An officer of a local church within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America has obtained a mixed decision in seeking discharge of her obligations to the Synod in a personal bankruptcy proceeding. The Bankruptcy Court has ruled that she may be discharged from a guaranty she made to assist the local church to mortgage its property during a dispute with the Synod over control of the local organization. But it has ruled that she acted willfully and maliciously in refusing to transfer the assets in a bank account to the Synod following a court injunction to do so. ( In re: Gotwald, Bankruptcy Ct., E.D. PA, No. 10-14759, 3/26/13 .)