The board of trustees of an Independent Baptist Church in Maryland has the authority under the Maryland Religious Corporation Act to remove the pastor of the church without the involvement of the congregation, an appellate court in the state has ruled. The board of the Faith Bible Church of Sudlersville removed the pastor for a variety of reasons based on his personal behavior, organizational shortcomings, and inability to manage a break-down in civility in the church. To assure that the pastor would actually leave, the Church filed for a Declaratory Judgment that it had the authority to take the action for removal. The pastor responded and sought an injunction against the action. A trial...