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.