Deacons fire pastor, call police, change the locks
Police escort out a young man who took over a Baptist church. The next day, he rallies supporters.
By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published May 30, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - One year after a questionable election put him in the pulpit at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, the Rev. Gordon Morris Curry has been fired and evicted from the church he inherited from his grandfather.
Church officials had hoped to handle the matter "with a great deal of respect, courtesy and diplomacy," said Ian Stanislaus Gomez, the lawyer hired by the group of deacons that led the ouster.
"Unfortunately, the matter became a little more public than the parties wanted it to become. We are not here to embarrass the pastor. We are seeking the best interests of the church as a whole and the continuation of the work started by the congregation. . . . The plan was to dismiss Rev. Curry and to do it in a very respectful manner with at least the majority of the board being present. We were at the time willing to discuss a separation settlement," Gomez said, adding that Curry had no employment contract.
Curry, 27, was dismissed Wednesday night as his church met for Bible study. He was escorted out by police in front of a congregation of about 100.
On Thursday night, Curry rallied about 70 of his supporters during a meeting at the Enoch Davis Center, 1111 18th Ave. S. The gathering began with singing and a circle of prayer.
The chairman of the board of deacons, a Curry supporter, declined to provide details of the meeting.
At Curry's former church, officials have changed the locks and announced that services will be held as usual today. Johnnie L. Jackson, who has been a deacon since 1972, said though they expect no confrontation, they are prepared to call police should trouble erupt. He said a church business meeting has been scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday. The events that led to Curry's dismissal and a convergence of three cruisers at the church at 2550 Ninth Ave. S are laid out in a St. Petersburg Police Department report.
Community police Officer Michael D. Bizzell was asked to meet church deacons at the west side of the church at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, he said. They wanted to fire Curry.
When Bizzell arrived, two of Curry's supporters, his father, Morris, and the chairman of the deacon board, Haron Sherrod, objected to the police presence. Sherrod also argued that several of the men who had signed a letter to the congregation about Curry's termination were not authorized to do so. Bizzell asked to see the church's bylaws and meeting minutes and determined that Curry could be fired with a two-thirds vote by the deacon board.
"Jim Anderson (a deacon) advised that the reason they all decided to terminate the pastor was because he was running the church into the ground," Bizzell wrote in his report.
Bizzell also was told that only about $20,000 remained of the $400,000 that had been in church accounts a year ago. Curry, who received a salary of $65,000, used a church vehicle, a black 2002 BMW, that the deacons were willing to let him drive home that night. As police waited outside that evening, Curry apparently prolonged the church meeting and tried to rally his congregation to save his job.
Police instructed Sherrod, who is a St. Petersburg Times employee, to bring the pastor out of the church, but he returned without Curry. Police entered the church with deacon Anderson, also a St. Petersburg Times employee. Anderson, who said he once held Curry in his arms as a baby, told the pastor he was fired and no longer welcome on church property.
Curry was issued a trespassing warning, which, if he disobeys, could lead to his arrest, a police spokesman said.
Curry's leadership of the faith community he renamed Greater King David International Church has been in dispute for months.
As his grandfather, the Rev. Joseph Gordon, prepared to retire last year, he told the congregation that he wanted his grandson to be his successor. Curry was elected last Memorial Day, though detractors say people who were not church members were allowed to vote.
Many of those who objected to Curry's leadership say he is immature and point to his criminal record. His arrests include a charge of writing a check with insufficient funds. His driver's license remains suspended. He was convicted in 2003 of aggravated battery with a motor vehicle against his wife and put on probation for a year.
Since then he has been arrested at least two times on battery charges. The most recent was Jan. 10; Clearwater police arrested Curry after he pulled out some of his wife's hair. He was taken to the Pinellas County Jail and could not preach that Sunday. Curry, whose January arrest violated his probation, has a court appearance June 11.
Gomez, the lawyer hired by church deacons, say they hope to return the congregation to spiritual health. There is talk of restoring Pleasant Grove as the name, he said.
"I believe no short term, shoot-from-the-hip decisions will be made," he said. "We want to put this house of the Lord back in order."
- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
