(RNS) — A former member has sued Grace Community Church, led by prominent evangelical pastor John MacArthur, saying church leaders disclosed confidential information about her during a church service.
In a complaint filed Thursday (July 3) in Los Angeles County Superior Court, lawyers for Lorraine Zielinski said she went to leaders at the megachurch in LA’s Sun Valley neighborhood, where MacArthur is the longtime pastor, seeking counseling for her troubled marriage and was told her conversations would be kept confidential.
According to the complaint, she told counselors she was afraid for her safety and the safety of her daughter, alleging that her then-husband was physically abusive. Her lawyers said church leaders pressured Zielinski to drop her request for a legal separation.
When Zielinski tried to resign as a church member, pastors put her under church discipline for failing to follow their counsel, according to the complaint. They also allegedly told her to either come to a meeting with church pastors or details of her counseling would be made public to the congregation.
“When Plaintiff did not attend the meeting, GCC made good on its threat and shared information gained through confidential communications relating to her marriage with GCC membership,” according to the complaint. “GCC also misrepresented parts of these communications, painting Plaintiff as a bad actor in the marriage and the party at fault for the marital dispute. GCC also omitted Plaintiff’s husband’s desire to remarry and dissolve the marriage.”
The Sunday morning service concludes at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, July 26, 2020. (Video screen grab via Vimeo/Grace Community Church)
Church members were also allegedly asked to pressure Zielenski to submit to church leaders and to reconcile with her husband, according to the complaint.
Lawyers for Zielenski said the church violated her right to privacy and her right to free association, disclosed private facts, painted her in a false light, breached confidentiality and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.
Grace Community Church did not reply to a request for comment; nor did lawyers for Zielenski. The lawsuit will likely face legal challenges on First Amendment grounds.
Matthew Branaugh, an attorney and editor with Church Law & Tax, a publication that specializes in legal and tax issues affecting churches, said courts generally avoid getting involved in internal church disputes over matters like doctrine or church governance. That would include standards for church members and matters of church discipline.
There are limits, however, especially when internal church matters spill over into the public sphere or when disputes involve issues that are not matters of doctrine.
Branaugh said churches often operate with a less-is-more approach to make sure only people in the church who need to know are made aware of church discipline issues.
“They need to think long and hard about when and how and where they communicate that to those members and really make sure that just members are hearing that message,” he said. Courts also view statements or disclosures made about church members differently than those made about nonmembers, he added.
Branaugh said he did not know the details of the lawsuit involving Grace Community Church and could not comment on the specifics on the case.
The bylaws for Grace Community Church outline an extensive membership and church discipline process. Members can be removed for refusing to repent of their sins, for being divisive or for teaching false doctrine, according to the bylaws. They can also be removed for failing to show up for church or Sunday school for six months.
“Resignations from membership are possible only by church members who are in good standing and who are not under any disciplinary action,” the bylaws state. Members are also “publicly dismissed” during church services as part of the discipline process.
According to the complaint, a counselor at the church suggested Zielenski resign as a member. But when Zielenski sent a letter of resignation, church leaders rejected it, the complaint alleges. It is unclear whether Zielenski was considered under church discipline at the time.
Grace Community Church uses what are known as “biblical counselors” — an approach that views counseling as a “theological task.”
“The work of understanding the problems which require counseling and of helping people with those problems requires theological faithfulness and submission to the way God explains life,” the Association of Biblical Counselors website explains.
These types of biblical counselors practice more limited forms of confidentiality than licensed counselors bound by state laws. They also are allowed to disclose details shared in counseling with other church leaders if they believe someone being counseled refuses to repent of their sins. As a result, counseling can lead to church discipline.
The discipline process at Grace Community Church has caused controversy in the past. In 2002, during a church service, MacArthur publicly accused a member of being unwilling to repent for refusing to reconcile with her estranged husband, who had been accused of abuse. The husband was later convicted of abuse but church leaders still sided with him for years, The Roys Report reported in 2022. When a church elder asked to look into the case concluded the church had acted wrongly and told other leaders the church needed to make things right, he was told to either keep quiet or leave, Christianity Today reported.