Hawkins v. St. John Missionary Baptist Church etc.
Appellant, St. John Missionary Baptist Church of Bakersfield, California (St. John), is a congregational Baptist church. It is organized as a religious corporation and is governed by a constitution and bylaws. Respondents are members of St. John who became dissatisfied with their pastor, Antonio Alfred (Pastor).
Respondents petitioned the trial court to order the St. John Board of Deacons to call a meeting to vote on whether to remove the Pastor. The court granted the petition and further ordered that a referee be appointed to oversee the meeting, conduct the vote, count the votes, and report the result of the vote in writing.
St. John provided the referee with a list of members eligible to vote. On the day of the election, if either St. John or respondents’ representative objected to a voter, that voter cast a sealed provisional ballot. The regular votes were counted and, because the vote was close, it was necessary to count the provisional ballots as well.
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