Supreme Court Will Decline McRaney Challenge to Southern Baptist Mission Board on Feb. 23

The Expected Denial

The Supreme Court will decline on Monday, Feb. 23, to review an appeal by Will McRaney against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, leaving intact a Fifth Circuit decision that bars secular courts from interfering in internal church governance, according to two pastors familiar with the case. The justices are expected to issue the denial without comment as part of their routine orders list, the pastors said.

The case, McRaney v. North American Mission Board, has worked through federal courts since April 2017. McRaney, former executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware, sued NAMB alleging defamation and interference with his employment after he was fired. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld dismissal of the case in September 2025, ruling that church autonomy doctrine bars all of McRaney's claims because resolving them would require secular courts to opine on matters of faith and doctrine.

"The Supreme Court's denial will be a quiet but decisive affirmation that Baptist ecclesiology and voluntary cooperation are protected by the First Amendment," one pastor said. The pastor spoke on condition of anonymity because the parties had been asked not to discuss the court's schedule. A religious-liberty lawyer who has advised denominations on similar cases said the denial will effectively end the litigation after nearly nine years.

Background of the Dispute

NAMB partners with Southern Baptist churches, state conventions, and local associations to plant churches, coordinate disaster response, support adoption and foster care, and fight human trafficking. McRaney sued NAMB in April 2017 claiming the mission board influenced his termination and defamed him by telling outsiders he was delusional and dishonest. A federal district court dismissed the suit in 2019, but the dismissal was reversed in July 2020 and the case returned to district court.

NAMB previously asked the Supreme Court to review the case in 2021, but the justices denied that petition without recorded dissents. The case continued through discovery and eventually reached the Fifth Circuit, which heard arguments in April 2024. The September 2025 majority opinion stated that Baptist churches are autonomous but voluntarily cooperate in fellowship, and that civil courts cannot second-guess how NAMB chooses its partners or carries out its mission.

A church administrator who works with Southern Baptist entities in Texas said the case has been closely watched because a ruling against NAMB could have exposed churches and denominational agencies to employment and defamation suits over internal ministry decisions. "The Fifth Circuit recognized that non-hierarchical faith groups are no less entitled to First Amendment protection than hierarchical ones," the administrator said. "The Supreme Court letting that stand matters for every congregation that pools resources for missions."

The pastors said McRaney has argued in public statements that NAMB leaders defamed him and interfered with his ability to work in ministry, and that a secular court should be allowed to hear evidence about those allegations. NAMB has countered that McRaney's claims all stem from internal decisions about cooperation between Baptist entities, and that civil judges have no authority to evaluate whether those decisions were consistent with Baptist doctrine or polity.

Implications for Religious Institutions

The religious-liberty lawyer said the denial will reinforce the ministerial exception and church autonomy doctrines, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld in cases including Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC in 2012 and Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru in 2020. The lawyer noted that First Liberty Institute and WilmerHale represent NAMB, and both organizations have argued that no court should tell a church whom it must partner with to preach and teach.

Two pastors familiar with the case said McRaney is likely to issue a statement expressing disappointment and arguing that the decision leaves Baptist ministers and partners without recourse when denominational leaders harm them. NAMB is expected to welcome the denial and describe it as a landmark protection of religious liberty for Southern Baptists and other non-hierarchical faith groups, the pastors said.

The church administrator said denominations across the country will scrutinize the Supreme Court's orders list on Feb. 23 for any sign that a justice has requested the case be discussed at conference. If no recorded dissents accompany the denial, the administrator said, the Fifth Circuit opinion will stand as binding precedent in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, and will carry persuasive weight in other circuits facing similar church autonomy questions.

Over the next 48 hours, watch for statements from NAMB, First Liberty Institute, and McRaney's legal team. The religious-liberty lawyer said the outcome will also shape litigation strategy in pending cases involving Catholic, Lutheran, and nondenominational ministries that are defending internal employment decisions. "This closes one long chapter," the lawyer said. "It also signals how the current court views the boundary between civil courts and religious self-governance."

The pastors said the decision arrives during a broader push by the Trump administration and conservative state legislatures to expand religious exemptions and protect faith-based organizations from government interference. They noted that the denial will be cited in amicus briefs and lower-court filings across the country, particularly in cases involving church schools, denominational agencies, and faith-based adoption providers.