Tag: Court

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News

NAMB Engaged in ‘Egregious Misconduct’ Court Filing Claims

(Capstone Report) New court filings reveal a glimpse into the evidence that the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board (NAMB) attempted to discipline a state convention by cutting funding and then immediately restored the funding when the state convention caved to Kevin Ezell’s demands. Also, new filings show how Ezell and NAMB engaged in ‘egregious misconduct’ by failure to correct Russell Moore’s lies.

The North American Mission Board decided it should discipline a state Baptist convention, according to new court filings in the Will McRaney v. NAMB case. The new filing comes in an amended complaint and teases evidence revealing that NAMB discussed a “Maryland/Delaware disciplinal process.”

According to new court filings, “NAMB referred to its now-rescinded threat that it would sever relations with BCMD if it did not get its way as the ‘Maryland/Delaware disciplinal process.’”

Disciplinal?

What does that even mean? Did NAMB mean disciplinary? And how comfortable are state convention executives with the idea that NAMB might attempt to discipline you or your churches?

And there are other juicy tidbits in this new filing that advances our understanding of what is going on in the discovery process now underway in the McRaney v. NAMB case.

As soon as Maryland/Delaware caved and forced out McRaney, NAMB restored money it took away as punishment, according to the new filings. These moves show what appears to be coordination between Kevin Ezell’s NAMB and…to continue reading, click here.

Editor’s Note. This article was written and published at the Capstone Report

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News

Judge Dismisses Megachurch Pastor’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Former Church

A judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by megachurch pastors Stovall and Kerri Weems against their former church, after the church which they founded and led for decades suspended them for being bad pastors and then published a report describing the Weemses in less-than-glowing terms:

The single word used most frequently to describe Stovall Weems was ‘narcissist.’ Nearly every witness we interviewed used that specific word….the Weemses…leadership is inconsistent and unbiblical (and) marked by rampant spiritual and emotional abuse, including manipulation, a profound sense of self-importance and selfishness, superiority and entitlement, overbearing and unreasonable demands on employees’ time, a lack of accountability or humility, and demands of absolute loyalty….Spiritually, the Weemses have acted with arrogance, pride, deception, manipulation, selfishness, dishonesty, greed, entitlement, conceit, and unrepentance. In short, the antithesis of biblical leadership as described in scripture. REPORT OF INVESTIGATION to CELEBRATION CHURCH OF JACKSONVILLE, INC. April 24, 2022

This prompted a lawsuit against Celebration Church:

In response, the defendants alleged that the court lacked the subject matter jurisdiction to consider the Plaintiffs claims because “such consideration would violate the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, which
prohibits the secular courts from adjudicating religious disputes.”

The Judge ultimately agreed, concluding:

The Plaintiffs allege the Defendants sought to “prevent [the Plaintiffs] from continuing their
ministry anywhere else,” “destroy any opportunity for Pastor Weems to lead a ministry in the
future,” and have “unjustifiably ruined Plaintiffs’ ability to work in their chosen profession.”

…The consideration of these issues would require: this Court to impermissibly entangle itself within matters of church governance and pastor qualifications.

Because the Plaintiffs’ claims on their face as currently written require this Court’s involvement in ecclesiastical, doctrinal matters, neutral principles of law cannot be used to consider the issues at hand. As such, this Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE the Plaintiffs’ complaint.

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News

Duggar Family Reacts to Guilty Verdict ‘This Trial has felt more like a Funeral than Anything Else’

With Josh Duggar found guilty and facing 20 years in prison for possessing and receiving child pornography- a sentence he will hear the outcome of in April 2022- his family has reacted to the news with a dismay and sad acceptance, with most asking for prayer for his wife Anna and their seven children that will be left without a father, possibly for decades, along with his many victims.

Of particular note is that many of the statements are deeply theological in nature. This is on account that many are professing Christians, either pastoring or attending conservative Christian churches.

Ben Seewald is a pastor of a small Baptist church in Arkansas. He and his wife Jessa (Duggar) believe in the Doctrines of Grace, and are frequently found quoting Charles Spurgeon, RC Sproul, John Calvin, and others. They write:

Jeremy Vuolo is a pastor who is currently attending Master’s Seminary in California, under pastor John MacArthur. His wife Jinger (Duggar) was baptized a few months ago at Grace Church, with her writing “I came to realize that although I was baptized at the age of 11, I didn’t really come to know and love Jesus until I was 14 years old. On Sunday, I was able to publicly declare that I have been joined to Jesus Christ in his life, death, and resurrection.” They brought the bible to bear on the situation.

Derick and Jill Dillard are both professing Christians and brought the scriptures as well, describing the trial as a type of’ funeral.’

Amy Duggar, their cousin, has been openly critical of Josh the entire time, and made her feelings known.

Last is a statement from the family’s patriarch and matriarch, who professed their love for their son, their desire to continue to pray for him, prayers for victims of Child Sexual Abuse Material, and for their daughter-in-law.

We all ought to echo these prayers.

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Evangelical Stuff Featured News

John MacArthur’s Church Set to Win $800,000 Settlement From County For Shutdown Scheme

The legal battle between John MacArthur and Los Angeles County is set to come to a close next week, with the government poised to pay Grace Community Church 800k in legal fees and compensation for repeatedly taking them to court last summer and seeking to shut them down.

Last year MacArthur and Grace Community Church (CGC) made national news and became the face of the movement of congregations that refused to shut down its services, insisting on having them in person, in their church building, unmasked, in violation of California lockdown laws.

In response to their biblical and principled stand, the County got a court order against GCC, demanding they stop. Instead of submitting to the government’s will, the church deliberately continued to have church services and disregarded an injunction issued against them. The County wanted them to be found in contempt for flouting the injunction, but the church argued that the injunction was granted on the faulty premise of an unconstitutional order, and should have rightly been ignored.

Rather than adjudicate the contempt charges, GCC lawyers argued that MacArthur and GCC were first entitled to a full-blown trial on the merits of their lawsuit challenging Gavin Newsom’s shutdown orders, proposing that “a final determination on the constitutionality of the orders must occur before the County could seek contempt against MacArthur for merely holding church.”

The Judge agreed, allowing GCC to continue meeting while the contempt charges were pursued, which took several months. Before the case could be adjudicated, the Supreme Court ruled that California’s lockdown rules against churches were indeed unconstitutional, effectively ending the ability of the County to come against them.

But MacArthur and GCC did not simply passively defend against the lawsuit when they were first threatened, but also countersued the state and city officials, claiming that their first amendment rights were violated.

They’ve now seen the fruits of their labor.

In a recent letter to supporters of the John MacArthur Charitable Trust, MacArthur called the County’s decision to back down, pay all their legal fees, and drop all charges a “monumental victory for Grace Community Church” and explained that “We know that there is no circumstance that can cause the church to close. The church is not only a building but is the bride of Christ and exists to proclaim the truth.”



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Featured In-person Church Righteous Defiance

Canadian Pastor and Elder Team Ordered by Court to Pay $85,000 In New Fines for Defying Lockdown

On January 24, 2021, Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo, held a service unmasked and together as one congregation, violating the government’s shutdown order which at the time prohibited churches from gathering in more than 10 people. For that crime, they were fined $83,000 for contempt—not just the church entity, or the pastor, but all six members of the elder board were handed down fines. This is that breakdown:

Pastor Will and I each owe $5,000.  Pastor Randy owes $4,000.  Each of the other elders owe $3,000.  The church itself owes $15,000.  And we have been ordered to pay $45,000 to cover the legal fees of the Ministry of the Attorney General.

These are fines that are a done deal. Because they are for contempt charges they’re essentially unable to be appealed or waived, and are not theoretical “they could get fined up to…” but in fact are judgments rendered.

With that those expenses looming, the church received another court ruling against them on Tuesday July 27, explaining on their website:

On April 25, 2021, we held another extravagant worship service.  That service was held in contempt of another court order.  We were sentenced today.  Here’s how it breaks down:  both Pastor Will and I owe $10,000 each, the other elders owe $7,500 each, and the church itself owes $35,000.  The judge will review the Ministry of the Attorney General’s legal costs and then order us to pay legal costs at a later date.  So in total we owe $85,000 plus legal costs.  

That’s $170,000 in real-time fines, and there are likely more on the way. We’ve written before how in many ways, Trinity Bible Chapel has faced the most opposition and steepest price out of any church in North America for being open. GraceLife Church in Alberta had their pastor James Coates arrested and spend over a month in jail. Fairview Baptist Church also had their church building taken away, and their pastor Tim Stephens served nearly 3 weeks in prison, but TBC has endured absolutely brutal, punishing, unending fines for being open, including facing $50 million dollars in potential fines right now.

Despite the blow, Pastor Jacob Rheaume says that they’ve counted the cost of staying open during the pandemic and insisting that Jesus is the head of the church, not the government.

When this is all added up, we’re gonna owe a lot of money.  But Jesus is worth it. I’ve heard some people say crazy things like, “Giving up our worship services is a small price right now, just a little inconvenience.”  The problem with that is that worship services are not ours to give up.  They belong to Jesus.  He purchased His worship with the price of His own blood.  That mindset only reveals how man-centered many are in their view of church and worship.  Really and truly, the mindset should be my money and my comfort and my life are small prices to pay right now to worship Jesus. He’s worth it.

In an act of boldness and courage that should shame any pastor who shut down, and be a balm to the soul of those fellow men who resisted, he told the court this in response to the fines and being chastised for his keeping his church open:

Your Honour, our consciences have been bound to continue ministering as our Lord has taught us and as Christians have done for millennia. Our Lord has taught us to gather for worship at least one day in seven, and that has been the consistent pattern of Christians since the Day of Pentecost. Our greatest sorrow in these contempt findings is not the penalties we have incurred but rather that we defied the orders of this court to uphold the orders of our Creator. We would much rather live in a world where the government and this honorable court provide orders that are in line with the orders of our Lord Jesus.

Jesus purchased us by His own blood. Our sincerely held belief is that we are thus beholden to Him because He owns us and the church. We do not view ourselves as owners of the church. Much rather we are stewards. The One who owns the church—the church not being the building, but the people and their worship—He has entrusted her to us. Therefore, first and foremost we are required to submit to and uphold His supreme Headship over the church and His worship. In these two infractions, we have sought to honour our Saviour.

Our sincere desire is to avoid further penalties and offence, but our consciences have captivated us to obey God over man.

Praise God for this church, pastor, elders, and congregation for their model of faithfulness.

If you would like to help cover the costs, and have already given to your local church, please visit the Go Fund Me page. If you would like to make a larger contribution to their legal fund, you can donate to the church (click here and select legal fund),

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Breaking News

Breaking! James Coates Charter Rights Were Not Violated, Says Judge



Judge Robert Robert Shaigec of the Alberta Provincial Court ruled that Pastor James Coates’ charter rights were NOT violated when he was arrested and jailed for 35 days for the crime of breaching Covid health orders, handing the defiant preacher a resounding loss.


Pastor Coates was charged with one count of violating Alberta’s Public Health Act, the result of refusing to stop in-person services at Gracelife church despite a court order lodged against him.

The judge further ruled that his Charter rights were not violated when the government forbade and restricted worship and singing in church, nor were his rights violated after he spent 35 days in prison, saying “it was Mr. Coates choice to make.”

In short, he dismissed Coates’ Charter application completely, noting:

“The argument that James Coates was forced to either forsake his conscience or secure his liberty has been answere. Religious freedoms are subject to the rule of law.”

This is a developing story…

Categories
Featured In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

Day 1 of the GraceLife Church Trial: ‘Compliance with AHS Meant Noncompliance with God’

Pastor James Coates took the stand behind a clear plexiglass barrier yesterday, choosing to affirm his oath rather than swearing on a bible that he would tell the whole truth in regards to his one count of violating the Public Health Act while leading services at GraceLife Church.

During the course of the day, Coates stated that the province’s shutdown restrictions which cap his church capacity and insist on a host of uncomfortable and onerous remediations were an infringement of his and his congregants’ constitutional right to freedom of religion and peaceful assembly. He further argued that that the threat from the novel coronavirus was exaggerated, describing COVID-19 as a “so-called pandemic” and told the court “I don’t believe that COVID-19 poses a serious health risk to our people.”

He said the government was taking advantage of the situation and drastically blowing it out of proportion: “The government was capitalizing on the crisis to usher in an agenda that would transform the society as we know it…The real threat is AHS and its public health orders.”

It was revealed that while two members of GraceLife caught the virus early on, they ended up fine. He said that for the last 37 weeks, they’ve had no cases that they are aware of, even as they added hundreds of new people.

During cross-examination the prosecutor challenged this claim, arguing that he couldn’t prove that no one had gotten sick in all those months “You wouldn’t know whether someone was sick or not?” She said that some cases were asymptomatic and that James himself had questioned whether or not these tests were even reliable to begin with, and so he could have no way of knowing if that were true.

One thing that was made clear was that Coates took exception government’s handling of the whole affair, venting:

It’s the government that’s practicing civil disobedience and, at this point in time, there seems to be no accountability.

The government has been able to essentially do whatever it wants and you’ve got the media that just fearmonger the people into believing the COVID narrative, and the supreme law of the land, the Charter, is being ignored. The long-term ramifications of that toward this promising country are deeply concerning to me.”

Coates took the opportunity to reinforce the commandment of Acts 5:29 that says ‘We musts serve God rather than men:’

We determined that complying with AHS meant non-compliance with God so we decided, ‘OK, well, who would you rather be (in) noncompliance with? God, or AHS?’ And I think the choice is pretty simple.

While Coates testified a large portion of the day, Crown Prosecutor Karen L Thorsrud called only one witness: Janine Hanrahan with Alberta Health Services. She testified that during several of her visits in November and December of 2020 she observed multiple examples of risky behavior, such as no masks and no social distancing. She further testified that she made recommendations to him such as to use sanitizer, wear masks, having proper signage, and separate doors for entering and exiting the church, none of which were implemented.

Hanrahan also testified that during one of her inspection visits she overheard pastor Coates telling an RCMP officer that Alberta’s chief medical officer, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, was a “dictator” and that “Premier Jason Kenney was hiding behind her.” [Fact Check: True]

While being questioned she sought to downplay how intrusive her presence was to the church, while Lawyers for Coates painted it as a distraction.

According to a press release by the JCCF

“Lawyer Leighton Grey represents Pastor Coates and Grace Life Church, and cross-examined Ms. Hanrahan, asking the AHS bureaucrat why she took RCMP officers with her to the church. Notes from an RCMP officer indicate that Ms. Hanrahan told police that she feared being harmed by going to the church, but admitted on the stand that she did not have concerns that someone from church would harm her. Ms. Hanrahan then said that bringing the RCMP was because of media attention.”

For the church though, they wish it had never come to this, despite the prosecutor’s hints that attendance had gone up since they took their stance, suggesting their defiance was self-serving in order to grow. Coates denied this completely, lamenting:

We never wanted this public position that we’ve been given. It came to us. We’d happily resign all of it to be able to worship quietly on Sundays without all this attention.

The trial resumes today.

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Featured News Righteous Defiance

John MacArthur Files Document in Court Repudiating Julie Roys – ‘It’s a Falsehood’

Lawyers for John MacArthur filed paperwork on Friday in the L.A. Superior Court, asking that the injunction that ordered them to cease holding indoor services and making masks and social distancing be dissolved, as well as repudiating testimony from Julie Roys after it was used by the County’s lawyers to claim MacArthur has been lying about COVID breakouts in his congregation, and that they weren’t being reported.

Among the paperwork filed was a declaration from MacArthur, noting that his lawyers were trying to make her testimony/report against them inadmissible and that even if it was admissible, it was full of falsehoods.

Grace Community Church and their legal representation will be in court on April 9th to have their motion heard.

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Church Featured In-person Church News Righteous Defiance

Pastor James Coates Calls into Church Service + Newest Info We Have

With the disappointing news that Pastor James Coates lost his condition hearing and is set to spend the next 2 months in a maximum-security prison until his May 3-5 trial, several new developments have taken place as the sad saga continues.

Prison Life

James has been in custody since February 16. He is now out of quarantine/solitary confinement and has been given the opportunity to have a video call with his wife and child, and is able to spend three hours out of his cell each day, with his wife sharing:

James does have the opportunity to appeal his bail hearing conditions before May 5th, but there is no word yet on when that will take place.

Response from law enforcement

Gracelife Church continued having services, violating the closure order for the sixth time, all the while two police cars and several members of law enforcement looked on but did not come into the services. This is a change from the last few weeks, where over a dozen cruisers surrounded the church and hovered nearby, along with staying for the duration of the service. Police have not handed out any more tickets, and it seems for now they have yet to finalize the best way to deal with the Church’s open rebellion and defiance.

Despite the Crown Prosecutor insisting that James Coates must be locked up because he would be a danger to the public if released, as he would just go back to preaching at capacity crowds, they have not arrested Associate Pastor Jacob Spenst, who is preaching in his stead and doing the exact same thing. For the record, the public health prosecutor’s name is Karen L. Thorsrud. She is the one who asked for anonymity for herself during the hearing, which was granted by the courts. [Editor’s note: Her name is Karen? No way…you can’t make this stuff up!]

Cst. Shelley Nasheim, domestic violence unit and media liaison for the Parkland RCMP, explained that “Alberta Health Services, with the assistance of the RCMP, are still monitoring the Grace Life Church.  RCMP members did attend yesterday to monitor the situation.” A statement from the RCMP noted that they “remain engaged in continued consultations with several partner agencies to determine the most productive course of action in relation to the church.”

The Church Services

Unlike previous weeks, the Church did not reach their capacity and did not have to turn anyone away, though they were pretty close.

Having a suspicion that members of law enforcement were going to show up early in the morning and change the locks on the church in order to physically bar any congregants from entering and thereby gathering, a reporter for Rebel Media, Sheila Gunn Reid, showed up at the Church Sunday morning at 5:00 am to document it. Thankfully, that did not materialize.

Whereas in previous weeks the Church has allowed members of Rebel Media to film inside of the church for portions of the service, correspondent Sheila Gunn Reid explained that they would no longer be doing so, as this is not a spectacle, but simply the church having normal worship services in abnormal times, and ought to be treated as such. Other members of the media arrived on the scene to film the church from across the side of the road.

During the service, Pastor James Coates was able to call in and listen for a brief time but did not speak. Furthermore, the congregation played a personalized video message from Pastor John MacArthur, of whom both pastors at Gracelife are Masters Seminary alumni.


In the message, Pastor John explains that he’s had an opportunity to listen to a number of sermons from Coates and that he’s proud of him, describing him as an “outstanding preacher” who is “handling the word of God faithfully” and is a model of “conviction and courage.” He says they’ve been likewise blessed by the writings of his wife, Erin, and that he and Grace Community Church continues to have the congregation in their prayers.

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Church In-person Church Righteous Defiance

What Exactly Happened at James Coates’ Hearing?

Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church had a hearing today to determine whether or not he’s spending the next two months in prison for the crime of being a faithful shepherd, with the judge hearing both submissions and then ruling Friday morning in the case that has garnered international attention and has highlighted Alberta’s tyrannical and schizophrenic coronavirus shutdown restrictions.

The hearing was to determine whether or not the conditions of James’ release might be modified or removed, as presently he will only be allowed to leave prison unless he promises to not step back on Church property again. The hearing was live-streamed on WebEx and was attended by nearly 450 people, many that failed to mute their microphone upon entry into the channel, causing frequent interruptions and chatter throughout, at one point causing both lawyers some difficulty hearing and needing to pause until the disruptions were muted.

Along with the online viewers, there were dozens of supporters gathered outside the Edmonton courthouse, protesting and praying for a favorable result.

The judge in the case, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Peter Michalyshyn, noted that Coates did not want a publication ban on the affair, an unusual move as they are normally imposed on bail hearings.

In contrast, the prosecutor requested that she not be mentioned by name and rather simply by her title, on account of her personal safety and “some security [issues] that have arisen on this matter,” an unusual request, which was granted.

Though each lawyer was given 10 minutes to speak and argue their case, the entire hearing lasted not much more than minutes. With all their arguments already submitted, Coates’s lawyer, James Kitchen with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, spoke the bulk of the time and the prosecutor chimed in for less than a minute.

Responding to the Crown’s contention that there is a substantial likelihood of danger to the public if Coates were released, Kitchen retorted that since the church has been opened at near capacity since July and there have been no outbreaks or superspreader events linked to his congregation, that this is substantial proof that Coates is no danger to Albertans. “He’s not going to hurt anybody, the only thing that will happen is he holds church again.”

Kitchen said it should be determined whether Coates’s charter rights are being violated before he is jailed, remarking: “We are putting the cart before the horse, doing things backwards.” Further, even if he was convicted of what he’s accused of, it wouldn’t even be a jailable offense, so why would it be a jailable offense now?

While the Crown was saying that it would undermine the justice system if they were to release Coates without what amounts to a restraining order from his church, prohibiting him from pastoring his flock, Kitchen described that as completely inverted.

He said that for normal people, it is the incarceration of a Christian minister that undermines the justice system, not the other way around, explaining, “Imposing upon a pastor the condition of his release that he not pastor…that is an embarrassment to the courts,” as well as “a stain on the administration of justice.”

Kitchen told the judge that the undertaking Coates was asked to sign was a violation of his religious beliefs. He said his client didn’t sign the undertaking because of a basic “inability to agree to the condition of release that was imposed upon him,” and that Coates ought to be released without condition.

This is a matter of deep-seeded personal conscience and religious beliefs for Pastor Coates. He is unable to disobey the God he believes in. He is compelled to obey…as [are] his congregants.

As for the Crown, since most of what Kitchen was speaking against were previous submissions, she was generally inactive throughout the affair. She made a short submission saying the original justice of the peace made no errors, and again that releasing him would be a danger to the public, saying, “The one condition that was imposed is directly related to the behaviors that come under the prohibition of the Public Health Act orders.”