In yet another “swoon and fall” case against a church, an Illinois woman claims she was injured during a church service when a parishioner who was receiving the “spirit” fell backward, knocking several other worshippers into her.

Cheryl Jones' lawsuit describes a chain reaction of worshippers toppling like dominos, caused, she says, by the failure of the Disciple Fellowship Christian Church of East St. Louis to provide ushers to catch the swooning parishioner.

“Typically,” the suit says, “two ushers would stand on each side of the [church] member to prevent the person receiving the 'spirit' from falling and injuring themselves.”

But on Jan. 5, 2010, the pastor “gave the 'spirit' without the assistance of anyone” and “as one member received the 'spirit', she fell backwards[,] knocking several other members into Plaintiff[,] who fell to the ground with several people falling on top of her.”

Jones allegedly lost consciousness and suffered injuries to her head, neck, back and buttocks. She is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.

In 2009, the Michigan Court of Appeals said a church had a duty to provide an usher to catch a swooning congregant as she fell backward. But it also stressed that the case had “very narrow and unique circumstances.”

Among other things, the court noted in an unpublished opinion, the pastor had “made it clear to the congregants that ushers were trained to catch persons who fall during an altar call.”.

An Oregon jury last year found a church was not liable for the injuries of a woman who was acting as a “catcher” when a swooning church member fell on her.

Jones' suit would take things a step further than the Michigan and Oregon cases, making a church liable for injuries to a bystander who apparently was waiting her turn to receive the “spirit.” “Defendant owed Plaintiff a duty to ensure a safe place for parishioners to worship on its property,” it says.

Ushers should have been “standing behind the parishioners to catch them if they fell to the floor after the Pastor laid his hands on them,” Jones insists, and parishioners should have been warned of “the potential dangers of receiving the 'spirit.'”

But as Jones says in her complaint, the church would typically provide ushers to “prevent the person receiving the 'spirit'” from being injured — not any and all parishioners who might be in the vicinity of the altar.

And even in the absence of “catchers,” it doesn't seem foreseeable that one parishioner would injure another as a result of a bizarre chain reaction accident.

By Matthew Heller
On Point