Abyssinian Baptist Church Faces Gender Bias Lawsuit Over Senior Pastor Selection

Eboni Marshall Turman, a Yale Divinity School professor, alleges the church's search committee openly discussed gender discrimination during its meetings.

Eboni Marshall Turman, a professor at Yale Divinity School, has filed a lawsuit against the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City, accusing it of gender discrimination in its search for a new senior pastor.
The lawsuit alleges that the search committee, led by Valerie S. Grant, openly discussed gender discrimination during its meetings, with one member stating that a woman would be hired as senior pastor 'over my dead body'.
The church and Grant, who is also a board member of Morehouse College in Atlanta, have disputed the accusations, stating that Marshall Turman fell short of some key requirements for the role.
Marshall Turman, who was the youngest pastor ordained in Abyssinian's history, was among dozens who applied for the position after the death of longtime senior pastor Calvin O. Butts III in 2022.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages for 'lost wages, lost benefits, other economic damages, shame, humiliation, embarrassment, and mental distress', as well as an injunction forbidding any hiring-related gender discrimination.