the Bible, pray, and listen to church tapes and counsellors, but
50 JOHN MacArTHuR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
When this hostile publicity was dying down, on March
30, 1980, Mr Nally filed a suit of 'clergy malpractice' against
MacArthur, and sought one million dollars in damages. There
were three counts:
1. The church, John and others, counselled Ken Nally to read
the Bible, pray, and listen to church tapes and counsellors, but
'prevented' him from seeking professional psychiatric help.
2. Negligence in the training of the church counsellors.
3. 'Outrageous conduct' in that Grace Church taught that
Catholics were not Christians, exacerbating Ken's pre-existing
depression and eventually driving him to suicide.
When this went to court the only count taken seriously was
the allegation that Ken had been prevented from seeking profes-
sional help. A year and a half later, when the church supplied
thirty-two depositions showing that the statement was untrue,*
the court threw out all three counts and ordered the plaintiffs to
pay court costs. But this ruling was not accepted and the case
went to an appellate court, to be reviewed by three judges. By a
two to one decision, they overturned the first court's decision,
on the grounds of a new charge introduced under the count
of 'outrageous conduct'. It was argued by the plaintiffs that
MacArthur's church condoned suicide on the part of Christians,
and thus encouraged Ken Nally to regard suicide as an accept-
able way out of his depression.
Although the claim on the teaching at Grace Church was
false,* it meant a re-trial in the original court, which took place
* Eight medical professionals had, in fact, treated Ken Nally, and there had been numerous referrals made by the pastors at Grace.
* The claim was based on a sentence spoken by an associate pastor at Grace, eighteen months after the suicide. Lawyer Sam Ericsson responded: 'The record shows that everybody—John, his wife, and all the defendants—told Ken time and again that only God determines your life span and that suicide is wrong.'