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Worshipers arrive for Easter Sunday services at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Sunday, April 5, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
At Houston\u2019s Second Baptist Church, Sunday morning worship began with an anthem of gratitude. Singers in crisp suits and kitten heels, backed by the trumpets and drums of an orchestra, sang the uplifting Christian song \u201cEvery Praise,\u201d declaring God as their savior and healer.<\/p>\n
Church leaders made only one mention during the service of the lawsuit brought against them by a group of congregants<\/a>. Senior pastor Ben Young cited the \u201cfavorable ruling\u201d<\/a> the church received Wednesday from the court, thanking the congregation \u201cfor your prayers, for your love, for your trust during this season.\u201d<\/p>\n COURT RULING: Second Baptist wins major victory in lawsuit filed by church members<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He paused for applause, and most in the auditorium cheered. From the front row, one man could be heard mouthing a soft \u201cboo\u201d after the claps subsided.\u00a0<\/p>\n A legal battle dividing one of Houston\u2019s largest congregations<\/a>, which boasts $1 billion in assets and members including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, shifted decisively in the church\u2019s favor last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n The church was sued in 2025 by a group of current and former members who alleged that it misled the congregation into giving up their voting rights<\/a> and their say in church business. On Wednesday, a judge ruled that the doctrine of church autonomy barred a secular court from adjudicating most of the lawsuit\u2019s claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Jeremiah Counsel<\/a>, the group that brought the lawsuit against the church, vowed to appeal the ruling and continues to seek a full accounting of church finances. \u201cJCC believes stripping the members of Second Baptist of the long-held right to vote, without telling the members, is not an action that the First Amendment protects,\u201d the group wrote in a Friday email.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n STAY OR LEAVE: Lawsuit splits members of Houston megachurch<\/a><\/p>\n The case sharply divided some of the congregation’s 94,000 members. On Sunday, it was clear that not all those wounds had healed.\u00a0<\/p>\n One woman who declined to share her name as she walked through the church\u2019s doors said that because of the issues raised in the lawsuit, this would be her last day there. Another couple, who said they had attended for eight years and were still in church leadership, said they were \u201cdevastated\u201d and \u201cdisappointed\u201d by the rift at the church and how the lawsuit had been handled.<\/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 \u201cI\u2019m not happy about what\u2019s going on,\u201d said Susan Smith, who\u2019s been attending since 1993. She agreed with the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that the church hadn\u2019t sufficiently notified congregants of the meeting in 2023 where 315 members voted to give up the congregation\u2019s right to vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Smith said financial contributions to the church were \u201cway down,\u201d and many had left, but she had no plans to do so. \u201cI love this church, and I’m not leaving,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is God’s church, regardless of who’s here.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE: Why the Southern Baptist Convention hasn’t intervened in Second Baptist fight<\/a><\/p>\n Second Baptist\u2019s move to eliminate members\u2019 right to vote puts it out of step with a long-held tradition in Southern Baptist churches.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n