March 9, 2008
Your Church”s Confidentiality Policy
By Douglas A. Spears In the early 1990s there was a startling increase in the number and intensity of lawsuits against ministers and churches. Big-city seminars sponsored by the American Bar Association on topics such as “Tort Liability of Charitable, Religious, and Nonprofit Institutions” and “Tort Liability and Religion” helped show lawyers how to successfully sue clergy and churches. Today we are not surprised when we see the church (or members) in court. In the last 25 years we have seen more court cases involving ministers, church leaders, and churches than ever before. What might be most surprising is that
