c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ A federal district court judge has dismissed a suit against a group of well-known mainline Protestant religious leaders over the radical reorganization of Interfaith/IMPACT, the generally liberal Capitol Hill religious lobbying agency.

Judge Stanley Sporkin of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed June 12 the suit against the directors _ representatives from the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church and the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.

The suit had been brought the Rev. James M. Bell, a United Church of Christ minister and the former executive director of Interfaith/IMPACT for Justice and Peace.

Bell sued the directors alleging they wrongfully terminated his contract by firing him for no cause when Interfaith/IMPACT was virtually shut down last July in a complete downsizing. The rest of the interfaith lobby’s paid staff was also dismissed with Bell, leaving it with only a volunteer Roman Catholic friar to answer the phone.

A second part of Bell’s suit, which involves whether a religious group can be held liable for contracts enacted by its representatives, is awaiting a decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. A ruling is not expected for several months.

Before Interfaith/IMPACT was downsized, it lobbied the government on a variety of issues ranging from arms control to welfare reform on behalf of 34 national, state and regional religious agencies, including mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish and Muslim groups.

Bell, who now works as a consultant for a Chicago seminary consortium, served as Interfaith/IMPACT’s executive director for four years.

While Bell maintains he had a contract with the lobby, Judge Sporkin concluded in his decision that Bell was there on an”on call”basis.

Sporkin said while some of Bell’s complaints were in dispute, he was working for an organization in”great financial despair.”He added that Bell’s loss of employment”was incidental to the virtual collapse of (Interfaith/IMPACT). He was an at-will employee who _ along with a lot of other people _ lost his job when (Interfaith/IMPACT) was forced to downsize …””Regardless of how many declarations, depositions and documents (Bell) provides to this Court, his claim cannot be sustained because the evidence found in them does not support the allegations in his complaint,”Sporkin said.

Sporkin said while the virtual shutdown of Interfaith/IMPACT was”unfortunate, it cannot justify this protracted litigation. (Bell) wants this court to write a contract that would provide (Bell) with `tenure’ that would even survive a (reduction in force) dictated by a severe financial reversal in fortune. This, the court cannot, and will not do.” In a statement, Jane Hull Harvey, chairwoman of the lobbying group, said the group was”grateful for the judge’s decision and thankful for the 27 years of faithful service”of Interfaith/IMPACT representing the voices of Jews, Muslims and Christians in the public policy arena.

Defendants in the case included the Rev. Elenora Ivory, director of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Washington Office; the Rev. Lionel Derencourt, the Rev. Otis Turner and the Rev. Vernon Broyles of the PCUSA’s headquarters in Louisville, Ky.; the Rev. Jay Lintner of the United Church of Christ’s Washington-based Office for Church in Society; Harvey and Anna Rhee of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society and United Methodist Women, respectively; and the Rev. Robert Tiller, former director of the Washington office of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.

A spokesman for Bell did not return telephone calls.

MJP END BRIGGS