Press Release: Apologia Church Sues Check My Church and Former Attendee Amid Allegations of Misconduct
- Sarah Leann Young
- Nov 21, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 6
On October 3, 2025, pastors Jeff Durbin, Luke Pierson, and Zack Morgan of Apologia Church in Mesa, Arizona, filed a defamation lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court (Case No. CV2025-036002) against us (Sarah Young and Joe Young of Check My Church), as well as former church attendees of Apologia Church, Hailey and Cameron Merris.
The suit appears to be related to my public reporting and documentation regarding the alleged mishandling of confidential marriage counseling information, gossip, and character assassination against former attendee, Hailey Merris. These claims were first brought to light by Hailey Merris in her viral TikTok videos and then in a detailed report I published at checkmychurch.org.
According to the public court docket, the case has been placed on the Maricopa County Superior Court’s dismissal calendar due to a lack of prosecution. If the plaintiffs don't take further action, the court may dismiss the lawsuit in the coming weeks.
If Apologia Church takes further action, we will need to hire legal representation to defend us, so we've launched a GoFundMe campaign for any potential legal and court fees we may face if the suit proceeds.
You can support us by donating to the GoFundMe here.
Regardless of what happens, we remain fully committed to reporting the truth to protect the sheep, advocate for survivors, and push for transparency and accountability in Christian ministries. We will continue updating this page and our social media channels as the situation develops.
Today, we are releasing our official press release to the public regarding this lawsuit. You can read it in full by downloading the PDF or viewing it below.
Thank you for standing with survivors.
For Christ & His Kingdom
Sarah Young
Co-founder, Check My Church
An Important Update on the Lawsuit (12/10/25):
We now have legal representation through the First Amendment Clinic at the Arizona State University College of Law, led by Executive Director Gregg Leslie. He has contacted Apologia Church’s legal representation to accept service on our behalf.
Shortly after we published the press release on November 19th, 2025, Apologia Church filed a Motion for Alternative Service, which claims their process server attempted to serve the Merrises in late October with no success.
Hailey Merris disagrees with this claim, so we've received representation from the First Amendment Clinic at the ASU College of Law to accept service and respond to Apologia Church's court filings.
We have full confidence in our legal team and are extremely grateful for their excellent work so far, even in these early stages of litigation.
We will do our best to keep you all updated as the case progresses, and we look forward to filing our response to Apologia Church’s claims in the coming weeks. As of today, December 10th, 2025, the case has not been dismissed and remains active on the docket following our acceptance of service.
If you haven’t already and you’d like to help us cover court costs, please consider donating to our GoFundMe campaign. All donations will go towards our legal representation in the event that we need to expand our legal team and travel expenses, if necessary.
Updates As Of 2/6/26*
1/8/26, we filed a Motion to Dismiss Apologia Church's lawsuit against us, which I've included below, along with the other filings, for those tracking the lawsuit.
1/12/26, First Amendment reporter Taylor Seely of the Arizona Republic published a report on the lawsuit, which was featured at azcentral.com, and you can read it here.
1/13/26, Pastor Zach Morgan dismissed his allegations against the Defendants with prejudice, removing himself as a Plaintiff (file available below).
Taylor Seely released a second report on 1/16/26, which focuses more on how the lawsuit affects free speech, and you can find it here.
Also on 1/16/26, we filed our Response to Apologia Church's application for a Temporary Restraining Order (file below).
1/19/26, Kim Roberts with MinistryWatch published a report on the lawsuit, which you can read here.
1/20/26, we filed an anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) Motion to Dismiss (file below).
1/26/26, the Christian Post published a report on the lawsuit, which you can read here.
1/30/26, Apologia Church filed its Response to our TRO Response (file below).
I will do my best to keep everyone updated on the case and its media coverage as it unfolds until the lawsuit is resolved.
Recent Court Filings
Pastor Zachary Morgan's Notice of Dismissal:
Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiff's TRO Application:
Defendants' Anti-SLAPP Motion to Dismiss:
Plaintiffs' Response to Defendants' TRO Opposition: