First Baptist Church Piney Grove Lawsuit: Claims and Injunction

The First Baptist Church Piney Grove lawsuit is a Broward County civil case filed in September 2025 by more than 50 members of the historic Fort Lauderdale-area congregation against Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Ezra L. Tillman Jr., two deacons, and the church itself, accusing Tillman of using $200,000 in church funds toward a personal home purchase, expelling members who objected, and bypassing the church’s bylaws. In January 2026, Circuit Judge Daniel A. Casey granted a temporary injunction ordering the expelled members reinstated and barring major financial decisions without congregational approval. The underlying financial claims have not been tried.

What the Members Allege

Lead plaintiff Vonice Gibbs and roughly 50 other members filed a verified derivative complaint on September 23, 2025, in Broward County Circuit Court, case number CACE 25-014466. The suit names Tillman, deacons Lester Williams and Bobby Bolden, and First Baptist Church Piney Grove as a nominal defendant. Attorney Johnny L. McCray Jr. represents the plaintiffs.¹

The complaint centers on four main allegations:

That $200,000 in church money went to Tillman as a down payment on a personal home in West Palm Beach without the church conference approval the bylaws require.²
That deacons Stuart Pinnock and William Harris were suspended from the board without following church procedures.¹
That more than 50 parishioners who challenged the pastor’s leadership were removed from the rolls, some allegedly for being parties to the lawsuit or for failing to meet a $300 annual donation requirement Tillman imposed as a condition of voting.³
That legal fees for the pastor and deacons were paid from church accounts without being brought before the church conference.¹

The dispute traces back further than the filing. Former Trustee Board Chair Bruce Palmer told the Westside Gazette that the church’s original board of trustees resigned in July 2024 out of “frustration with what they described as disregard for their authority,” and that Tillman then appointed deacons to fill the trustee roles without the church conference vote the bylaws required.⁴

“He won’t follow the constitution, which allows the members to govern the church,” Gibbs told the Sun-Sentinel. “You’re dealing with other people’s money. There should be some transparency. There is none.”²

How the Pastor Answered

Tillman and his attorney, Michael Garcia, denied the allegations. Testifying at a December 2025 hearing, Tillman said he does not control church finances, has no access to the church bank account, and cannot write checks. He said the $200,000 housing expenditure was approved four separate times by the church’s housing committee.⁵

Garcia told the court that “every expenditure made by the head pastor went through the proper procedure for approval” and that “there is no misappropriation of funds.”² Garcia argued the deacon suspensions were justified by safety concerns and poor attendance. Tillman said he lacked authority to expel members himself and that fellow congregants voted to remove the plaintiffs from the rolls.⁵

The defense also moved to dismiss the case entirely, arguing it was an internal ecclesiastical dispute a civil court had no business deciding. At a November 14, 2025 hearing, Judge Casey denied the motion, ruling the suit had merit and should proceed.⁶

The January 2026 Injunction

On January 21, 2026, Judge Casey issued a 16-page order granting the plaintiffs a temporary injunction. The order directs Tillman, Williams, and Bolden to:

Reinstate the membership and voting rights of all expelled parishioners.
Stop enforcing the suspensions of Deacons Pinnock and Harris.
Drop the $300 annual contribution requirement for voting eligibility.
Cease making financial transactions without the approval of the church conference where the bylaws require it.
Refrain from taking governance actions not authorized by the church constitution.¹

Judge Casey found that the plaintiffs had shown a “substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits” and that they had suffered or were likely to suffer “irreparable harm” from the leadership’s actions.¹ The order does not require anyone to repay money, and no court has made a finding that Tillman or the church actually misused funds. That question is reserved for trial.

Why a Civil Court Reached Into a Church Dispute

Under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, courts generally refuse to resolve internal religious disputes. The defense argued this case fell squarely within that hands-off zone. Judge Casey disagreed, drawing a line between religious doctrine and institutional governance. He ruled the plaintiffs were not asking the court to interpret scripture or settle a question of faith; they were asking it to enforce the church’s own bylaws, something a court can do using “neutral principles of law.”³

The judge emphasized that First Baptist Church Piney Grove is a “congregationally governed church” where authority rests with the membership, not the pastor or individual officers. He noted that Baptist churches are “among the oldest democratic institutions in the United States,” citing Florida Supreme Court precedent, and that as a legal entity the church must comply with its own bylaws to maintain its tax-exempt status.¹ The reasoning echoed a Florida appellate precedent, Bendross v. Readon (2012), which applied state nonprofit corporation law to a dispute over the unauthorized removal of church board members.⁷

Where the Case Stands

As of mid-2026, the case remains active in Broward County Circuit Court. The January 2026 injunction is in place, and the court has retained jurisdiction to enforce it. No trial date has been set, and the central question of whether the $200,000 home down payment was properly authorized is unresolved.

Plaintiffs’ attorney McCray described the injunction as a pre-trial measure to restore the members’ standing while the deeper financial claims move toward trial. If the plaintiffs prevail, he said, they may seek reimbursement of the $200,000. Garcia read the same order differently, arguing that because the judge did not order any money returned, the ruling effectively showed no funds had been misspent.³

1
The Westside Gazette. A Forewarning to Pastors: When Church Constitutions Are Ignored, Courts Will Intervene
2
Sun-Sentinel. Members Sue Historic Broward Church, Accusing Pastor of Misusing Finances
3
Sun-Sentinel. Judge Sides With Expelled Parishioners in Ongoing Piney Grove Church Dispute
4
The Westside Gazette. Church Members Sue First Baptist Church Piney Grove Leadership Over Alleged Financial Mismanagement and Bylaws Violations
5
Sun-Sentinel. Piney Grove Pastor Defends Spending and Church Leadership
6
Yahoo News. Expelled Members of Historic Black Church Sue Pastor
7
FindLaw. Bendross v. Readon, 89 So. 3d 258