Chris Hodges Lawsuit: Allegations, Dismissal, and Appeal

The Chris Hodges lawsuit is a 2023 federal case in which Stovall and Kerri Weems, founders of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, accused the Church of the Highlands pastor and the Association of Related Churches (ARC) of conspiring to force them out of their own congregation. A federal judge dismissed the case in December 2024 on First Amendment grounds, and the plaintiffs’ appeal is pending before the Eleventh Circuit.¹

Who Sued Hodges and What They Alleged

On July 12, 2023, Stovall and Kerri Weems filed a 42-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The four named defendants were ARC, Hodges, ARC executive director Dino Rizzo, and Nashville pastor and founding ARC board member John Siebeling.² Rizzo and Siebeling had sat on Celebration Church’s board of overseers until September 2021.¹

The complaint described a “continuing unlawful conspiracy” to seize control of Celebration Church, driven by greed and by a desire to protect ARC’s church-growth business model. The Weemses alleged that the defendants “framed” them for financial crimes they did not commit, circulated false rumors about financial mismanagement, and orchestrated a sham internal investigation designed to force their ouster and install an “ARC-affiliated pastor they knew they could control.”² The pleading framed the alleged conduct as a pattern of criminal acts including “extortion, bribery, psychological abuse, wire fraud, and computer crimes.”³

A financial dispute sits underneath the accusations. Celebration Church had typically donated between $150,000 and $200,000 to ARC each year, and the Weemses said Stovall had begun redirecting the church away from ARC’s attendance-focused growth model and insisting that future gifts be earmarked for missions or pastor-focused ministry rather than general church-planting.¹ The suit also alleged that the defendants viewed Weems’s outside ventures, including a hospitality property called Honey Lake Farms, as a “significant threat to their economic interests.”² The Weemses sought compensatory and punitive damages and a jury trial.

How Hodges and ARC Responded

Hodges denied the allegations. In a statement to the Christian Post, he said he was “saddened by the false and misleading allegations made by Stovall Weems” and described ARC as a nonprofit with the “singular mission to help new churches as they get off the ground.” His attorney, Bryan O. Balogh of Burr & Forman, called the claims meritless.⁴ ARC issued its own statement calling the accusations “unfounded and inaccurate” and saying it was confident that “the truth will ultimately prevail.”²

Why the Case Was Dismissed

The case never reached the merits. In February 2024, the court struck the original complaint as a “shotgun pleading” and required an amended version by March 2024.⁵ On December 19, 2024, Chief U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice.¹

Judge Howard applied the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, the First Amendment principle that keeps civil courts out of disputes over church doctrine, governance, and internal operations. She concluded that deciding whether the investigation into Weems was legitimate or a “sham” would require the court to weigh pastoral fitness and internal church decision-making, which the Constitution forbids. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the Weemses retained the option to refile with new arguments.⁶

The Pending Eleventh Circuit Appeal

On January 17, 2025, the Weemses filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Their July 2025 appellate brief argues that the district court misapplied ecclesiastical abstention. They cast the dispute as a “secular business dispute” governed by Florida corporate law, saying it does not involve active church members, theological disagreements, or a request for reinstatement to ministry.⁷

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed an amicus brief on September 24, 2025, urging the Eleventh Circuit to uphold the dismissal. Becket argued that the First Amendment bars claims that would force courts to “referee church leadership fights” and that this protection extends to “networks, associations, and ministries” that support churches, not just to hierarchical denominations.⁸ The brief also warned that permitting the case to move into discovery would itself entangle the government in internal religious decisions.⁹ As of late 2025, no ruling has been reported.

Hodges’ Departure From Church of the Highlands

On February 2, 2025, Hodges announced during Sunday services that he was stepping down as lead pastor of Church of the Highlands after nearly 25 years. He said the church “does need to be led by a younger generation” and described the transition as a move to grow Highlands College, the church’s ministry training school, where he would serve as chancellor.¹⁰ Mark Pettus, a longtime staff member and Highlands College president, was named the new lead pastor.¹¹

Neither Hodges nor the church tied the transition to the Weems litigation. Stovall Weems suggested the timing was not coincidental, pointing to a judge’s January 7, 2025 decision to lift a stay on trial proceedings and discovery in related litigation, which cleared the way for depositions of witnesses connected to ARC’s leadership.¹²

Related Cases Involving the Weemses

The federal suit against Hodges is one thread in a wider legal fight, and the related cases do not involve Hodges directly. In May 2022, the Weemses sued Celebration Church itself for defamation over the internal investigation; a judge dismissed that suit in September 2022.⁷ Celebration Church separately sued the Weemses over a church-owned parsonage on Black Hammock Island. In October 2023, a Florida judge issued a split ruling that let claims about the property and back rent proceed while dismissing others as internal church matters beyond the court’s reach.¹³ That case was still active in mid-2025, with videotaped depositions ongoing. In March 2025, the attorneys representing the Weemses moved to withdraw, citing “irreconcilable differences” and saying Stovall Weems “did not comply with the terms of representation.”¹⁴

1
Jacksonville.com. Judge Tosses Suit by Celebration Church Founders Stovall and Kerri Weems
2
AL.com. Church of the Highlands Pastors Engineered Takeover of Florida Church, Lawsuit Alleges
3
WHNT News 19. Lawsuit Points Finger at Church of the Highlands Pastors
4
Christian Post. Chris Hodges Denies Engineering Takeover of Celebration Church
5
Justia. Weems v. Association of Related Churches, Order
6
Yahoo News. Why Judge Says Courts Can’t Resolve This Church Dispute
7
MinistryWatch. Stovall and Kerri Weems: Litigations, Accusations, Dismissals, Appeals
8
Becket Fund. Weems v. Association of Related Churches
9
Becket Fund. Weems v. ARC, Becket Amicus Brief
10
AL.com. Founding Pastor Chris Hodges Steps Down From Alabama’s Largest Church
11
WVTM 13. Leadership Transition Announced at Church of the Highlands
12
Roy’s Report. Founding Pastor Chris Hodges Abruptly Steps Down, Church of the Highlands
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News4Jax. Judge Rules in Cases Involving Celebration Church and Former Pastors
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News4Jax. Attorneys for Embattled Celebration Church Founding Pastors Withdraw From Ongoing Legal Fight