According to the complaint, a counselor at the church suggested Zielenski resign as a member. But when Zielenski sent a letter of resignation, church leaders rejected it, the complaint alleges. It is unclear whether Zielenski was considered under church discipline at the time.
Grace Community Church uses what are known as “biblical counselors” — an approach that views counseling as a “theological task.”
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“The work of understanding the problems which require counseling and of helping people with those problems requires theological faithfulness and submission to the way God explains life,” the Association of Biblical Counselors website explains.
These types of biblical counselors practice more limited forms of confidentiality than licensed counselors bound by state laws. They also are allowed to disclose details shared in counseling with other church leaders if they believe someone being counseled refuses to repent of their sins. As a result, counseling can lead to church discipline.
The discipline process at Grace Community Church has caused controversy in the past. In 2002, during a church service, MacArthur publicly accused a member of being unwilling to repent for refusing to reconcile with her estranged husband, who had been accused of abuse. The husband was later convicted of abuse but church leaders still sided with him for years, The Roys Report reported in 2022. When a church elder asked to look into the case concluded the church had acted wrongly and told other leaders the church needed to make things right, he was told to either keep quiet or leave, Christianity Today reported.
This article originally appeared here.
