Killer Church Fight
October 1, 2001
"Brother Al, I need you to come down here." Al Grounds recognized the voice of his long-time friend, Sheriff John Cooper, on the other end of the line. "There are some papers on my desk for you." Al's mind began to race. Papers? Before he could put his question into words, he heard: "I also have a warrant for your arrest." "A what?" Al asked. "A warrant for your arrest. Look, Brother Al, you don't need to worry about anything. Just come down to the office. I know you'll do the right thing, and so will I." As Al hung up the phone he wondered if this had anything to do with the annoying phone calls and letters he'd received from an attorney representing several of his former church members. The lawyer kept saying he was filing a lawsuit against Al and his deacons, but Al never thought anything of it. No court would hear a case that was essentially an internal church dispute. A few weeks earlier a disgruntled group from his church, Calvary Baptist in Fair Oaks, Kentucky, called a special business meeting for the purpose of dismissing Pastor Al Grounds and removing from membership everyone who did not live inside the city limits. The meeting didn't go the way Al's critics expected. Instead of dismissing Brother Al, the church ousted the thirteen. As they walked out of the church building that night, the leader of the group, a seventy-something woman named Imogene Hurst, snarled, "This isn't over. This isn't over by a long shot." Deputy Tom Cole glanced up as Al walked through the doors of the sheriff's office. "Brother Al, I just want you to know that I don't want any part of this." Tom's voice rose in anger, "The papers, they're here on my desk, but I'm not touching them. I'm not giving them to you. I want absolutely nothing to ...
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