Ministerial Exception

Two recent decisions from federal appellate courts clarify the scope of the First Amendment’s protections for religious employers and provide some practical guidance.

A recent opinion letter from the U.S. Department of Labor suggests that the Ministerial Exception of the First Amendment applies to wage and hour laws. This issue has significant implications for churches and ministries.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed down a First Amendment decision that is likely to clarify job descriptions for religious employers and their employees.

Federal and state laws prohibit specific types of employment screening, but how do these laws apply for religious organizations, and are there exceptions?

In its first ministerial exception case post-Hosanna-Tabor, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals holds that a Lay Principal can’t sue her Catholic School for discrimination.

If you have employees who may be ministers, you need to take practical steps to define their role. Here are some suggestions on how to clarify who is a minister.

Not everything a church does to a pastor is outside the reach of the court. That is a recent lesson church officials learned in a case out of Ohio federal court dealing with the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. Also known as the church autonomy doctrine, this is the principle that civil courts will stay out of the doctrinal and important decisions a church makes, such as the decision to fire a pastor or remove a parishioner from membership.

A discussion between Theresa Lynn Sidebotham, Esq. and Dr. Brent Lindquist about ministerial exception and missions.