"Church Discipline" draws attention from Wall St. Journal

The story of 71-year-old Karolyn Caskey's arrest at church is the anecdote that leads a Wall Street Journal story on church discipline that appeared this month.

The story looks at the practice of exposing congregants for violations of scriptural and moral codes, sometimes leading to the explusion of the accused from the congregation. The article cites "scholars" who state that between 14- and 21-thousand congregations are believed to participate in the practice, but doesn't cite a specific source. A professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is quoted as saying that there isn't much consensus on how discipline should be carried out.

The article looks only at protestant congregations.