MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Pastor Juan McFarland was officially sued on Tuesday, as lawyers for Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church deacons filed a lawsuit at Montgomery Circuit Court against the controversial minister who admitted to sex on the church grounds, with church members, all while being HIV-positive.
And the lawsuit claims there is more than one reason elders are staying away from church services for now: The deacons claim that McFarland ally Marc Anthoni Peacock, angry after the 80-2 vote to oust McFarland on Oct. 5, told the deacons that if they showed up to attend services again, he would invoke "castle law," also known as "castle doctrine."
Julian McPhillips, attorney for the deacons, said on phone and in the lawsuit that the remark about self-defense was a not-so-veiled threat to "shoot (the deacons)."
The castle doctrine varies in states and nations, but is generally seen as giving property owners the right to use force, up to deadly force, to halt an intruder.
Read the complaint here: Complaint.Shiloh.pdf.
The vote to remove McFarland certainly brought discord to the church. Police were called about a disturbance at the church on Oct. 5, one minute before noon, after the vote at Shiloh was taken, but no police action was taken and no one was removed.
Church elders had been mulling what to do about McFarland after a series of sermons and remarks in September in which McFarland admitted to being HIV-positive, and later to having AIDS. Church leaders initially offered help, but as McFarland's sermons and remarks continued through September, the deacons became resolved to remove him from his pastoral duties, duties had since 1990.
It was perhaps the latter admissions that angered the deacons. McFarland admitted to sex with church members on the church grounds. He also admitted to illegal drug use and mishandling church funds.
Nathan Williams Jr., 80, the former chairman of the deacon board, told AL.com that McFarland's speeches seemed to blame the church for his own misbehavior. McFarland later dismissed a number of church officials, including a church musician.
McPhillips said McFarland has no such power. He said the Shiloh church is part of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., a predominantly black Christian organization with rules about church administration. Shiloh is also part of 34-church Alabama Middle District Missionary Baptist Association Inc. McFarland is the elected moderator of the Alabama Middle District.
As time went on, the deacons became worried McFarland may have transmitted his HIV infection without telling sexual partners beforehand that he was HIV-positive. They contacted Montgomery AIDS Outreach, which was set to come to the church and educate members about testing. But as time went on in September, that effort fell to the side.
McPhillips said on Tuesday that the church elders are still concerned about the possibility of HIV transmission. Infecting an unknowing partner with HIV is a Class C misdemeanor in Alabama.
With international attention focused on McFarland and the small church on Cramer Avenue, one mile south of the Alabama state Capitol, many church members expected McFarland not to return. But on Sunday, McFarland returned to the pulpit while the deacons went to another Baptist church, on legal advice, to avoid further confrontation with McFarland and Peacock.
McFarland gave a sermon and spoke of the Gospel of Luke, recalling a woman who made her way through a crowd to touch the garment of Jesus Christ.
The lawsuit suggests there is a goal in the rhetoric to decrease the size of the congregation, down from about 160 members, to a smaller number that McFarland can control.
"The vast majority of the members of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church are afraid to go to church for the fear of violence," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks an end to McFarland's tenure; an end to any threats; removal of new locks to the church; a return of control of the bank accounts at Regions Bank; and a freeze on church assets, including the church's Mercedes Benz vehicle.
Updated at 1:11 p.m.