My grandmother used to always quote the old mariner’s saying: “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.  Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.”  While meteorologists will debate whether this saying is accurate, one thing about it is true.  Before the days of radars and satellites, the sailors of old would always keep an eye on the horizon to judge whether gathering clouds were harbingers of bad weather.

We also have a saying at Alliance Defending Freedom: “While you shepherd your flock, we’ll watch the horizon.”  The sentiment behind this statement is that pastors frequently lack time or expertise to watch the horizon and judge what poses a legal threat to the church. That’s why God placed Alliance Defending Freedom in this place at this time. We are watching the legal horizon.

This year, marriage is a hot topic in legal circles. The United States Supreme Court is deciding cases involving the definition of the institution created by God in the Garden of Eden even before the fall of man. How can you as a pastor best respond in these challenging times?

Before the Court has its say, America’s pastors must have their say

The Supreme Court decision is expected to be handed down by the end of June. In its decision, the Supreme Court will have its say on how our laws will treat marriage. But before the Supreme Court has its say, America’s pastors must have their say. That’s why we are conducting Pulpit Freedom Sunday on June 9, 2013. On that day, pastors across the country will stand united to proclaim with one voice what God’s design for marriage is and why our country should honor that design and resist the siren’s call to redefine this most basic of human institutions.

If you have not yet signed up for Pulpit Freedom Sunday, please do so. The sign-up process only takes a minute.  If you cannot preach on June 9, then pick a Sunday as close to that day as possible and indicate the date of your message in the sign-up process.

In this crucial time in our country’s history, the voice of God from the shepherds of God’s flocks must be heard proclaiming biblical Truth about marriage to a society that far too often seems on the verge of forgetting marriage altogether.

What’s the state of the marriage battle?

Given the complexities of the legal process, many pastors feel daunted by the prospect of communicating the state of the marriage battle. However, we’ve made it easy for you.  This simple map will show you the current state of the battle to protect marriage in the United States.

There are also numerous sermon preparation resources on our website to help you effectively communicate about marriage to your congregation. There are resources about God’s design for marriage, and the threat that same-sex “marriage” poses to religious freedom.

We also have created a resource highlighting the positions certain elected officials took before the Supreme Court on the issue of marriage. You can use this resource to praise elected officials who fought to protect marriage as God intended, or to call out with biblical Truth those officials who took a public stand against marriage.

What do I need to do to protect my church?

We also receive many questions about what proactive steps churches can take to protect themselves.  There are a couple of things all churches can do to best position themselves for the future.

First, read our resource Seven Things all Churches Should have in their Bylaws. We also have some suggested bylaw language on marriage and human sexuality that will help churches in this regard.

Second, we advise every church to adopt a facilities usage policy that governs use of church facilities for wedding ceremonies. We have created a sample policy for you to use to ensure your church is protected.

Even in those states that adopted same-sex “marriage” or some equivalent, such as civil unions, churches do not have to allow use of their facilities for wedding ceremonies that are inconsistent with their faith. But there is an effort underway in some areas — such as Hawaii and Hutchinson, Kansas — to force churches to allow use of their facilities for same-sex “weddings” if they open their facilities for use by non-members for weddings at all. Passing a facilities usage policy provides a good defense. Put simply, no government official has the right to force a church to allow its facilities to be used for events that violate its religious beliefs.

Never forget that Alliance Defending Freedom is “watching the legal horizon.” We will continue to keep you updated and provide the best ways you as a pastor can respond to protect your church from legal threats.

We seem to be in an age of increasing government mandates that strike at the very core of the freedom of religion.  The HHS Mandate in just one example of government mandates that disregard freedom of religion.  The latest example comes from Hutchinson, Kansas, a small town northwest of Wichita.  If the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission has its way, churches will be mandated to rent out their facilities for same-sex “marriage” ceremonies.

It started back in November, 2011, when a group called the Kansas Equality Commission asked Hutchinson to add the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to its non-discrimination ordinance.  The Mayor asked the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission to study the idea and report back to the town within 90 days on its findings. The Human Relations Commission did study the issue and is recommending that the terms be added to the non-discrimination ordinance.  In the process, it put together a document entitled an FAQ sheet.  The sheet describes the practical effect of what would happen if these terms are added to the ordinance.

Some of the more chilling aspects of the change include requiring employers and places of public accommodation to allow people to use whatever restroom fits their “gender identity” at the time. The proposed changes define “gender identity” as “a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth.”  What this means is that an employer or a business owner must allow a male to use the women’s restroom if he has the “appearance” or expresses the “behavior” of a female.

But the proposed change to the ordinance doesn’t stop there.  In the FAQ sheet, the Hutchinson Human Relations Commission states, “For example, if a church has a parish hall that they rent out to the general public, they could not discriminate against a gay couple who want to rent the building for a party.  If the church only rents the building to their parishioners, they can continue to do so.”  The proposed change in the ordinance would mandate the churches rent out their facilities for same-sex “marriage” ceremonies or homosexual-themed parties.

Let me state this very simply – if this proposed change happens to the Hutchinson ordinance, mandating that churches rent their facilities out to people or groups that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs is patently unconstitutional.  And ADF would represent any church that is faced with such overreach and unconstitutional mandate by the government.

There is a battle raging between sexual liberty and religious freedom and there are those in our government who believe that in this conflict, religious freedom should always lose.  The Church must remain vigilant and stand to protect the right for it to live according to its religious beliefs.  It is unconstitutional for Hutchinson or any government to mandate conduct that forces a church to act in violation of its religious beliefs.  We hope that Hutchinson will see that the Constitution already mandates religious freedom and that mandate trumps the one they are proposing.

All my life, pastors have been telling me that the ways of Christ are not the ways of man.  The Bible says that if you follow Christ, you are called to act in ways that are contrary to the ways of this world.  Deny yourself. Pray for your enemies.  And if someone slaps you on the right cheek, then turn to him the left as well. 

But what if following the ways of this world could save your church from closing its doors, while doing the “right” thing could shut you down?  For a church in Vienna, Virginia, this admonition was more than just an abstract hypothetical.   And their response is a good reminder to all of us what the church should be about.

The USA Today reported that for several years, a youth ministries director for the Vienna Presbyterian Church was allegedly engaging in improper sexual relations with students.  The Church’s lawyers, hired by its insurance company and acting like most lawyers would, wanted to minimize the Church’s liability.  That is the way of the world.  On March 23, 2011 the lawyers told the Church:

 “Do not make any statements, orally, in writing or in any manner, to acknowledge, admit to or apologize for anything that may be evidence of or interpreted as (a suggestion that) the actions of Vienna Presbyterian Church … caused or contributed to any damages arising from the intentional acts/abuse/misconduct” by the youth director.” 

This is not uncommon in the legal world.  We as attorneys never want our clients talking about matters that could be litigated.  Statements might be taken out of context.  Words can get confused.  It is just prudent to not have your clients comment at all about litigious matters.

But what about the truth?  What about ministering to the needs of a hurting congregation?  Does the church simply allow the legal process to play out to determine the truth and then to help the congregation heal? 

It is not as if telling the truth in this case would be without cost to the Church.  Under our legal system, if the Church erred in reporting sexual abuse by its pastors, and thereby caused more abuse to occur, it could be liable for millions.  Such a verdict could shut a church down.  Since 2002, dozens of lawsuits have been filed against churches by people alleging sexual abuse by clergy or church employees.  Jury awards and settlements have ranged from tens of thousands of dollars to many millions. In a 2007 case, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay $660 million to 500 people who alleged they were sexually abused by clergy.

So how did the Church in Virginia respond to the lawyer’s demand?  The very next day, the church sent a letter to its congregants saying, “Members of Staff and of [the Church Board] are profoundly sorry that [the Church’s] response after the abuse was discovered was not always helpful to those entrusted to our care…”

And in a sermon on the following Sunday, Pastor Peter James went further.  ”We won’t hide behind lawyers. … Jesus said the truth will set us free.”

Then, turning to a group of young women in the audience, he said:

“Let me speak for a moment to our survivors.  We, as church leaders, were part of the harm in failing to extend the compassion and mercy that you needed. Some of you felt uncared for, neglected and even blamed in this church. I am truly sorry … I regret the harm this neglect has caused you.”

We, as members of the Church, should never forget our true calling – to be obedient and faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ – even if this comes at a cost.  And as an attorney with ADF’s Church Project, I’m committed to helping churches make difficult choices when that cost may come in the form of a lawsuit.

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If you or your church are in need of legal assistance, simply fill out this form and we will review your situation.

If you’ve ever watched “Leave it to Beaver” re-reruns, you know that Beaver, the young star of the show, was always getting hassled by his older brother’s friend, Eddie Haskell.  Eddie was the neighborhood smart-mouth.  When the abuse became unbearable, the Beaver would say something like this, “Gee Dad, Eddie’s giving me the business again.”

That’s exactly what the Sixth Circuit did to a church’s religious school in the EEOC v. Hosanna-Tabor case last year.  It didn’t just give churches the business, it got the government involved in their business when it ruled the school could not fire one of its teachers for threatening to sue them.  The teacher was a commissioned minister in the church and tasked with teaching church doctrine to students, not only by leading daily devotions, but also by infusing every subject with a biblical worldview.  When she threatened to sue the religious school over an employment dispute, the church revoked her status as a minister and let her go.  The church and its school observe the New Testament admonition that Christians should not bring their disputes before secular judges. (As I demonstrated in a recent blog,such suits among believers are not only unbiblical, they are foolish).  More details on the Hosanna-Tabor case and a copy of the Sixth Circuit opinion are available here.

Courts have long kept out of employment decisions made by religious organizations regarding their ministers.  The doctrine is called the “ministerial exception” and it’s rooted in the idea that a secular court isn’t equipped to review a spiritual decision by a religious organization regarding individuals charged with communicating theology to others.  One of the clear reasons for the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause is to keep the government from entangling itself in church affairs.  As Professor Carl Esbeck often says, “the government doesn’t establish religion by leaving it alone.”  But the Sixth Circuit ignored these well-established principles when it determined that, even though the teacher was tasked with inculcating religious principles into students throughout the day, she also taught secular subjects like history and science.  ”Everyone” knows a biblical worldview is not important in these types of subjects, and there are no religious principles to be learned!

The good news is the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review the Sixth Circuit’s decision this year.  It will be the first time the Court has directly ruled on the ministerial exception, which is widely recognized by lower courts.  This will likely have significant ramifications for all churches so please be in prayer for this case.  ADF recently became involved in this case at the trial level, and one of our allies, the Beckett Fund, is representing the school before the U.S. Supreme Court.  We will continue to work to help the Court come to a decision that protects religious freedom and keeps the government out of the business of churches.

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April 1 wasn’t a Fool’s Day for religious freedom in Kentucky.  In Nelson v. Baker, the Court of Appeals soundly rejected a claim by former members of First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown, Kentucky who sued for the right to access the church’s financial information.  It is foolish for believers to sue one another despite the Bible’s clear admonition not to in I Cor. 6:7. But that’s a different, more fundamental, matter I’ll get to in a second. 

The good news is the court wasn’t fooled by an attempt to characterize access to church financial information as a completely secular matter. Courts have long held that the First Amendment protects churches from interference from government officials in the areas of doctrine, membership, policy, and interaction with its pastors.  You can find a detailed analysis of this area of the law - often referred to as “Church Autonomy” – on our resource page in a document titled  Church Autonomy White Paper – Protecting Churches From Government Interference.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals rightly applied this law and found that determining who gets access to financial documents is one of  the things churches can decide for themselves. It held: ”The Church’s financial records and method of presentation to the congregation are clearly matters of internal governance and organization, and are, therefore, not subject to interference by the court.” The court’s refusal to encroach upon church autonomy is a reminder that the best way for the government to avoid establishing a religion in violation of the First Amendment is to leave churches alone.

The court’s decision also reminds us that church members should stop foolishly attempting to drag courts into the realm of religion by filing lawsuits against their own church body.  The Apostle Paul wisely advised in I Cor. 6:1-6, “If any of you has  a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? …[I]f you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!  I say this to shame you.  Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another – and this in front of unbelievers!” 

Lawsuits like this make the whole Body of Christ look foolish.

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