JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP) - A Missouri circuit judge April 5 directed that limited discovery could proceed in one of the two cases brought by the Missouri Baptist Convention against five breakaway MBC entities, while the initial case is pending in the Missouri Court of Appeals.

Judge Richard G. Callahan of the Cole County Circuit Court granted none of the six motions filed by attorneys representing five breakaway MBC entities, including motions that sought to dismiss the legal action brought by the convention in its effort to reclaim the entities.

The hearing in Cole County was the latest in a legal battle of more than two years between the MBC and five of its entities where trustees voted to become self-perpetuating without MBC approval. The five entities, with assets worth more than $240 million, are the Windermere Baptist Conference Center, The Baptist Home retirement facility, Missouri Baptist Foundation, Missouri Baptist College (now University) and Word & Way newsjournal.

In November 2002, Cole County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Brown III ruled - without comment - against the five entities' motions to dismiss the case. Then on March 11, 2004, Brown reversed himself, ruling that the MBC executive board and the six churches did not have standing to file the action because messengers, not churches, were representative members of the convention.