Category Archives: Christian Lawsuits

Church Settles Dispute Through Courts

May 18, 2023 – 4:28 pm

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 […]

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Another U.S. Pastor Sues for Defamation

March 25, 2023 – 3:04 pm

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 […]

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Pastor Sues Former Parishioners

July 15, 2022 – 5:36 pm

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 […]

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Celebration Church Lawsuit

March 19, 2022 – 12:06 pm

It’s a little harder to celebrate at Celebration Church these days. The church, based in Jacksonville, Florida, is embroiled in litigation. The church’s trustees ousted its founding pastor, Stovall Weems, in January, and he has filed a lawsuit against the church, seeking reinstatement and demanding an investigation of “any and all wrongdoing.” The church countered […]

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Should Christian Organizations Use NDAs?

December 11, 2021 – 4:18 pm

In my post dated November 27, 2021, I addressed some of the problems with Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs). In this post, I want to examine their role in the church. Many Christian organizations – churches, ministries, parachurch organizations – have resolved disputes with claimants by requiring them to sign an NDA. The same concerns about NDAs […]

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