A former member of the Amish church has sued the church, its charitable organizations and church officials, claiming they conspired to ruin his business and seize his home when he did not follow church teachings.

Daniel Stoltzfus of Kirkwood claims he was shunned by the church after Amish members learned he was a born-again Christian who did business with a Jewish man.

In a suit filed Feb. 4 in federal court in Philadelphia, Stoltzfus and his wife, Savilla Stoltzfus, accuse the church of "tortuously interfering with and shutting down" his business and accusing him of keeping his wife against her will and abusing the couple's children.

The suit also accuses Amish church officials of conspiring to purchase the Stoltzfus' property at a sheriff's sale at a fraction of its value.

Though the home was sold at a sheriff's sale, the Stoltzfuses and their 11 children continue to live at the Kirkwood property because they have not been evicted.

The couple is seeking $1.1 million in damages and the return of their former property, along with other unspecified damages.

Eric Winkle, an attorney representing the defendants, said the lawsuit has nothing to do with religion.

"(Stoltzfus') personal religious beliefs are not a factor in this case," he said. "The case is really about a man who cannot or will not pay his debt on his property."

Winkle said Daniel Stoltzfus has filed six lawsuits to try to retain his former property "and has lost at every juncture."

The case is unusual because the Amish usually settle their disputes privately and avoid legal proceedings.

"I don't know of any other case like this," said Herman Bontrager of Akron, a member of the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom. "It is highly unusual."

The Stoltzfuses are suing the Old Order Amish Helping Program and its administrator, Levi Esh; the Amish Aid Society; the Amish Society of Lancaster County; Winkle's law firm, Byler, Goodley & Winkle; and three companies and one individual allegedly involved in the sale of the Stoltzfuses' former property.

The Amish Aid Society and the Old Order Amish Helping Program are private charities that serve only members of the Amish church.

According to the lawsuit, the Stoltzfuses, who were both born into the Amish faith, borrowed $300,000 from the Old Order Amish Helping Program in 2001 for Stoltzfus' metalworking business, DS Fabrications.

The business is on the same property as the family's former home at 834 Pumping Station Road, Kirkwood.

To secure the loan, the Stoltzfuses put up a mortgage and agreed to maintain insurance on the property through the Amish Aid Society.

By 2003, DS Fabrication was prospering, employing eight to 10 workers. The lawsuit alleges that a member of the Amish church council asked Stoltzfus to keep the business from getting any bigger. Otherwise, he said, Stoltzfus' employees — all Amish church members — would have to resign.

Stoltzfus complied, the suit says, but two weeks later, none of his employees showed up for work.

The employees were given an ultimatum by church members to stop working for Stoltzfus "or be shunned from the Amish community," according to the suit.

Stoltzfus alleges the actions were in response to him admitting to family members that he is a born-again Christian. He also had begun doing business with a Jewish businessman, which some church members found objectionable, Stoltzfus said.

Church elders tried to get Stoltzfus to disavow his beliefs and stop doing business with a non-Christian, but he refused, Stoltzfus said.

Both he and his wife left the Amish church in 2003.

According to the lawsuit, church elders tried to get Savilla Stoltzfus to leave her husband and filed a police report alleging he was holding her against her will. They also accused the Stoltzfuses of abusing their children.

Police investigated both allegations and found them to be unfounded, according to the lawsuit, which does not say when the alleged incidents occurred.

In August 2003, Stoltzfus was notified that his insurance policy with the Amish Aid Society was being canceled and that his mortgage was in default because the property was no longer insured, according to the suit.

The Stoltzfuses obtained quotes from other insurers, but the Old Order Amish Helping Program, which issued the mortgage, refused to accept them, the suit alleges.

Stoltzfus also was told he had to pay off his mortgage in full, according to the suit, but he continued to make regular payments of $2,100 per month.

In October 2004, the interest rate on the Stoltzfuses' mortgage was increased "without reason" from 4.25 percent to 7 percent, while Amish church members continued to pay 4.25 percent, the suit alleges.

Because of the unexplained rate hike, Stoltzfus stopped paying the mortgage in February 2005, according to the lawsuit.

In June 2005, the defendants initiated a foreclosure action in Lancaster County Court "solely on the basis that the plaintiffs were no longer of the Amish religion," the suit alleges.

The court ruled in January 2007 that the Stoltzfuses had defaulted on $296,142 owed to the Amish Helping Program, and to settle the debt, the Stoltzfus property was sold at sheriff's sale to John Glick for $342,100.

According to the lawsuit, the land and the buildings on it were worth $900,000 to $1.1 million.

Glick then transferred the property to three companies, PSR Kirkwood LLC, Little Elk Creek Farm LLC and PSR Lancaster LLC.

The suit alleges the companies were created by the law firm Byler, Goodley & Winkle, which represented the Amish Helping Program in the mortgage foreclosure action, for the "fraudulent procurement" of the property.

Stoltzfus said the actions against him were in response to his questioning traditional Amish beliefs and his rejection of the church.

"If you're born Amish, you have to stay Amish, and that's the only way you're saved," he said. "I mentioned that I was born-again, and they didn't want to hear that."

According to the lawsuit, the defendants "banded together in a common purpose to remove the plaintiffs from the community because some members of the (church) council did not like them."

Winkle said the case is a financial dispute, not a religious one.

"I don't know that Mr. Stoltzfus was shunned by the church," he said. "I do know that he made his last mortgage payment four years ago."

Stoltzfus, who continues to live at and run a business from the Kirkwood property, "is just using every method in the court system to delay the inevitable," Winkle said.

"He's hired five different law firms to try to stay in the property."

Stoltzfus filed exceptions to the sheriff's sale process and lost that challenge, Winkle said. He also challenged the sale in Lancaster County Court and state Superior Court but was unsuccessful.

Just before the "writ of possession," similar to an eviction notice, was to be served on him late last year, Stoltzfus filed for bankruptcy.

During a bankruptcy preceding, creditors are generally barred from taking adverse action against a person, but a federal bankruptcy judge ruled the writ of possession could proceed.

But Stoltzfus filed the federal lawsuit one day before he, his wife and their children were to be evicted.

In the suit, the Stoltzfuses sought a restraining order and/or preliminary injunction to block the eviction.

Federal Judge Lawrence Stengel, a former Lancaster County Court judge, initially granted the request but later lifted the restraining order and denied the request for an injunction after considering the defendants' response to the injunction request.

The defendants have yet to file a response to the allegations in the Stoltzfuses' lawsuit.

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com