missouri Supreme Court last September, was returned to the appeals court. The court readopted its original opinion, which upheld a lower court's summary judgment in favor of FBC.
The plaintiff, Jane Doe, represented by a next friend, T.N., filed a negligence claim against FBC after being sexually assaulted in 2022 by another participant in the church’s youth ministry program.
The assaults occurred inside a church van while the youth pastor was transporting children to and from church activities.
Doe’s lawsuit argued that FBC failed to implement proper safeguards to prevent abuse and ensure the safety of children under its care.
FBC denied liability and sought summary judgment, citing the Missouri Supreme Court’s precedent in Gibson v. Brewer.
The church argued that the First Amendment prohibits courts from deciding how a religious institution should conduct its internal affairs, including policies related to child supervision and transportation.
The circuit court agreed, granting summary judgment in favor of FBC.
In its decision, the court noted that determining whether a church acted negligently in such matters would require unconstitutional entanglement with religious doctrine and governance.
Doe appealed the decision, raising multiple arguments, including that FBC failed to properly plead the First Amendment as an affirmative defense and that the claim did not require judicial evaluation of religious doctrine.
However, the appeals court rejected these claims, maintaining that Gibson v. Brewer remains the controlling precedent.
In Gibson, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that courts cannot adjudicate negligence claims against religious organizations if doing so would require analysis of religious doctrine, policies, or governance.
The court applied this reasoning to Doe’s case, determining that evaluating FBC’s safety policies would necessitate unconstitutional judicial oversight of church operations.
Doe’s appeal also argued that since the alleged abuser was not a member of FBC’s clergy, the First Amendment should not apply.
The court disagreed, explaining that Gibson extends beyond clergy-related claims to any church conduct that would require judicial evaluation of religious policies.
"Furthermore, the circuit court’s determination in the instant summary judgment that '[i]n order to determine how a ‘reasonably prudent Diocese’ would act, a court would have to excessively entangle itself in religious doctrine policy and administration' was not 'unfounded dicta' as Plaintiff argues," the court said in the ruling. "Rather, this was part and parcel of our high court’s holding in Gibson that the dismissal of the aforementioned claim for independent negligence was not erroneous.
The court ruled that assessing FBC’s supervision of its youth ministry would inevitably involve analyzing its internal practices, which is barred by the First Amendment.
Randy R. Cowherd, John Cowherd and Samuel Cowherd represented the appellant
Irene J. Marusic and Michael Brendhan Flynn represented the respondent.
Attorneys did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District case number: SD38331