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Revolver previously covered a viral documentary detailing the collapse of a proposed merger between a megachurch led by J.D. Greear, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination, and a much smaller congregation, Faith Baptist Church.
https://twitter.com/RevolverNewsUSA/status/1929859768941777050
The three–part documentary has now racked up more than a combined 700,000 views on YouTube, and new details of how the legal fight went down are emerging.
Attorney David Gibbs III, representing the smaller Faith Baptist Church in Knightdale, North Carolina, told lawyers for Greear’s far larger Summit Church that he was intentionally delaying review of a proposed court order granting a preliminary injunction against his client, a move, in Gibbs’ own words, meant to give Faith Baptist “time to file bankruptcy prior to an order actually being entered.”
Gibbs sent the email, obtained from Faith Baptist’s former litigation counsel, on May 1, 2024. In late February 2024, two members of Faith Baptist sued the church just before a scheduled vote on what church leaders described as a “merger” with Summit. Additional plaintiffs joined the lawsuit in March 2024.
After a day-long preliminary injunction hearing on April 12, 2024, Wake County Superior Court Judge Gale Adams informed counsel the following Friday that she was “granting the preliminary injunction and setting a $25,000 bond.” Judge Adams’ email concluded: “Please have plaintiffs prepare the order.”
“Judges’ [sic] ruling attached,” Gibbs advised in an e-mail the same day, which Summit produced in discovery. “What this means at this time is that the March 3 vote and Summit deal are stopped by court order.”
Plaintiffs’ counsel prepared a proposed order, standard practice in North Carolina state court, and sent opposing counsel a draft on April 26.
That same day, counsel for Summit Church contacted Gibbs to request a copy of the order. On May 1, Summit’s lawyers followed up, asking whether “both sides made their desired tweaks and it’s been submitted to the judge for review.”
Less than an hour later, Gibbs revealed his delay tactic: “We are slow-rolling on our side to give the church time to file bankruptcy prior to an order actually being entered.” He added that the “other side is not thrilled having to put $25k as bond.”
Two minutes later, Summit’s attorney replied, “Thanks. That is interesting; on the other side, not being thrilled about a $25k bond.” The email contains no objection to Gibbs’ “slow rolling.”
On May 6, Faith Baptist’s counsel sent the church’s revisions, with metadata showing the last edits were made April 29, after several days of silence. The plaintiffs submitted their proposed order to the court on May 8.
Just after noon ET on May 9, Faith Baptist’s counsel sent an alternate order to the court. The church filed for bankruptcy the following day, May 10. Judge Adams entered her order on May 14, largely adopting the plaintiffs’ version.
The May 14 order found the plaintiffs had shown a likelihood of success on claims that notice of the March 3 vote was deficient, that members were improperly excluded from and included in the voting pool, and that the transaction itself violated two provisions of Faith Baptist’s bylaws.
Before the bankruptcy court, Faith Baptist leadership argued that Judge Adams’ order was null and without effect, noting it was not “entered until May 14, 2024, four days after this bankruptcy case was filed.”
Summit similarly argued that “the state court Judge […] did not rule from the bench at the April 12, 2023 [sic] hearing and did not enter any order prior to the Petition being filed.” In Summit’s view, Judge Adams’ order “is void ab initio.”
Summit’s directional elders previously released a statement claiming the documentary “misrepresents the events as well as our intentions in this process,” adding that Summit “sought to pursue this path with the utmost integrity at every step.”
“Our pastor and leadership team have nothing to hide—as elders of The Summit Church, we looked over their shoulder at every step,” the letter concludes.
Gibbs, interestingly enough, has been positioning himself as an advocate for American Protestants and the rights of churches. He currently serves as president and general counsel of the National Center for Life and Liberty, or NCLL, which functions like a smaller, and according to critics, more transactional, version of the highly respected Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
Revolver reached out to Greear’s legal team to see if they had any defense or alternate explanation, such as gaps in awareness of the “slow-rolled” review or how it was addressed in litigation. They were contacted by phone and by email and did not respond.
What this case shows is that the woke takeover of America’s churches isn’t just about soft sermons and progressive politics. It’s about power, money, and control. Greear and his woke acolytes tried to swallow a faithful congregation whole, and thankfully, the scheme backfired. But that doesn’t mean the fight is over. However, this time the wolves in shepherd’s clothing didn’t get away with it.
If you’re curious and would like to watch the Faith Baptist documentary series, you can do so here:
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