Category Archives: Christian Lawsuits

Seminary Dispute Could be Resolved Privately

The former president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Adam Greenway, is suing the seminary, as reported in The Christian Post and the Baptist Press last week. Mr. Greenway became president of the seminary in February 2019, and resigned in September 2022. After he left, the Board of Trustees authorized a task force to investigate presidential […]

Federal Court Refines Claims Subject to “Ministerial Exception”

The “ministerial exception” to laws governing employment relationships in the U.S. prevents courts from considering employment-related legal claims made by church employees, or former employees, who meet the definition of a “minister.” Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 140 S. Ct. 2049 (2020); Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171 […]

Church Settles Dispute Through Courts

The Evangel Church in Detroit had a dispute about its governance. Some leaders determined that the pastor should be selected by the board of elders, and then the pastor would select the members board of elders. But the church members contended that they had always had voting rights. This is not an uncommon debate in […]

Another U.S. Pastor Sues for Defamation

Pastors do not like being accused of scurrilous behavior. According to Scripture, the remedy is to resolve such issues within the church (I Corinthians 6:1-7) but some American pastors prefer to sue their accusers in the civil courts, even if the accuser is another Christian or Christian entity. (see, e.g., my blog posts on July […]

Pastor Sues Former Parishioners

Christians are not supposed to sue one another. If they have disputes, they should work them out privately, within the church, not in public courts. That’s the gist of I Corinthians 6:1-7. Here’s an especially egregious violation of this command: a pastor has filed a lawsuit against former members of his church. One would expect […]