State Appeals Court Says Pastors Must Stand Trial for Clergy Malpractice

A recent California appellate court ruling has opened the way for the nation’s first clergy malpractice suit.

The suit resulted from the 1979 suicide of a 24-year-old California man, Kenneth Nally. After an earlier suicide attempt, Nally received counseling from John MacArthur, a popular author and senior pastor of Grace Community Church of the Valley near Los Angeles. Several weeks after meeting with MacArthur, Nally shot himself to death in a friend’s apartment.

Nally’s parents filed suit against Grace Community Church in 1980. The suit charged that MacArthur had prevented Nally from seeking psychiatric help. It also alleged that the pastor caused Nally to become “further guilt-ridden, depressed, and anxious [so] that he was driven to take his own life.” The complaint contained three counts—clergy malpractice, negligence, and outrageous conduct.

That suit was dismissed in 1981 by California Superior Court Judge Thomas Murphy on the grounds that there were “no triable issues of fact” (CT, Nov. 6, 1981, p. 75). However, in a 2-to-1 decision handed down in June, a state appeals court reversed Murphy’s decision. Unless a higher court rules otherwise, Grace Community Church and several of its pastors will face trial.

In a 16-page opinion, justices Vincent Dalsimer and Gabriel Gutierrez quoted portions of a taped talk on counseling used by Richard Thomson, a Grace Community Church pastor and codefendant. “Suicide is one of the ways that the Lord takes home a disobedient believer,” the tape states. “… [A]nd suicide for the believer is the Lord saying, ‘Okay, come on home. Can’t use you anymore on earth.’ ” The tape was not in Nally’s possession.

The appeals court majority opinion concluded: “We hold that, while defendants’ religious beliefs are absolutely protected by the First Amendment, the free exercise clause of the First Amendment does not license intentional infliction of emotional distress in the name of religion and cannot shield defendants from liability for wrongful death for a suicide caused by such conduct.”

In a spirited, 37-page dissenting opinion, Justice Thaxton Hanson cited declarations tracing Nally’s suicidal tendencies back to 1973. Hanson said Nally had a history of rejecting help from many sources, including psychiatrists. He concluded that there was no evidence that the church had recklessly and intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Nally.

MacArthur has made no public comment about the court ruling. However, Grace Community Church released a statement denying that its staff has ever taught that suicide is “an acceptable alternative for those who cannot overcome their sin.

“We believe that life is sacred and that suicide is simply a form of murder and unacceptable act of violence against a creation of God,” the statement reads. “Thus, under no circumstances would it be in the will of God for a person to take his or her own life.

“When the young man with whom this lawsuit is concerned took his life, it was certainly not because anyone associated with Grace Church ever taught or ever encouraged him or anyone else to do that.”

David Cooksey, lawyer for the defendants, said the court’s decision made Grace Community Church appear “like the People’s Temple.” He said he plans to appeal the case to the California Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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