EAST ST. LOUIS - William Rogers of Wood River seeks a court order preserving his membership in Roxana Church of the Nazarene.
Rogers claims in a suit at U.S. district court that the church purported to expel him.
He requests a declaration voiding the church’s action and barring it from instituting any proceedings except in compliance with its bylaws.
He filed the complaint without counsel at Madison County circuit court in April.
He wrote that the church is an organization in which he is and was a member.
“The bylaws of the church set forth how to expel a member and for what reasons,” he wrote.
"Plaintiff, as a member of this organization, is an intended beneficiary of this written agreement.”
He claimed the church sought to expel him based on lawful political action off premises.
He claimed the church failed to allow him to have a representative of his choice at a hearing.
He also claimed the church failed to provide a member to zealously argue for him at the hearing.
“Plaintiff is suffering irreparable harm as a result,” he wrote.
He served the complaint on the church on May 20.
Church counsel Laura Schrick of Belleville removed it to district court on June 6, claiming he raised issues governed by the U.S. Constitution.
Schrick claimed the First Amendment mandates that religious organizations must retain the power to decide matters of church government free from state interference.
“Because plaintiff’s church membership was terminated pursuant to its internal ecclesiastical laws, plaintiff’s claims are governed by the First Amendment,” she wrote.
The court clerk randomly assigned District Judge Stephen McGlynn.