ENGLEWOOD, Ill. -- Timmie and Loretta Pinkston Lones were married at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Englewood 33 years ago, had their two daughters baptized there and attended services most of their lives there.

But according to the Chicago SunTimes, they and four other members may be expelled because of a lawsuit they've filed against church leadership demanding financial accountability.

In an unusual move, church officials, including its pastor, Gerald M. Dew, plan to hold a meeting Thursday to discuss casting out the plaintiffs for their "unbiblical conduct," according to one letter sent to the six.

The plaintiffs are demanding some financial accountability at the church, which was brought into prominence by the Rev. Wilbur Daniel, who died in 1999. It has some 2,000 members and millions of dollars in assets, which the plaintiff members worry are being mismanaged.

In 2002, they filed a lawsuit accusing Daniel's son Rickey and other church leaders of using church money to make improper political contributions. Other questionable expenditures include church checks that have been made payable to "cash" for more than $10,000 with no supporting documentation.

The suit also alleges that some church officials have financial interests in companies doing business with Antioch.

Church officials have denied any wrongdoing, and Dew could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Dew contends in the letter that by filing the suit, the plaintiffs are in "violation of Scripture, the church's covenant . . . and the way that missionary Baptist churches have conducted themselves from time immemorial."

The pastor cited verses from 1 Corinthians and Matthew, but the plaintiffs dispute the biblical interpretations and allege they are just being harassed to drop the suit.

Late last week, they tried to get a Cook County judge to stop church leaders from casting them out, but Judge Patrick McGann declined, citing the separation of church and state.

Lester Barclay, the attorney for the six members, said his clients are considering appealing or going back before a judge after church leaders take formal action.

Either way, they are vowing not to give up.

"It makes us more determined," one of the six, La Dorris Saverson, said.