<\/p>\n
Worshipers arrive for Easter Sunday services at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Sunday, April 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Worshipers arrive for Easter Sunday services at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Sunday, April 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Worshipers arrive for Easter Sunday services at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Sunday, April 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
The messy legal battle dividing Houston\u2019s\u00a0Second Baptist Church<\/a> tilted sharply in the megachurch’s favor Wednesday after a judge dismissed nearly every claim filed against it by a group of congregants.<\/p>\n Judge Grant Dorfman said religious liberty protections barred him from determining whether the church broke the law in 2023 when it removed the right of members<\/a> to vote on church business.\u00a0<\/p>\n EXCLUSIVE: How Second Baptist sacrificed its democratic principles<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At the time, Second Baptist said it was changing its bylaws to \u201cprotect our ability to continue operating as a biblical church,\u201d according to court documents. A secular court can\u2019t determine whether that was a fair characterization, Dorfman ruled, without trying to determine what \u201cbiblical church\u201d means.<\/p>\n The court also lacked authority to kick out the church\u2019s new senior pastor, Ben Young, the judge ruled. Young\u2019s father, longtime senior pastor Ed Young, tapped his son<\/a> as his successor in 2024 without a congregational vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pastor Ed Young heads for shuttle buses at Second Baptist Church campus to attend Former First Lady Barbara Bush’s funeral Saturday, April 21, 2018, in Houston.<\/p>\n Steve Gonzales\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n The case is no longer moving to a jury trial that had been scheduled for July 27<\/a> in the Texas 11th Division Business Court, according to a court manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n Throughout the legal battle with a group of current and former members, Ben Young has maintained that the church, which boasts $1 billion in assets and counts Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and leading oil executives as members, did nothing wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n LAWSUIT EXPLAINED: What to know about Second Baptist, a 98-year-old Houston megachurch being sued by its members<\/a><\/p>\n Young told his congregation last year that the church\u2019s new bylaws are both \u201cbiblically and legally\u201d sound and said the lawsuit\u2019s allegations \u201csimply are not true.\u201d The church has declined to comment throughout the trial.<\/p>\n The lawsuit against Second Baptist<\/p>\n The Jeremiah Counsel, a group of current and former members, sued Second Baptist last year and alleged that it fraudulently passed bylaws that concentrated control of the church in the hands of an unelected group of trustees hand-picked by the senior pastor. In a Thursday email update, Doug Bech, one of the leaders of the counsel, said the group planned to appeal the judge’s ruling and ask him for clarification.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n