Fired pastor keeps preaching, changes locks at church

Fired pastor keeps preaching, changes locks at church
Tags: Administration, Denominations, Fellowship, Leadership, Preaching
January 11, 2005

Associated Press: Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Marion, Ind., wants the pastor to quit preaching to the choir â€” and everybody else. And the church's trustees are going to court to stop him.

The Rev. Ed McDowell Jr., who served at the church for more than 13 years, was fired in December after a vote by both the trustees and members.

But McDowell, 63, continues to preach there because he says the vote was invalid. He has changed the locks remaining at the church and has tried to fire church officials himself, court records said.