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A federal Judge cleared voting for president of the National Baptist Convention to continue on as scheduled. The official vote will take place today, September 10. The Associated Baptist Press reports that one of the candidates, Henry Lyons, filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the election. He claims that a by-law amendment evoked in 2006 that limits the number of votes a representative entity can cast, unfairly favors his opponent. His opponent is Pastor Julius Scruggs of Alabama. Scruggs is currently the convention’s Vice President at large. Unfortunately for Lyons, the election will continue today as scheduled. The newly elected president will receive a salary of $100,000 a year for a five-year term.

Lyons first made headlines in 1997 after his former wife burned down a $700,000 home the couple owned together. The arson case brought attention to his lavish lifestyle that police say was funded through church funds after swindling more than $5.2 million. He was convicted of racketeering and grand theft in 1998 and served four years and 8 months of a 5 ½ year sentence. Despite being a convicted felon, he was he was elected president of The General Baptist State Convention of Florida, Inc. in 2007. Let’s all say a prayer on this one…