Defrocked married Lutheran pastor Rev. Anthony H.T. Stephens suing church for $1.5m lost earnings after he confided in colleague about his affair with congregant - only for him to tell his wife

A shamed Lutheran pastor who confided in a colleague about his affair with a congregant is suing the church for $1.5 million after the confidant tattled on him and he lost his job.

Rev. Anthony H. T. Stephens, 61, conducted an inappropriate relationship with a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Croton-on-Hudson in upstate New York.

Wracked with guilt, he called Rev. Christopher Mietlowski, the assistant to Bishop Paul Egensteiner, the head of the Metropolitan New York Synod in order to confess.

He claims he was given an assurance of total confidentiality over the phone prior to the confession.

The Rev. Anthony H. T. Stephens, pictured, is suing Our Savior Lutheran Church in Croton-on-Hudson in upstate New York for revealing an affair he had with a parishioner to his wife and the bishop, despite allegedly pleading for it to remain confidential 

But Mietlowski immediately reported the indiscretion to his superior, as well as Stephens' wife, fellow Lutheran preacher Dr Lisa Pace Stephens.

On May 2, the pastor was 'blindsided' and removed from his post.

Now he is attempting to sue the church for the seven-figure sum, citing a loss of future earnings as a result of the action.

Stephens, from Poughkeepsie, lodged documents with the Supreme Court of New York alleging a 'flagrant violation' of the confidentiality assurances by both Mietlowski and Egensteiner.

He said he was 'mortified' that both had 'broken confessional silence and disclosed protected and privileged information'. 

The suit against MNYS, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and four church officials also claims he has not been afforded the due process and was removed from the position without being informed of the allegations.

Stephens told the Daily Beast the disclosure was like 'the sacraments turning to poison'.

He added: 'What breaks my heart is that people have come to me with the most personal and embarrassing stuff, on a regular basis.

Stephens' wife Dr Lisa Pace is pictured. She is also a minister at a local Lutheran Church. The couple are said to be working on repairing their marriage

'I will never, ever disclose it. This is a special thing that clergy can do. There’s also a second part of it, which is, "Speak for God with words of comfort and forgiveness." And I got the exact opposite.'

He said the ordeal had brought on a resurgence in suicidal thoughts which he had previously suffered from. 

However, in a motion to dismiss the suit filed last week, the church claimed that no 'confessional confidentiality' applied to the phone conversation and that Stephens' 'undisputed infidelity… constituted clear ecclesiastical misconduct.'

The church also claims it was already aware of the affair and that the phone call merely confirmed suspicions. 

It also opposed the use of common law to deal with church proceedings and rejected additional claims by Stephens that he was being treated differently because he is a white man.

Bishop's assistant Chris Mietlowski is pictured. Stephens says he confided the affair to Mietlowski after being wracked by guilt and shame - and that he was stunned when it quickly became public knowledge 

Stephens has been with the MNYS since 2000 and is thought to earn a base salary of at least $69,041 per annum.

He has 30 years experience of ministry, is a practicing lawyer and previously worked as an Army chaplain and National Guard.

He served as a pastor at Our Saviour Lutheran Church from 2002-2016, but insists his relationship with his mistress was never hierarchical as he was not her pastor.

Stephens is understood to be patching things up with his wife, who he described as 'the kindest person you could meet'. 

On hearing about her husband's infidelity, Dr Pace Stephens remarked that Mieltowski's 'idea of confidentiality is obviously very different to yours', according to the court papers.

Along with being reinstated as a pastor, Stephens is seeking $450,000 damages, a contribution to a charity for female domestic violence victims and a synod policy guaranteeing confidentiality for anything a penitent confesses.