The lawsuit against The Summit Church brought by members of Faith Baptist Church in Knightdale, North Carolina, challenged a 2024 plan to dissolve Faith Baptist and transfer its 30-acre campus, valued at roughly $25 million, to Summit, the Raleigh-Durham megachurch led by former Southern Baptist Convention president J.D. Greear. A Wake County judge halted the dissolution in April 2024, and the parties settled on December 3, 2024, the day before Greear was scheduled to sit for a videotaped deposition. The merger was abandoned, and Faith Baptist resumed services under its recalled founding pastor.
What the Dispute Was About
Faith Baptist is a non-denominational congregation whose constitution expressly forbids denominational affiliation. On January 21, 2024, its leadership announced a proposed merger with Summit, a Southern Baptist Convention-aligned church of about 12,000 members that had already launched a mobile campus at Knightdale High School in 2023.1The Christian Post. Summit Church Denies It Attempted Takeover of NC Church Under the plan, Faith Baptist would dissolve as a legal entity and its property would pass to Summit for use as Summit’s Knightdale campus.
Leadership justified the move with a December 10, 2023, presentation by treasurer Jon Wallace claiming eight consecutive years of shortfalls totaling more than $1 million. The former treasurer told member Brian Hopper Sr. that those figures were inaccurate, and in a later deposition Wallace admitted he did not know how the numbers were calculated or who prepared them.2American Reformer. Silent Takeover
Before the merger vote, church leadership reclassified 183 longtime members as “inactive,” stripping their right to vote. Many of those reclassified had been the loudest opponents of the plan. The March 3, 2024, vote proceeded with the reduced electorate and passed 97 to 55.1The Christian Post. Summit Church Denies It Attempted Takeover of NC Church
Who Sued and On What Grounds
A group of dissenting members organized as “Defenders of Faith” and retained attorney James Lawrence.2American Reformer. Silent Takeover Their suit raised four central claims:
- The merger with an SBC-aligned church violated Faith Baptist’s constitutional bar on denominational affiliation.
- The vote was invalid because 183 eligible members had been improperly disenfranchised.
- The claimed financial crisis rested on figures no one in leadership could explain.
- The staff severance packages tied to the dissolution violated the church’s rule against dissolving for personal gain.
Notably, Summit Church itself was not a named defendant. The suit targeted Faith Baptist and its leadership, though Summit’s conduct became central to the evidence.
The Injunction
The Defenders of Faith filed for a temporary restraining order in Wake County Superior Court just before the March 3 vote. The court granted the TRO on March 4, 2024. On April 19, 2024, the court issued a preliminary injunction halting the dissolution.2American Reformer. Silent Takeover The judge found that Summit had been involved in the situation “from the beginning,” a finding that cut against Summit’s public account of itself as a church simply responding to a struggling neighbor’s request.3Sarah Stankorb. A Failed Hostile Takeover
What Discovery Revealed About Summit’s Role
Internal emails and text messages produced in discovery showed that pastor Jason Little, hired by Faith Baptist in 2021 after Mick Bowen’s retirement, had been coordinating with Summit pastor Daniel Simmons about Summit’s interest in the property since September 2023, months before the congregation was told anything.2American Reformer. Silent Takeover Little gave Summit’s communications director, Amy Whitfield, access to Faith Baptist’s bylaws, and gave Summit’s chief financial officer, Todd Ervin, full access to the church’s financial records before the critical congregational meeting. Whitfield helped draft an FAQ document distributed to Faith Baptist members about the merger.
Greear recorded a video endorsement of the merger and attended a meet-and-greet at Faith Baptist on February 18, 2024. Kivett Hicks, pastor of Summit’s Knightdale campus, texted that he was “in for blasting away at the chairs” used by displaced members forced to meet outside under a pavilion.2American Reformer. Silent Takeover After the TRO, Hicks texted that he was personally fine if Summit did not get the property but noted Greear remained in “fight mode.” After leaving Faith Baptist in April 2024, Little signed a $6,000-per-month contract with Summit for “research regarding methods and helpful tactics in building strong local church partnerships.”3Sarah Stankorb. A Failed Hostile Takeover
The Bankruptcy Filing and the $170,000 Payment
On May 10, 2024, Faith Baptist filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina before Judge David M. Warren, listing assets between $10 million and $50 million and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million.4InfoRuptcy. Bankruptcy Case – Faith Baptist Church of Knightdale NC Inc The filing froze the state-court litigation.
On the same day, Summit Church contributed $170,000 to Faith Baptist.3Sarah Stankorb. A Failed Hostile Takeover Members of the opposition said the money financed the legal fight against the congregants trying to save the church.2American Reformer. Silent Takeover
How It Ended
As depositions of Summit leadership approached, Summit’s attorneys moved to prevent Greear’s December 4, 2024, videotaped deposition from being shared on social media, arguing release could embarrass the church. The judge denied the motion.1The Christian Post. Summit Church Denies It Attempted Takeover of NC Church
The parties settled on December 3, 2024, the day before Greear was to be deposed. The merger was dead. The bankruptcy case was dismissed on April 8, 2025, on the debtor’s own motion, and formally closed on April 24, 2025.5PACER Monitor. Faith Baptist Church of Knightdale NC Inc
Where Things Stand
Faith Baptist recalled its founding pastor, Gary Williams, and resumed ministry in 2025.1The Christian Post. Summit Church Denies It Attempted Takeover of NC Church The Summit Church continues to operate its Knightdale campus, launched in 2023 at Knightdale High School, as part of its multi-site network in the Raleigh-Durham area.
Summit’s directional elders issued a formal statement denying allegations of “manipulation, dishonesty, bullying tactics, or conspiracy,” calling them “simply untrue,” and said the church acted “with the utmost integrity at every step.”1The Christian Post. Summit Church Denies It Attempted Takeover of NC Church The elders maintained that Faith Baptist’s leadership had approached Summit because of declining attendance and financial instability. Because the case settled before trial and the terms were not made public, no court ever made a final merits ruling on the Defenders of Faith’s four claims; the preliminary injunction and the judge’s finding that Summit was involved “from the beginning” stand as the furthest the litigation went on the record.