Shunned Worshippers File Suit, With Mixed Results
As more evangelical churches return to the practice of disciplining errant members, some shunned worshippers are taking the disputes to court.
More than two dozen lawsuits related to church discipline have been filed in the past decade, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.), relying on information from the Religion Case Reporter. The suits claim defamation, negligent counseling and emotional injury.
Some courts are reluctant to get involved in religious matters. Last year the Texas Supreme Court ruled on behalf of a pastor who told his congregation about a member’s affair, saying resolving the civil suit would “unconstitutionally entangle the court in matters of church governance.”
But the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a woman’s defamation suit against the Iowa Methodist conference for accusing a woman of “spreading the spirit of Satan” because a letter calling her a sinner was mailed to people outside the church.
The Wall Street Journal featured the case of 71-year-old Karolyn Caskey, who was arrested twice for attending Allen Baptist church in southwestern Michigan even though she had been expelled from the congregation. The pastor accused her of spreading “a spirit of cancer and discord” because she had pressed him to appoint a board of deacons.
The county prosecutor threw out the charges both times. He has instructed police not to arrest the woman against unless she is creating a disturbance.
