Ousted pastor sues Zion Baptist Church

THREE DAYS BEFORE Christmas, the Rev. Adolphus C. Prince, the ousted pastor of Zion Baptist Church, filed a lawsuit against the historic church of the late Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, seeking $50,000 and reinstatement as pastor.

The suit seeks temporary and permanent injunctions to stop the congregation from having a second vote, scheduled for Jan. 9, on whether Prince should return.

In the Dec. 22 filing, Prince asks Common Pleas Court to overturn the July 2014 vote, saying that he "was pastor of Zion Baptist Church from January 2012 until he was illegally removed on July 12, 2014."

Prince's suit names as defendants the church, the deacons board, deacons board chairman Frank K. Richardson Jr., the trustee board, and trustee board chairman Ronald J. Harper.

The church, on Broad Street at Venango, was made famous by Sullivan, known worldwide as the "Lion of Zion" and an advocate for civil and human rights. He was pastor from 1950 to 1988.

Prince, who formerly went by the name A. Carl Prince, apparently had been part of a group of Zion church members who agreed last fall to have a second vote about his firing. Ads were placed in the Philadelphia Daily News and other newspapers on Oct. 5 announcing:

"Zion Baptist Church Plaintiffs and Reverend Dr. A. Carl Prince just won a court approved settlement that overturned the July 2014 pastoral election as the church by-laws had been violated.

"The settlement also outlines the procedures and restrictions that will be applied to the next Pastoral Election."

Neither Prince nor his lawyer Robert T. Vance could be reached for comment yesterday.

The Daily News reported in 2014 that Prince, then 55, had kept his former church, Mount Hope Baptist Church in Prince George County, Va., in litigation for several years. After agreeing to leave that church in December 2011, he arrived at Zion in January 2012.

Yesterday, a sizable crowd heard the Rev. Albert Campbell, retired pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, sermonize on the importance of prayer at a time of crisis.

He said that Jesus prayed before his crucifixion that his 12 disciples would remain "as one, united and not torn and splintered apart."

Campbell said that, since its founding in the 1880s, "Zion has faced a crisis of transition from then to now, through at least 10 pastors, and Zion still stands."

The congregation applauded.

"This crisis will make us stronger," Campbell said.

At a members-only meeting after the service, many church members learned that Prince had sued the church to be reinstated, according to longtime member Jessie Frisby.

In February 2015, a lawsuit was filed against church officers by 37 members seeking information about church finances. The suit is pending in Common Pleas Court.

Emma Chappell, former president of United Bank who was one of Prince's supporters in 2014, said she had no knowledge of Prince's lawsuit until yesterday and had no comment.

Harper, the trustee-board chairman, said the church plans to have its second vote on schedule.

He said that Prince was part of the agreement to settle accusations that members had not received three months' notice before the July 2014 vote.

Unless the court issues an order to stop the vote, Harper said, “We’re definitely not backing down.”