As I researched Union Baptist Church, it was strikingly clear the role the church had for the Black community. Carter G. Woodson states prior to emancipation churches were “the only institution which the Negro, in a few places in the South and throughout the North, was permitted to maintain for his own peculiar needs.” Churches were a place of socialization, as members looked forward to meeting with friends, a place of enlightenment as information was spread from those with knowledge at services and Sunday school, and ultimately, a vessel to sustain strength in the face of America’s degradation and dehumanization of African Americans.
Through the church, the Black community thrived, which is why pastors were so integral to these communities. They used funds to manage the efficiency of their churches because they understood the importance of teaching members how to discern and take care of themselves. Woodson’s quote “The minister is the shepherd of the flock. The sheep know the voice of the shepherd and a stranger they will not follow,” underscores the trust between pastor and congregation as the pastor steps into his role as caretaker to spread salvation to his members.
Bearing this in mind, it was shocking to discover that on April 24, 1947, Reverend Ripley L. Turpin, newly appointed pastor of the Union Baptist Church, took church members to court stating they were “silenced” by his authority due to their disturbance to his sermon. Mrs. Hallie Tutt, the widow of former pastor Tutt, and William Battles, 81, testified that the dispute was about whether they were actually “silenced” according to the church policy. Ultimately the presiding judge dismissed the charges saying that the court didn’t have jurisdiction over disputes within the churches. This was due to the Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine, which is a legal and ethical restraint on the state to interfere in the spiritual or organizational life of the church.
Even so, the dismissal of this case did not end the conflict. Members of the church later sued Turpin and his board of deacons in a district court suit that claimed illegal use of the “Pastor’s Aid Fund” on September 23, 1947. This suit was filed by former deacons and other church officials, who asked to restrain the pastor and his deacons from touching the funds. Now for context, Turpin received a salary of $27.50 per week (equivalent to $399.29 today) and he created the Pastor’s Aid Fund. Turpin would get men to pay $10 ($145.20 today) and women to pay $7 ($101.64 today) to the church and stated that those who paid were the ones who could have a vote in church affairs. He would sit those who paid on one side of the church and those that didn’t on the other and begin to give his sermon to only the ones that paid. The members stated that he not only used the money from his fund without being held accountable but also held secret financial meetings and failed to hold elections of officers.
From the members’ perspective, it’s understandable that they would have issues with secret financial meetings and lack of elections. The church to the Black community was their way into society. It was an institution that allowed members to have a say in what they believed in, regardless of the laws that posed as barriers to prevent African Americans from participating in voting. Essentially, the church was a safe haven, untouched by what society deemed fair, and instead allowed for their members to not only participate in the community they created but to thrive in it as well. The pastor’s secret financial meetings and withholding elections for church officials shunned them from engaging in affairs that affected them. Living in a world where everyone else has already shut you out, this likely felt like a threat to their rights, or a better word would be agency, especially when those rights have been guaranteed.
While the suit against Turpin based on the Pastor’s Aid Fund was dropped, on March 29, 1948, five church members including a former deacon filed a suit against Turpin to be reinstated as members of the church and gain the right to participate in business meetings. These members were kicked out without a hearing. Turpin claimed that the members were kicked out due to disorderly conduct and could’ve gotten a hearing had they attended a business meeting. Those who filed this suit stated that Turpin wasn’t the choice of majority members in the congregation and only kept his post through barring members who opposed him. Turpin claimed he would allow members to be reinstated back into the church if they dropped the suit against him, but he wouldn’t allow them to vote in church affairs.
On March 31, 1948, District Judge Russell Jordan ruled that Turpin had illegally ousted members from the church. Since Turpin hadn’t notified members of the reason for their ousting or gave them a hearing to tell their side of the story, it had been illegal. A court order was given to Turpin which restrained him from ousting any other members and to restore membership to 14 individuals. The Judge urged the members of the church to forget their differences and work to build a better church, stating they should be a “living example of tolerance in a world where prejudice against race or religion has fomented many disturbances.”
After discovering these lawsuits, I began wondering if ousting members was a normal practice in Baptist churches especially when I learned that members of Union Baptist sued another pastor in 1950 for ousting members as well. I’m also curious about Turpin’s past roles as a pastor and wonder if he had issues with other congregations before Union Baptist Church.
- Dalton, Daniel. “Ecclesiastical Abstention: A Quiet Boundary between Church and State.” Dalton and Tomich, 2025, daltontomich.com/ecclesiastical-abstention-a-quiet-boundary-between-church-and-state/.
- Lincoln, C. Eric, and Lawrence H. Mamiya. “The Black Church in the African American Experience” Duke University Press, 1990, read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/577/The-Black-Church-in-the-African-American.
- Woodson, Carter Godwin. “The History of the Negro Church.” Documenting in the American South, 2000, docsouth.unc.edu/church/woodson/woodson.html.
- “Church Case Turned Back to Members.” The Des Moines Register, 24 April 1947, p. 21
- “Suit Charges Church Funds Are Misused.” The Des Moines Register, 23 Sept. 1947, p. 3
- “Pastor Asks End of Aid Fund Suit.” The Des Moines Register, 25 Sept. 1947, p. 21
- “File An Action On Minister.” The Des Moines Register, 17 March 1948, p. 20
- “Begin Hearings In Church Case.” The Des Moines Register, 29 March 1948, p.11
- “Pastor Defends Ouster in Church.” The Des Moines Register, 30 March 1948, p. 5
- “Rules Church Ouster Illegal.” The Des Moine Register, 31 March 1948, p. 6
