Former pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church claims board of trustees improperly removed him

The former pastor of a church on the city's South Side is suing over claims he was improperly terminated and then barred from the entering the premises.

Tyrone R. Jordan filed a lawsuit Oct. 27 in Cook County Circuit Court against the Board of Trustees of Pilgrim Baptist Church. He is represented by Charles E. Harris II and Joseph M. Snapper of Mayer Brown in Chicago.

According to the complaint, the church's board in October 2010 voted Jordan the acting pastor and in June 2011, unanimously voted him to be the church's full-time pastor, which occurred Oct. 2, 2011.

Jordan claims he received a letter from the board on Sept. 24, terminating his services as pastor and, after he continued to attend services and enter the pulpit, received a letter on Oct. 16 forbidding him to enter church premises.

Under church bylaws, Jordan asserts the board does not have the power to terminate a pastor's service or expel him as a member of the church, and that such actions can only be done by a vote of church members.

He contends that a poll of 90 church members present Oct. 12 performed by a deacon showed that all but one member supported Jordan's continued service, and the one in opposition was a board member.He further alleges church attendance has reportedly gone down after he stopped attending.

In his suit, Jordan is seeking a declaratory judgment that the board does not have the power to remove him as pastor or expel him from the church, as well as judgment that he is still pastor of the church. He also wants a restraining order and permanent injunction preventing the board from interfering with his duties.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014CH17324.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.