Church requires worshippers to sign employment-style NDAs – by Cheryl Bawtinheimer (Canada)

Imagine a place of worship where you aren't just asked to listen, but required to sign a legal non-disclosure agreement just to step through the doors. This document, presented to the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church followers of leader Bruce Hales, demands secrecy that goes beyond typical church confidentiality, it explicitly claims ownership over the information stored within a member's own memory.

When a group requires an NDA just to hear a sermon, it raises immediate red flags about the true nature of that organization. While leadership might claim they hold no authority over their members, the existence of a binding document that tries to control what happens inside a person's own mind suggests a much tighter grip. This chilling look into restrictive practices challenges the definition of a mainstream religious community and highlights the line between faith and total control.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Leighton Associates regularly reports on NDAs used in the employment law context to settle disputes (usually a personal grievance claim) confidentially under Section 149 of the Employment Relations Act 2000.   Roughly half of these settlement agreements include non-disparagement clauses.  However, these have been used abusively.  This year, employment advocate Allan Halse was ordered to pay a weaponised costs award of NZD 31,000 (USD 17,500) to his ex-employer Hamilton City Council in relation to a $9,000 fine for disparaging it.  The NDA was signed in 2014!