A minister who is licensed by the state of Texas as a mental-health professional cannot claim First Amendment protections for a breach of confidentiality, a Texas appeals court has ruled.

The case alleges that Fort Worth minister C. L. "Buddy" Westbrook, a licensed professional counselor and pastor of Crossland Community Bible Church, broke confidence when he wrote a letter to his congregation directing church members to avoid contact with a woman until "the time of repentance and restoration." The action was necessary, he wrote, because she was engaging "in a biblically inappropriate relationship" and seeking a divorce.

Under the congregation's bylaws, church members can be disciplined for behaviors the congregation considers inappropriate. But the woman, who had resigned from the church prior to Westbrook's letter, says the information he shared was obtained during a counseling relationship and is therefore privileged.

A pastor's right to discipline church members -- even by revealing confidential information -- seems a cornerstone of Westbrook's defense. Earlier, a state district judge threw out the case because it applied a secular standard to a church conflict. This implies that the pastor's actions are protected by the First Amendment as "freedom of religion."

But last month the 2nd Court of Appeals in Fort Worth ruled that the lawsuit could move ahead because the pastor is a licensed professional counselor and therefore accountable to professional standards for confidentiality established by the Texas Professional Counselor Act.

The plaintiff, appeals court Judge Anne Gardner wrote, has a "viable claim involving the pastor's alleged breach of duty in his secular counseling role that does not implicate the propriety of the church's disciplinary action."

The decision seems consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's 1990 ruling in Employment Division vs. Smith that generally applicable laws, such as those governing professional counselors, may be applied even if they restrict religious freedom.

When Westbrook revealed private information obtained through a counseling relationship, he violated Texas standards for licensed counselors -- standards he agreed to follow when he sought and received state licensure.

But licensed or not, he also flouted well-established ethical guidelines for the practice of pastoral counseling and standards for professional conduct established by many denominations and honored by most ministers.

The Code of Ethics of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors (AAPC) specifically states:

"We do not disclose client confidences to anyone, except: as mandated by law; to prevent a clear and immediate danger to someone; in the course of civil, criminal or disciplinary action arising from the counseling where the pastoral counselor is a defendant; for purposes of supervision or consultation; or by previously obtained written permission."

Westbrook is not a certified pastoral counselor, an AAPC member, or a staff member at an accredited pastoral counseling center. But even if he cannot be held to the professional standards of the pastoral counseling community, the policies of most Christian denominations would call his behavior into question.

Confidentiality, of course, is not an absolute standard. Clergy and mental-health practitioners have an ethical (and often legal) responsibility to break confidentiality when children or the elderly are being abused or when people are a danger to themselves or others. This does not seem to have been a factor in Westbrook's decision to share confidential information, however.

In allowing the lawsuit against Westbrook, the 2nd Court of Appeals has made a decision consistent with state and federal law. More importantly, the decision is consistent with our culture's broader consensus -- including the consensus of professional organizations and communities of faith -- that a breach of confidentiality can often be an abuse of pastoral power.

Rev. Duane R. Bidwell, Ph.D., is a certified pastoral counselor and director of the Pastoral Care and Training Center, an AAPC-accredited pastoral counseling center at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. He is author of Short-Term Spiritual Guidance: A Contemporary Approach to a Classic Discipline (Fortress Press, 2004).