C.L. Westbrook, Jr. v. Penley
| Decision Date | 29 June 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 04-0838.,04-0838. |
| Citation | 231 S.W.3d 389 |
| Parties | C.L. WESTBROOK, JR., Petitioner, v. Peggy Lee PENLEY, Respondent. |
| Court | Texas Supreme Court |
J. Wade Birdwell, James G. Stouffer Jr., Wallach, Andrews & Stouffer, P.C., Fort Worth, Kelly J. Shackelford, Hiram S. Sasser III, Jonathan M. Saenz, Plano, for Petitioner.
Darrell L. Keith, Courtney Shannon Keith, Keith Law Firm, P.C., Jeffrey H. Kobs, Kobs & Haney, P.C., Fort Worth, Kirk L. Pittard, Leighton Durham III, Durham & Pittard, L.L.P., Dallas, for Respondent.
James Roddy Tanner, J. Shelby Sharpe, Sharpe & Tillman, P.C., Fort Worth, for Other.
Jerry D. Bullard, Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C., Bedford, TX, Carl H. Esbeck, Columbia, MO, for Amicus Curiae.
In this case, we must decide the constitutionally appropriate role of civil courts in resolving tort actions that arise from acts of church discipline. The defendant pastor in this case, C.L. "Buddy" Westbrook, Jr., who is also a licensed professional counselor, directed his congregation to shun Peggy Lee Penley, a former parishioner, for engaging in a "biblically inappropriate" relationship, which the ecclesiastical disciplinary process outlined in the church's constitution required him to do. Claiming Westbrook had learned the disclosed information in a secular counseling session, Penley filed this suit against him for professional negligence.
For purposes of our review, we presume the counseling at issue was purely secular in nature as Penley claims. Even so, we cannot ignore Westbrook's role as Penley's pastor. In his dual capacity, Westbrook owed Penley conflicting duties; as Penley's counselor he owed her a duty of confidentiality, and as her pastor he owed Penley and the church an obligation to disclose her conduct. We conclude that parsing those roles for purposes of determining civil liability in this case, where health or safety are not at issue, would unconstitutionally entangle the court in matters of church governance and impinge on the core religious function of church discipline. Accordingly, we reverse the court of appeals' judgment and dismiss the case for want of jurisdiction.
Penley experienced marital difficulties with her husband, Benjamin Stone, and in August 1998 obtained counseling services from Westbrook, a licensed professional marriage counselor and her fellow parishioner at McKinney Memorial Bible Church. This counseling took place in three sessions at Westbrook's office and Penley paid for two or three of these sessions. Westbrook also conducted two counseling sessions with Stone in August 1998.
In October 1999, Westbrook and others, including Penley and Stone, broke from their church and formed CrossLand Community Bible Church ("CrossLand"). Westbrook was elected CrossLand's pastor and also served as a church elder. CrossLand, a "Christ-centered church," operated according to biblical principles and practices described in the church's constitution and statement of faith. CrossLand requires all membership applicants to affirm their willingness to abide by the church's constitution, which contains the following disciplinary policy:
We believe that one of the primary responsibilities of the church is to maintain the purity of the Body. We are directed by God to be holy. In recognition of the importance of this obligation, the elders will biblically and lovingly utilize every appropriate means to restore members who find themselves in patterns of serious misconduct. When efforts at restoration fail, the elders will apply the Biblical teaching on church discipline, which could include revocation of membership, along with an appropriate announcement made to the membership (Matt 18:15-17; I Cor 5:1-5; Gal 6:1, 2; 2 Thes 3:6).
The church's constitution provides that, if a member engages in conduct that "violates Biblical standards, or which is detrimental to the ministry, unity, peace or purity of the church," and the member is unrepentant, "the elders will follow our Lord's instructions from Matthew 18:15-20."1 If the member remains unrepentant and chooses not to resign, the constitution instructs the church authority to revoke the parishioner's membership and announce the member's removal to the congregation. The church's stated goal is "to encourage repentance and restoration of fellowship with the Lord and His people."
Penley became a CrossLand member the same month the church was formed in October 1999. In applying for membership, Penley answered various inquiries contained in a document titled "CrossLand Community Bible Church Questions for Membership." Her answers confirmed Penley's agreement with a statement of the church's beliefs. In response to a request to "[a]ffirm your willingness to abide by the constitution of this church," Penley responded, "[s]ure, I can abide by the church constitution . . . willingly."
In July 2000, Penley separated from her husband. Thereafter, Penley and Stone participated in a series of weekly counseling sessions at Westbrook's home where couples from the church discussed how to improve their marriages. According to Penley, the Bible was not discussed in these sessions and she considered them to be an extension of her prior professional counseling relationship with Westbrook. Westbrook did not charge for these sessions, and all of the couples who participated were CrossLand members.
The marital counseling sessions proved to be unsuccessful, and Penley decided that she would seek a divorce from Stone. Around October 2000, Penley and Stone went to Westbrook's home for what they thought would be another group session, but Westbrook and his wife were the only ones there. During a break, Penley spoke separately with Westbrook and informed him that she had decided to divorce Stone. She also confided that she had engaged in an extramarital sexual relationship. According to Penley's pleadings, Westbrook counseled her and recommended a family law attorney she could consult. When Westbrook broached the topic of church discipline that her extramarital relationship would require, Penley informed him that she was resigning from CrossLand.
Thereafter, Westbrook and the church elders composed a letter to the CrossLand congregation concerning Penley's actions, which they published to the membership on November 7, 2000. The letter described the three-step disciplinary process by which CrossLand members were bound as follows:
The process first involves one individual going to the brother or sister in sin. If the one caught in sin "listens," meaning listens to the Lord and repents (changes direction), then the process is complete — "you have won your brother or sister."
However, if the one in sin chooses not to "listen," and continues in this pattern, the instructions are clear. A small group of two or three or more are to go back with you to the one in sin. We believe this group should be comprised of individuals who are mature and godly believers and who know and love the one in sin. If the one in sin "listens," then the process is complete — again, "you have won your brother or sister."
If the one in sin "refuses to listen" to this group of two or three, then the instructions are to "tell it to the church." If the one in sin now "listens," the process is complete — and we have "won our brother or sister."
Notice, however, "if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer.'" As somewhat of an oversimplification, this means to treat the one in sin as an outsider. Through their continuing sin, they forfeit their membership in the church, and the members of the church are to break fellowship with them.
The letter explained to the congregation that Penley intended to divorce her husband, there was no biblical basis for the divorce, she had engaged in a "biblically inappropriate" relationship with another man, and she had rejected efforts to bring her to repentance and reconciliation. Describing the disciplinary process as one of "tough love," the letter encouraged the congregation to "break fellowship" with Penley in order to obtain her repentance and restoration to the church body. The letter admonished the congregation to treat the matter as a "members-only issue, not to be shared with those outside [the congregation]."
In November 2001, Penley sued Westbrook, CrossLand and the church elders alleging causes of action for defamation, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In response to her claims, Westbrook filed a plea challenging the court's jurisdiction, contending the suit involved an "ecclesiastical dispute" concerning a church disciplinary matter, which the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution precluded the trial court from adjudicating. The church and the elders filed a similar motion to dismiss. The trial court granted the defendants' motions and dismissed the case. Penley appealed the trial court's order, but subsequently dismissed her appeal as to all defendants except Westbrook. The court of appeals affirmed the trial court's dismissal of all claims against Westbrook except for professional negligence, which it held concerned Westbrook's role as Penley's secular professional counselor and did not invoke First Amendment concerns. 146 S.W.3d 220, 233. We granted Westbrook's petition for review to examine the trial court's jurisdiction over Penley's professional-negligence claim in light of the First Amendment's religion clauses.2
A plea questioning the trial court's subject-matter jurisdiction raises a question of law that we review de novo. See Tex. Dep't of Parks and Wildlife v. Miranda, 133 S.W.3d 217, 226 (Tex.2004). Lack of jurisdiction may be raised by a plea to the jurisdiction when religious-liberty grounds form the basis for the jurisdictional challenge.3 S...
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