Hearing set in church dispute

“The complete lack of any connection between the eleven document requests in the subpoena and the claims asserted by the Petitioner make it appear that the subpoena is being served for the purpose of harassment,” attorneys for the ministers wrote in motions last week to quash the subpoenas.

Attorneys for the Jonesboro church voluntarily withdrew the subpoenas on Thursday that had been issued to the Rev. Jayphen “Jay” Clark, a minister at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock; Rev. William O. “Bud” Reeves, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Fort Smith and former district superintendent in Northeast Arkansas; Rev. Katherine (Katie) Pearce, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Batesville; Rev. Patricia (Patti) Butler, pastor of Wesley United Methodist of Conway; Rev. Brad Elrod of Ozark; and Roy Ockert, an active member of the Stay UMC movement, and editor emeritus of The Jonesboro Sun.

Ockert and the ministers were asked for “all communications ... including electronically stored information such as deleted emails and voicemails, made by him or any one of his nine (9) subordinates to whole classes of unnamed individuals (e.g. ‘all communications with any ... congregants of Jonesboro church’, ‘all communications with any person ... that opposed disaffiliation of Jonesboro Church . ...’, ‘all communications with ... any other person discussing the disaffiliation of Jonesboro Church’, ‘all communications with members ... of the Jonesboro Church regarding its decision to disaffiliate.’).”

The Jonesboro church filed a Quiet Title action in Craighead County Circuit Court on Dec. 19, seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the Arkansas Conference from seizing the church’s real estate.

The Arkansas Conference, which is the state governing body for the worldwide Christian denomination, suspended Senior Pastor John Miles and recorded a lien on church property claiming a “trust” and declaring “exigent circumstances.” That was in reaction to a Dec. 15 meeting in which local church members voted to disaffiliate from the denomination.

The Jonesboro congregation had also voted in August to disaffiliate, with more than 1,300 members of the congregation casting ballots.

The Arkansas Conference rejected the August disaffiliation request.

The Arkansas Conference was served notice of the lawsuit on Jan. 9, and has not yet filed a response.

Special Judge Gary Arnold of Benton has scheduled a hearing on the lawsuit for 10 a.m. Wednesday in the third floor of the Craighead County Courthouse Annex.

All 12 judges in the Second Judicial District recused from hearing the case, citing conflicts.