HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS v. LOCAL CHURCH

No. 01-04-00231-CV.

190 S.W.3d 204 (2006)

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS, John Ankerberg, and John Weldon, Appellants, v. THE LOCAL CHURCH, An Unincorporated Association; Living Stream Ministry, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Houston, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation, The Church in Arlington, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Beaumont, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Corpus Christi, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Dallas, Inc., A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Denton, Inc., A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Local Church in El Paso, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Fort Worth, Inc., A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Huntsville, Inc., A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Plano, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Odessa A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Richardson, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in San Antonio, Inc., A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Texarkana A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Tyler, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Fort Stockton, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Laredo, A Texas Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Albuquerque, A New Mexico Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Anaheim, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Arcadia, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Cerritos, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Atlanta, Inc., A Georgia Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Baton Rouge, Inc., A Louisiana Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Bellevue, A Washington Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Bellingham, A Washington Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Berkeley, The Church in Birmingham, An Alabama Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Boca Raton, Inc., A Florida Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Boise, An Idaho Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Cambridge, Inc., A Massachusetts Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Cary, A North Carolina Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Chula Vista, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in College Park, A Maryland Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Cyupress, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Davis, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Diamond Bar, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Dunn Loring, A Virginia Non-Profit Corporation; Church in El Monte, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Eugene, An Oregon Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Fairborn, An Ohio Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Fresno, Inc., A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Fullerton Corporation, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Huntington Beach, A California Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Irvine, Inc., A California Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Jackson, A Mississippi Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Jacksonville, Inc., A Florida Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Kansas City, Inc., A Missouri Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Lafayette, A Louisiana Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Little Rock, An Arkansas Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Long Beach, A California Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Los Angeles, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Memphis, A Tennessee Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Miami, Inc., A Florida Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Milwaukee, A Wisconsin Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Mission Viejo, Inc., A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Montebello, A California Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Monterey Park, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Moreno Valley, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Nashville, A Tennessee Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Newington, Inc., A Connecticut Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in North Providence, A Rhode Island Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Nutley, A New Jersey Corporation; The Church in Oklahoma City, Inc., An Oklahoma Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Orlando, A Florida Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Palatine, An Illinois Non-Profit Corporation; Church of God Whish is at Philadelphia, A Pennsylvania Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Pleasant Hill, A California Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Portland, An Oregon Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Pullman, A Washington Non-Profit Corporation; The Local Church in Raleigh, A North Carolina Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Redding, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Riverside, A California Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Roseville, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Sacramento, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Salt Lake City, A Utah Non-Profit Corporation; Church in San Diego, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in San Francisco, Inc., A California Non-Profit Corporation; Assembly of the San Gabriellers, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in San Jose, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Santa Clara, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Santa Clarita, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Seattle, A Washington Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Shreveport, A Louisiana Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Spokane, A Washington Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Streamwood, An Illinois Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Tacoma, A Washington Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Tampa, Inc., A Florida Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Tempe, Inc., An Arizona Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Thousand Oaks, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Torrance, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Tucson, Inc., An Arizona Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Tulsa, An Oklahoma Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Victorville, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Vista, A California Non-Profit Corporation; The Church in Wichita, Inc., A Kansas Non-Profit Corporation; Church in Yorba Linda, A California Non-Profit Corporation, Appellees.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Houston (1st Dist.).

Rehearing Denied May 18, 2006.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Lynne Liberato, for Harvest House Publishers et al.

J. Shelby Sharpe and Thomas J. Williams, for Donald D. Jackson.

Douglas M. Selwyn and Craig Trively Enoch, for The Local Church et al.

Panel consists of Chief Justice RADACK and Justices ALCALA and BLAND.


OPINION

SHERRY RADACK, Chief Justice.

This is a libel suit brought by a church against a publisher and two authors after the church was included in a book about "religious cults," as that term is defined in the book. The publisher and authors moved for summary judgment, which the trial court denied. This interlocutory appeal followed. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 51.014(b) (Vernon Supp.2005). Because we agree that the passages in...

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