A Palmerston North churchgoer ripped off part of a fellow parishioner's earlobe and gave him a black eye when she became enraged because dishes were not washed after a service.

Ateliana Lei Malu, 52, pleaded guilty in Palmerston North District Court on Thursday to assaulting the man at a church meeting in March, the Manawatu Standard reported.

Police told the court that she wrestled him to the ground, pulled his hair, scratched his face with her fingernails, blacked his eye and ripped off part of his earlobe, which had to be stitched back on.