Judge rules in favor of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church and its new pastor

Judge rules in favor of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church and its new pastor

(RNS) — The decision settled a yearlong legal battle between the congregation and church members who opposed the Rev. Kevin Johnson’s election.

Judge rules in favor of New York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church

A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church in a lawsuit brought by current and former church members who challenged senior pastor the Rev. Kevin Johnson’s 2024 election and sought to remove him. Johnson succeeded the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, who served as a minister at the historically Black church for 50 years and died in 2022. Johnson was installed in September 2024. In their lawsuit filed in…