The Fourth Court of Appeals addressed an interesting issue: when can you sue a church? For a discussion of the abstention doctrine, click here.

The opinion has some pretty broad language. We recently finished prosecuting a church pastor for stealing money from the church. No one raised this abstention doctrine to prevent the prosecution. But, the pastor confessed, paid some restitution, and agreed to spend some time in prison. But, what if the church said their particular brand of worship prevented courts from looking into such matters? Anyone had that come up?