Columbia, USA - A $6 million judgment against the United Methodist Church in Missouri is about $500,000 more than the church's total net assets and could bankrupt the church, the Missouri conference's new bishop told members.
Last month, a Springfield jury awarded $4 million in punitive damages to Teresa Norris, who already had been awarded $2 million in compensatory damages.
Norris claimed she was raped seven years ago by her pastor, the Rev. David Finestead, in her office at Campbell United Methodist Church in Springfield, where she was director of music ministry.
She never filed a police report, and waited six weeks to report the crime to authorities. No criminal charges were ever filed.
Finestead, who has maintained his innocence, left the denomination and is now a Baptist minister in Kansas.
Robert Schnase, the Missouri conference's new bishop, told nearly 2000 delegates at their annual meeting over the weekend that the church doesn't have enough money to pay the entire award, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.
"Bankruptcy has been considered, but it will be considered last and it's considered something to avoid," said the Rev. Steve Cox, the conference's director of connectional ministries.