Court to decide status of sins: Couple revealed misdeeds to their church

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/052606dnmetwatermark.21192740.html

Does a church have the right to publicly reveal a person’s private sin? A Dallas court is being asked to decide whether Watermark Community Church can do exactly that to a man and a woman identified in court records only as “John Doe” and “Jane Roe.”

Their attorney says that the pair thought they had revealed their sins to the pastor confidentially and that their behavior should not be public. Church officials say they are only following a process of church discipline outlined in the Gospel of Matthew – a process written into the church’s bylaws. “Basically, we’re being sued because were seeking to love John Doe in accordance with the principles outlined by God’s word.” the Rev. Todd Wagner said.

In this case, the man refused the private interventions and said he was quitting the church. But Watermark’s bylaws say a member “may not resign from membership in an attempt to avoid such care and correction.”

Watermark’s next step would have been to send out more than a dozen letters to people who know “Mr. Doe” – half to Watermark members and half to members of other churches who know and have worked with “Mr. Doe.” That’s when the lawsuit was filed.

What a bunch of controlling freaks they are. This is beyond ridiculous.

Damn!

I hope they bankrupt that 'church'.

No, he must be one of them Calvinist guys, only without the stuffed tiger...

Is it a jail or a church?

such care and correction? Do they think they're the Spanish Inquisition? Well, nobody would expect that.

that they had to stand up and publicly apologize for "living in sin" during the Sunday morning service (attended by roughly 2500 people,) or they would not be allowed to marry in the church. They did it. I can only imagine that the parents really wanted that wedding in the church building.

This happened probably 15 years ago; it was the reason why I walked out of my fundamentalist church and never went back. If you were a big dollar donor or board member, your "sins" were overlooked. If you were not, you were expected to toe the line or you'd be publicly embarrassed.

I can't believe people are still subjecting themselves to this.
Julie

It was quite lucrative for the early church to lord the sins of its parishioners over their heads. It's always been a racket.

in the early church, full public confession was the norm. It was later on in the middle ages that the church began to institute private confession, therefore saving the more well respected parishioners from the embarrassment of the more public version.

It seems that this fundie operation wants to return to the more 'biblically authentic' format.

...of a congregant to the law or other members of the congregation. The pastor responsible should be defrocked. It is up to the pastor to persuade that person to do the right thing by turning themselves in perhaps, but not to turn the person in. This sounds like a pretty screwed up Church if you ask me. But there are lots of them out there.

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and no wonder, no surprise

priest/pastor/rabbi?

(from same article):

Watermark Community church says it relies on this New Testament passage to justify its policy of disciplining members:

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."

Matthew 18:15-17
------------------------

http://www.watermark.org/events/events.asp

http://www.watermark.org/ministry/help.asp

And these are from their website...long list of the church's support/help groups. Lot of good these groups do if everyone will be afraid to share anything after all of this. Wonder if the couple started out in one of these help groups?