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Church discipline: Bishops will weigh in on proabortion politicians months early
America's Catholic bishops are expected to release a statement today on the subject of Communion and Roman Catholic politicians who support abortion. That's a significant shift from earlier plans not to say anything until after the November elections.

The Rocky Mountain News of Denver quotes St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke as saying there's "a difference of opinion" between the bishops, which is stating the obvious. "You can imagine there's been a lot of discussion about it."

Burke himself says that whatever the statement says, he'll maintain his position that pro-abortion politicians must be refused Communion. "I have to do what I know to be right," he told the News: "If the statement says that it's the responsibility of each bishop (to act) with regard to the legislators in his pastoral care, that's fine. I've said that repeatedly."

We'll look forward to reading the statement, because in the meantime there have been many unclear reports about another important statement on the subject—this one from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Everyone agrees that Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Roman Catholic Church's top enforcer of doctrine, sent a letter to the bishops. But there's a lot of spin about what the word from the Vatican really is.

The San Antonio Express-News quotes local Archbishop Patrick Flores as saying Vatican officials "told us that our job is to teach the faith, but that we're not to use Communion as a weapon against people."

Church discipline: Bible church sued for Matthew 18 details
But church discipline—which, everyone should be reminded, is all about Christian discipleship, not red-toothed heresy hunting—is in the news in the Protestant world too. This is pretty significant, given how infrequently church discipline is discussed in the church these days. There are almost no books on the subject from Christian publishers, and the standard-bearing book, Marlin Jeschke's Discipling the Brother (later Discipling in the Church) went out of print a couple of years ago due to near-nonexistent sales.

Pity, since someone like Pastor Buddy Westbrook of Crossland Community Bible Church in Ft. Worth, Texas, could really use a book like Jeschke's right now.

Crossland member Peggy Penley and her husband, Benjamin Stone, were getting marital counseling from Westbrook, but she decided to get a divorce. Westbrook reportedly confronted her, saying she didn't have biblical grounds for it.

When she went ahead, the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports, Westbrook met with church elders and later sent a letter to the congregation, explaining that Penley had become involved with another man (that's as far as he described the relationship), and that she "had declined to 'listen' in a way that would lead to 'repentance.'"

"We must break intentional/casual fellowship with her until the time of repentance and restoration," Westbrook wrote. "We must be careful to not gossip or judge. … In this day and age, this would be called 'tough love.' Indeed, this is what this is — a deep and mutually painful commitment of love."

Westbrook's actions seem to be in line with Jesus' commands in Matthew 18, but here's where it gets really messy. Penley actually resigned her membership from the church when she decided to get the divorce—and before Westbrook sent around the letter.

Penley sued Westbrook in 2001 for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and negligence. The suit got tossed out in 2002, and now the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth has reinstated it—albeit with a different nature. The earlier suit named the church and the elders; the new suit only names Westbrook, and charges him only with professional negligence.

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June (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48