The Ministerial Exception

Abstract

This chapter examines the “ministerial exception” that exempts members of the clergy from the proscriptions of Title VII and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Historically the courts have held that church decisions relating to the selection of clergy are exempt from the proscriptions of Title VII and ADEA. The courts are barred from adjudicating discrimination claims under those statutes when advanced by members of the clergy against the religious organizations employing them. The ministerial exception comes into play when an employee whose position is central to the spiritual and pastoral mission of a religious institution asserts a discrimination claim against that institution. This chapter considers a number of court cases that address the circumstances under which the ministerial exception applies where the employee-claimant is not an ordained minister; the extent to which the job functions of a lay employee must involve the exercise of pastoral or spiritual duties for the exception to apply; and what job functions fall within the sphere of the pastoral and spiritual.