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Church argues lawsuit violates 1st Amendment
A Pequannock church accused in a lawsuit of engaging in cult-like behavior says the suit is an attack on its religious freedom.
Lawyers for Gospel Outreach plan to ask a state judge today to dismiss the suit on the ground that the congregation’s beliefs, rituals and even its finances are private matters protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
“These claims … cannot be resolved without subjecting defendant’s religious practice to inappropriate [government] scrutiny,” the church’s lawyer, Eric M. Lieberman, said in pretrial documents.
But a lawyer for the man who sued the church said the Constitution doesn’t provide a shield against allegations of wrongdoing.
Lawyer Joseph Boccassini accused the church of trying to divert attention from accusations of fraud and psychological abuse by “draping themselves in the cloak of the First Amendment.”
The competing interpretations of the Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom will likely dominate today’s hearing in state Superior Court, Paterson – the first since the lawsuit was filed in November by a former member, Ronald Rhodes of Pompton Lakes.
Gospel Outreach, a congregation of about 35, meets in an American Legion hall on the township’s main road and has its roots in the West Coast hippie Jesus Movement of the early 1970s.
Rhodes said the church pressures members to contribute “exorbitant” sums of money to the congregation and keeps them vulnerable through a pattern of intimidation and emotional abuse.
Several relatives of church members, though not part of the lawsuit, are similarly critical of the church. They say it has created deep rifts in their families and that the pastor, the Rev. James Lethbridge, exercises tight control over members’ lives and resents questioning by outsiders.
These critics include an Edison couple whose 25-year-old son vanished six months ago. They think he left the area to get away from the church.
Lethbridge has denied all the allegations.
He has also said that the church has drawn scorn and suspicion from outsiders because of the deep sense of commitment and community that binds members of Gospel Outreach.
The eight-count lawsuit seeks, among other things, to hold the church and Lethbridge liable for fraud, unjust enrichment, and infliction of emotional distress.
Rhodes, who joined the church in 1994, cited a $1,500 donation for a computer and a $4,500 contribution to cover start-up costs for an awning repair business associated with the church. The computer was never bought, and Rhodes never received a share of the profits from the business, the suit contends.
Rhodes contends he was routinely taunted and humiliated and falsely accused of wrongdoing during daily men’s confessional meetings held at 6 a.m.
But the church’s lawyer argues that even if those accusations are true, the actions aren’t illegal and don’t justify a judicial inquiry into the church’s practices.
Speaking of the church’s handling of members’ financial contributions, Lieberman noted in court papers that members had a “plain understanding that funds committed to Gospel Outreach would be subject to discretionary management for such spiritual purposes as church leaders saw fit.”
He also said that the men’s meetings are a protected spiritual practice – just like Catholic confession.
“Clearly this court would not assume jurisdiction to pass upon the ultimate validity of the Catholic sacrament of penance,” he wrote. “By the same token, it is without authority to evaluate Gospel Outreach’s religious practice of voluntary group confession.”
Rhodes’ lawyer said in court papers that he isn’t asking the court to judge the church’s spiritual regimen but to shine a light on allegedly harmful and abusive behavior.
“Such behavior was part of a pattern and practice of control designed ultimately to lead to ever larger ‘donations’ to Gospel Outreach,” Boccassini said.
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