Van Vliet v. Vander Naald

William J. Van Vliet, plaintiff herein, a member of the Reformed Church of America, sued defendants, including ministers of the same denomination and also the members of the particular synod of the same church, in an action for libel. The case was tried before a jury and at the conclusion of plaintiff’s proofs, on motion of counsel for defendants, the trial court directed a verdict of no cause of action upon which judgment was entered. Plaintiff appeals.

In 1932, plaintiff was pastor of the Fourth Reformed Church in Kalamazoo. In the course of his pastoral duties, he called at the home of a…