In a landmark decision for churches, the U.S. Supreme Court has for the first time ruled that a “ministerial exception” allows congregations and religious groups to hire and fire ministers free of federal employment discrimination laws.
The unanimous ruling Jan. 11 in a case closely watched by religious liberty organizations involved a teacher who had been fired from an Evangelical Lutheran Church school in Michigan. The teacher, the equivalent of a minister in the school’s employee classification, sued the school after she was fired, and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in her favor.
Although the case only involved one employee at a Christian school, the constitutional principle in the case could have impacted churches. Observers considered it one of the most significant religious freedom cases to reach the high court in decades. The 6th Circuit’s decision worried religious groups who feared that a ruling against them would strike a blow to their hiring freedoms. The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and International Mission Board signed a brief urging the high court to side with the Lutheran school.
The Supreme Court, with no dissenters, said the First Amendment is clear in preventing government interference.
“The Establishment Clause prevents the Government from appointing ministers, and the Free Exercise Clause prevents it from interfering with the freedom of religious groups to select their own,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.
The two clauses are found in the section of the First Amendment pertaining to religious liberty: “The Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Although lower courts had sided with the ministerial exception, the Supreme Court had never ruled on the matter.
“We agree that there is such a ministerial exception,” Roberts wrote. “… Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister, or punishing a church for failing to do so, intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs. By imposing an unwanted minister, the state infringes the Free Exercise Clause, which protects a religious group’s right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments.
Roberts added: “According the state the power to determine which individuals will minister to the faithful also violates the Establishment Clause, which prohibits government involvement in such ecclesiastical decisions.”
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represented the Lutheran school.
“The message of today’s opinion is clear: The government can’t tell a church who should be teaching its religious message,” said Luke Goodrich, deputy national litigation director at the Becket Fund. “This is a huge victory for religious freedom and a rebuke to the government, which was trying to regulate how churches select their ministers.”
The Lutheran school in question divides teachers into two categories: “called” and “lay.” Called teachers have to satisfy several requirements in order to fit into that category, including taking theological study courses and obtaining the endorsement of the local synod. Lay teachers work on one-year contracts and don’t have to meet those requirements, and are hired only when there aren’t enough “called” teachers. The teacher in question, Cheryl Perich, was a “called” teacher.
The case was Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (BP)
Share with others: