Convert’s Torture Claim Sparks Church Rights Case at High Court

John Doe knew he’d be a marked man in his native Syria if word got out that he’d converted from Islam to Christianity in the United States, where he’s lived for most of his adult life.

So, he says, he asked The First Presbyterian Church USA of Tulsa, Okla., to keep his conversion secret. The church’s practice, though, is to publicize its baptisms. Four days after Doe arrived in Damascus, notice of his conversion hit the internet. Then what Doe feared, happened: a relative discovered the baptism in a web search of his name.

He says he was kidnapped, forced ...