The Church Coup d'Etat
A bitter schism at the Market Street Baptist Church culminates in a hostile procedural maneuver to re-elect a controversial pastor.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The prolonged dispute at the Market Street Baptist Church over the retention of Rev. L. W. Read as pastor came to a climax at a business meeting on Thursday evening. The minority, which had thus far prevented the re-election of Mr. Read, was overborne by numbers and has begun a secession movement. The meeting was marked by procedural warfare: the majority pushed through new by-laws to facilitate the pastor's re-election and dismiss charges against him, effectively overriding the previous rules. Deacons and trustees who opposed the motion claimed the meeting was a 'coup d'etat' and a 'high-handed outrage' that abandoned Baptist traditions for one-man rule. Following the vote, nine members requested letters of dismissal, with more expected to follow, as the congregation formally fractured.
“I came over to this country to get rid of monarchy, but I never saw anything to equal this under a monarchical government. It is the most high-handed outrage I ever saw.”
Internal church power struggles over governance and leadership are age-old, yet they mirror the tensions in modern Seattle institutions where shifting demographics and organizational by-laws often become the battlefield for control. The 'secession movement' mentioned reflects the persistent way groups in this city resolve disputes by simply splitting off to form their own organizations.
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