Protestant churches are expelling more members

Alexandra Alter of The Wall Street Journal reports "a growing movement among some conservative Protestant pastors to bring back church discipline, an ancient practice in which suspected sinners are privately confronted and then publicly castigated and excommunicated if they refuse to repent. While many Christians find such practices outdated, pastors in large and small churches across the country are expelling members for offenses ranging from adultery and theft to gossiping, skipping service and criticizing church leaders."

Sometimes the offenses seem to be more against the pastor than the church or some higher power. Alter begins her story with the case of a rural Michigan woman who questioned her pastor's authority, and cites a woman in rural Virginia who was voted out "for gossiping about her pastor's plans to buy a bigger house." And sometimes the supposedly private actions become public; the Virginia woman "believes the episode cost her a seat on the school board last year; she lost by 42 votes," Alter writes.

"In the past decade, more than two dozen lawsuits related to church discipline have been filed as congregants sue pastors for defamation, negligent counseling and emotional injury, according to the Religion Case Reporter, a legal-research database," Alter reports. "Courts have often refused to hear such cases on the grounds that churches are protected by the constitutional right to free religious exercise, but some have sided with alleged sinners. ... Scholars estimate that 10 to 15 percent of Protestant evangelical churches practice church discipline -- about 14,000 to 21,000 U.S. congregations in total." (Read more)