A legal

issue is brewing in Fayette County that may have serious

implications for churchgoers.

The

Official Code of Georgia Annotated states: "Every

communication by any person professing religious faith

seeking spiritual comfort, or seeking counsel to any

Protestant minister of the Gospel, any priest of the

Greek Orthodox, Catholic Faith, any Jewish Rabbi, or to

any Christian or Jewish Minister, by whatever name called

shall be deemed privileged. No such minister, priest, or

rabbi shall disclose any communication made to him by any

such person professing religious faith, seeking spiritual

guidance, or seeking counseling, nor shall such minister,

priest, or rabbi be competent or compellable to testify

with reference to any communication in court"

(O.C.G.A. 24-9-22).

Well,

that sounds pretty

comprehensive, doesn't it? If you read the above,

wouldn't you believe, if you went to a minister, priest,

or rabbi for counseling, that anything you shared in the

counseling session would be kept confidential? In fact,

in the law as quoted, the minister, priest, or rabbi

(hereafter, the word "minister" will be used to

refer to all such clergy designations) is actually

forbidden under the law to disclose such information.

Yet, in

June 1999, a College Park pastor, the Rev. Creflo A.

Dollar, Jr., senior minister at the huge World Changers

Church, received a subpoena to appear for a deposition in

the matter of Janice Holyfield vs. Evander Holyfield and

was ordered to produce, among other things, records of

marital counseling sessions.

Dollar

has refused to appear to give a deposition and has also

refused to deliver documents or to provide information

regarding the marital counseling sessions. As a result,

he has been slapped with a contempt citation that may

result in Dollar going to jail. The contempt charge,

currently under appeal, was issued by a Fayette County

Superior Court judge following the pastor's refusal to

give a deposition.

Dollar has

stated that testifying in a divorce case would destroy

the trust between pastor and parishioner. Which, if

course, is the reason that Georgia ministers are not

compelled to testify in court in matters involving

counseling. Dollar has vowed that he will go to jail

before he complies with the order to turn over counseling

records. Well, good for him. That's the kind of minister

I would go to if I needed counseling or spiritual

guidance.

Several

years ago, I was

struggling with some issues and went to a minister of a

different denomination than the one in which I currently

serve. I trusted the man and bared my soul, seeking

wisdom about how to deal with the things I was facing.

Within two weeks, a man in a town thirty miles from my

location asked me about the things I had shared with the

minister "in confidence." I never went to the

minister again and never shared anything beyond the time

of day with him. He had betrayed my trust, an

unforgivable sin for one who deals with delicate issues.

Not only

does my current denomination believe in the

"sanctity of the confessional," our bishop has

made it clear that any minister under his charge that

violates the principles of confidentiality, even under

the threat of a court order, will be out of his church,

out of work, and out of the ministry. Well, good for him,

too!

Recently,

a teenager

approached me and said, "Father David, if I shared

something with you in confession that was bad, you'd have

to tell my parents, wouldn't you?" He was quite

shocked when I assured him that anything he shared with

me would stay with me and would die with me, whatever the

issue. If parents don't like that, tough.

Only with

that level of commitment to confidentiality can the

counselee have trust and confidence in the spiritual

advisor. Too many church members, trusting their

minister, have discovered, to their horror and dismay,

that their trust, fearfully given, was cruelly betrayed.

Once trust has been broken, it can never - no, not

ever - be restored.

Like the

Rev. Dollar, I have been subpoenaed to court in a divorce

case. I did not refuse to appear but, once in court, I

refused to reveal any information unless both parties, in

my hearing, gave their full and unqualified permission.

In the

future, the only

difference will be that I will refuse to provide any

confidential information even if both the parties give

their permission. The stakes are too high to relent on

this issue.

In my 28

years of ministry, I have heard confessions regarding

every kind of sin and perversion. In fact, I'm pretty

certain that nearly every sin has been confessed. Nothing

shocks me, offends me or surprises me. My job is to help

the person achieve peace with himself and peace with God

and to help him or her become restored to a full and

enjoyable life.

I am not a

source of information for court proceedings. Neither is

the Rev. Dollar. Neither is any other minister, priest or

rabbi in the state of Georgia. Our job is not to make the

court's job easier. Our job is to serve and assist those

under our care.

Let's

pretend for a moment that you have committed adultery. Or

maybe you have been involved in a theft. Perhaps as a

teenager you were involved with bestiality. Maybe you've

been into prostitution. It could be that you are addicted

to pornography. Maybe you appeared in a triple-X rated

film. Perhaps you killed innocent people in a war zone.

Maybe, you've even murdered someone. It may be that you

are plagued with the memory of an abortion. Or maybe your

issue is one of the thousands of other sins and problems

that afflict humankind. No one wants their deepest and

darkest secrets revealed. So, who do you go to get help

and relief?

If you

go to your

minister, and if he is a person of ethics and integrity,

you may rest assured that your story will remain private.

Unless, of course, the minister betrays your trust (if

you have any doubts, don't share your most intimate

secrets) or unless the government attempts to intrude

into the private domain of the church counseling room or

the sacred confessional.

Some would

argue that ministers are subject to the laws of the state

in this matter. But I would argue that the above law

assures both the minister and parishioner that the

government is not to intrude and that the minister is

forbidden to reveal this sensitive information to anyone.

But sometimes the modern minister, like the ancient

Apostle, simply must choose to "obey God rather than

man."

It won't be

the first time that a Christian leader has been thrown

into jail by the government for following his principles.

It surely, though sadly, will not be the last.

[David Epps

is the pastor at Christ the King Church. He may be

contacted at www.ChristTheKingCEC.com or at [email protected] .]