As many of you know, I transferred out of Grace Church in August 2017. As a result, Bob Malm is not my priest. Further, none of the legal privileges that clergy hold apropos members applies after that date.
What does that mean in practice? Several things.
First, it means that internal church communications between, for example, Bob and vestry members are not privileged when it comes to tort claims, such as defamation and invasion of privacy. That would include claims by Bob that I have somehow threatened him.
Second, it implicates serious boundary issues. For example, by Bob’s own admission he has called both an employer and my current church. Apropos the former, Bob claimed I had made terroristic threats, and attempted to invade my privacy by asking about possible mental health care on my part.
Amusingly, it appears that Bob neither realizes that I am no longer a member, nor the thin ice he is on when he claims I have made terroristic threats—despite the fact he has acknowledged that both the police and the FBI found no reason to pursue his claims. He further has acknowledged that I have not spoken to him since spring 2017, and that I have not threatened him.
Yet another example of Bob Malm’s questionable judgment and ethics.
I’ll be writing more about these topics soon, but in the meantime, I would caution anyone considering becoming involved in Grace Church that Bob’s pastoral ethics are cause for serious concern.