Sean Feucht Ministries believes its recognition by the Internal Revenue Service as an association of churches should shield it from a lawsuit alleging it misrepresented how it would use donated funds.
Musician Sean Feucht sings at a “Let Us Worship” tour concert in October 2020. (AP Photo via RNS/Jose Luis Magana)
In response to a lawsuit filed in March, the ministry has moved to dismiss the case, arguing the plaintiff’s claims are barred by the “church autonomy doctrine” — a legal principle rooted in the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment that protects religious institutions from lawsuits that would require courts to delve into matters of faith and doctrine.
In its motion, Sean Feucht Ministries argues that “Feucht is not merely a secular musician, but a pastor and worship leader,” and that the “Let Us Worship — Kingdom to the Capitol Tour” was “not merely a succession of secular musical performances, but a series of worship events.”
The ministry contends that how it spends donated funds to carry out its mission is central to its religious doctrine — and therefore a matter courts are barred from weighing in on.
The ministry also points to its IRS classification as an association of churches. As Biola University Dean Ed Stetzer told MinistryWatch last year, ministry leaders should weigh not just legal questions but biblical principles when claiming to be churches or associations of churches — particularly when they may not possess the essential qualities of a church.
“The biblical definition of church has been an important discussion among missiologists and theologians for a long time,” Stetzer said. “The reformers often talked about the right administration of the sacraments, faithful preaching, and church discipline as indispensable marks of a church — if you don’t have those elements, you are not a church.”
The lawsuit was filed by S.R. Bray and its principal, Steve Bray, over a $250,000 donation Bray made through his donor-advised fund at the National Christian Foundation to support Feucht’s 2023 “Let us Worship” tour.
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Bray alleges the funds were “misappropriated and commingled with Mr. Feucht’s personal funds,” and claimed that Feucht “knowingly misrepresented the intended use of funds in order to induce” the donation.
Bray cited the MinistryWatch 1000 Database Transparency Grade of ‘F’ for Sean Feucht Ministries in his lawsuit.
In June 2025, MinistryWatch reported that five former leaders of groups associated with Feucht issued a formal statement raising what they described as “longstanding and serious moral, ethical, financial, organizational and governance failures” and calling for an independent investigation into possible fraud and embezzlement.
Beyond its church autonomy argument, Sean Feucht Ministries also contends that Bray lacks standing to challenge how the donation was used — because the gift was made through a donor-advised fund rather than directly to the ministry.
“Plaintiff did not cut a check to Defendants. Nor did Plaintiff make a restricted gift,” the motion states. “Quite the contrary: Plaintiff donated to a third-party entity, the National Christian Foundation, which is a donor-advised fund that exercises ultimate control over all donated funds.”
Bray has not yet responded to the motion to dismiss.
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