5

See, e.g., Holiman v. Dovers, 366 S.W.2d 197 (Ark. 1963) (majority of members of Baptist church have right to select pastor); De Jean v. Board of Deacons, 139 A.2d 205 (Dela. 1958) (common practice in Baptist churches to select ministers by majority vote of congregation); Franklin v. Hahn, 275 S.W.2d 776 (Ky. 1955) (ministers in Christian Church selected by majority vote of congregation); Sherburne Village Baptist Society v. Ryder, 86 N.Y.S.2d 853 (1949) (“Under the usages and custom of the Baptist Church, the authority to employ or dismiss a minister lies not in the corporation, the trustees, or the deacons, but in the congregation itself.”); Atkins v. Walker, 200 S.E.2d 641, 650 (N.C. 1973) (“[T]he congregation . . . had the right, by a majority vote, in a duly called and conducted meeting of the congregation . . . to call to its pastorate the man of its choice.”); McCarther v. Pleasant Bethany Baptist Church, 195 S.W.2d 819 (Tex. 1946) (minister retained by action of board of deacons); Ex parte McClain, 762 S.W.2d 238 (Tex. App. 1988); First Baptist Church of Hope Hull v. Owens, 474 So.2d 638 (Ala. 1985).