RAYTOWN, Mo. (BP) - Messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting overwhelmingly voted to continue their legal action against five breakaway institutions.

A motion introduced by Ron Mackey, a messenger from Windsor Baptist Church in Imperial and a member of the self-perpetuating board of The Baptist Home, called on messengers to instruct "the MBC Executive Board, the MBC Legal Task Force, and any other responsible party to immediately drop the legal actions against Missouri Baptist University, the Missouri Baptist Foundation, Windermere [Baptist Conference Center], The Baptist Home, and Word & Way [newsjournal]."

Messengers rejected Mackey's motion by more than a 2-to-1 margin after hearing a report from the MBC legal task force that included an encouraging word from former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice John Holstein, who called the MBC's case "winnable" and strongly urged the MBC to stay the course. Messengers also passed, with little opposition, a resolution affirming the legal task force.