The pastor of one of Broward’s oldest and most prominent Black churches was in court Friday morning trying to put down a revolt that threatens to escalate into a civil war, one that has dozens of longtime members accusing him of improperly using church funds to buy a home in West Palm Beach.
Ezra Tillman was appointed senior pastor of First Baptist Church Piney Grove in March 2023. The Lauderdale Lakes church, with a congregation of more than 1,500, is the worship home of numerous past and present elected officials in Broward County and has developed a reputation as a required stop among candidates running for office and courting the Black vote.
Two months ago, more than four dozen ousted members sued the church, accusing Tillman of ignoring church bylaws to put a $200,000 down payment on a house in West Palm Beach, removing the deacons without authority, and expelling those members who challenged his actions.
“He won’t follow the constitution, which allows the members to govern the church,” said expelled member Vonice Gibbs, who is the first listed plaintiff in the lawsuit against Tillman and the church. “You’re dealing with other people’s money. There should be some transparency. There is none.”
According to the lawsuit, Tillman ignored the church members who challenged the use of a $200,000 fund to purchase his home. His attorney, Michael Garcia, said in court Friday that every expenditure made by the head pastor went through the proper procedure for approval.
“There is no misappropriation of funds,” Garcia said. “We have sufficient evidence showing there’s a process in place that the church followed.”
First Baptist Church Piney Grove in Lauderdale Lakes. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
While it’s not uncommon for church disagreements to make their way to secular courts, it’s usually considered a last resort in Christian circles. The New Testament encourages believers to settle their disputes among themselves, not to take each other to court. But both sides in the Piney Grove dispute agree that their dispute is a legal one, not one that can be resolved by both sides agreeing on what the gospels have to say.
“When you become incorporated under the laws of the state, and you have bylaws, you are bound by those bylaws,” said plaintiffs’ lawyer Johnny McCray.
Garcia disputed the plaintiffs’ description of how Tillman has conducted himself as pastor. He pointed to the dismissal of two deacons as legally justified — one is accused of making the pastor’s home address public, resulting in a personal safety threat, while another was an absentee under the church’s rules.
It was not clear whether Broward Circuit Judge Daniel Casey would allow the lawsuit to proceed or dismiss it as an ecclesiastical dispute that does not warrant a secular mediator’s intervention. Casey had not ruled on a defense motion to dismiss as of late Friday afternoon.
The continuation of the hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Former members of the First Baptist Church Piney Grove in Lauderdale Lakes gather at the property. Members of the church have sued leadership over allegations of financial mismanagement, a rare show of no-confidence in one of South Florida’s oldest Black churches. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)