Source: https://www.churchlawandtax.com/library/legal-issues-for-pastors/chapter-2-pastor-church-relationship/pastor-church-relationship-termination/general-rule-of-non-intervention/
Timestamp: 2019-03-20 09:19:00
Document Index: 270850134

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 2', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 5']

Civil Court Review of Termination Disputes—The General Rule of Non-Intervention | Church Law & Tax
Civil Court Review of Termination Disputes—The General Rule of Non-Intervention
Volume 1 . Chapter 2 . § 2-04.1
Key point 2-04.1. Most courts have concluded that they are barred by the First amendment guarantees of religious freedom and non-establishment of religion from resolving challenges by dismissed clergy to the legal validity of their dismissals.
In the landmark case of Watson v. Jones,100 the United States Supreme Court cited three grounds supporting the general rule of judicial nonintervention in clergy termination cases. First, the Court based the rule on the "implied consent" of church members to the exclusive jurisdiction of their church:
All who unite themselves to such a body do so with an implied consent to its government, and are bound to submit to it. But it would be a vain consent and would lead to the total subversion ...
Skip to: Chapter 2: The Pastor-Church RelationshipChapter 1: Definitions and StatusChapter 3: Authority, Rights and PrivilegesChapter 4: Liabilities, Limitations and RestrictionsChapter 5: DefinitionsChapter 6: Organization and AdministrationChapter 7: Church PropertyChapter 8Chapter 8, Part 1: Selection of EmployeesChapter 8, Part 2: Compensation and BenefitsChapter 8, Part 3: Employment DiscriminationChapter 8, Part 4: TerminationChapter 8, Part 5: Miscellaneous IssuesChapter 9: Government Regulation of ChurchesChapter 10: Church Legal LiabilityChapter 11: A Summary of Constitutional HistoryChapter 12: Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Interpreting the First Amendment Religion ClausesChapter 13: The Present Meaning of the First Amendment Religion ClausesChapter 14: Significant First Amendment IssuesCivil Court Review of Termination Disputes—Limited Exceptions to the General RuleCivil Court Review of Termination Disputes—Exhaustion of Ecclesiastical Remedies