WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision on Wednesday in an important religious liberty case has significant implications for church-affiliated colleges, including the 138 American member and affiliate schools of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. The decision by the nation’s highest court establishes as legal doctrine the “ministerial exception,” a practice previously only declared by federal appeals courts and state courts. Rooted in the First Amendment’s clauses protecting religious freedom, the ministerial exception precludes application of federal employment-discrimination laws to workers with religious duties at religious institutions.
Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC & Cheryl Perich involved a dispute between a church-run school and a former teacher commissioned by the church. Significantly, the Court determined that the ministerial exception is expansive enough to include not only the heads of religious congregations, but also employees such as Perich, an elementary school teacher who, in this case, was ordained by the Lutheran church as a called teacher.
“This case is very good news for religious freedom and for the interests of CCCU institutions,” said Shapri D. LoMaglio, government relations and executive programs director at the CCCU. “The government’s attempts to render the religion clauses of the First Amendment devoid of any meaning or relevance in this case would have set a very bad precedent for the future application of those clauses. We are very pleased that these arguments were rejected. Additionally, the Court’s acknowledgement of the important role teachers play in executing institutions’ religious mission affirms the CCCU’s position and the reality of the role of faculty on CCCU member and affiliate campuses.”
On June 20, 2011, the CCCU filed an amicus brief in the case. While CCCU schools rely on constitutional protections as codified in Title VII for their hiring rights and typically would not rely on ministerial exception, the case has been important to the CCCU because of the troubling distinction made at the appellate court level between sacred and secular instruction. Especially disconcerting was the lower courts’ determination that the amount of time spent on “sacred” versus “secular” activities was determinative to whether an employee could be considered a minister.
The CCCU firmly rejects such a distinction, believing that all learning relates to biblical truth. The brief articulated the mission of CCCU schools and was intended to show the Court that the integration of faith and learning is taken seriously by religiously-affiliated schools, such as CCCU colleges and universities, in practice and scholarship, not only in name.
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The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities is a higher education association of 184 intentionally Christ-centered institutions around the world. The 115 member campuses in North America are all fully-accredited, comprehensive colleges and universities with curricula rooted in the arts and sciences. In addition, 69 affiliate campuses from 25 countries are part of the CCCU. The Council’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth. Visit www.cccu.org.