The headquarters of the Southern Baptist Convention, located in Nashville, Tennessee. | Photo Credit: Southern Baptist Convention Official WebsiteAn appeals court panel recently ruled against Will McRaney in his lawsuit accusing a missions agency of defamation. McRaney, a former Southern Baptist state convention leader, had filed the lawsuit against the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board (NAMB), claiming that it had gotten him fired from a position with the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware. The dispute stems from a 2012 Strategic Partnership Agreement between NAMB and the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, aimed at better evangelizing nonbelievers in the region. In 2017, McRaney filed a lawsuit against NAMB, alleging defamation and claiming that the SBC entity had influenced his firing.