Civil Procedure and the Ministerial Exception

In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a ministerial exception to the ordinary rules of employer liability. The Court also concluded that the exception operates as an affirmative defense rather than a jurisdictional bar. This conclusion raises quite significant questions about how courts should address the exception in the course of litigation. This Article posits that courts should approach these procedural questions in light of the underlying justification for the ministerial exception. The exception reflects a longstanding constitutional limitation on the competence of courts to resolve “strictly and purely ecclesiastical” questions. To conclude that the exception operates as an affirmative defense does not alter this fundamental limitation on the authority of secular courts. As a practical matter, this means that in litigation between religious institutions and their employees, courts may be required to manage discovery to resolve threshold questions about the application of the ministerial exception before permitting broader discovery. Similarly, courts should consider permitting interlocutory appeals of trial court decisions that deny motions for summary judgment based on the exception. And courts not only should conclude that religious institutions do not waive the defense by failing to raise it but also ought to raise it sua sponte when the facts indicate that the exception may apply. These departures from the ordinary treatment of affirmative defenses are necessary to respect the constitutional principles that the Court articulated in Hosanna-Tabor

Government Partnerships With Faith-based Service Providers: The State of the Law

Rapid change and significant uncertainty are the most noteworthy features of the legal environment for participation by faith-based organizations ("FBOs") in government-financed socialservices. Developments in federal constitutional law, statutorily based federal programs, and the administrative environment have altered the legal circumstances in which such opportunities mayappear. In addition, the body of law (federal, state, and local) concerning the employment relation, an emerging focus on state constitutional law, and the existing pattern of contractual relations between government entities and FBOs, contribute to an atmosphere of legal complexity surrounding this field. These patterns of change and uncertainty play a crucial role in the decisions of FBOs on the value and risks involved in participating in such programs, as well as in decisions by government agencies concerning whether and how to undertake such programs.The topics included are 1) the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. constitution, including recent cases involving the application of that Clause to FBOs in service partnerships with government; 2) state constitutional law as a source of impediments to state relationships with FBOs, and federal constitutional challenges to such impediments; 3) the law of employment discrimination – federal, state, and local – as it applies to FBOs in such partnerships; 4) federal programs that explicitly invite participation by FBOs; and 5) state social service contracts with FBOs, and the presence or absence of religionspecific provisions in such contracts

The Appeal to Reason and the Failure of the Socialist Party in 1912

One of the classic problems studied by social scientists is why there is no socialism in the United States. The Socialist Party has not been a significant political force since the early twentieth century. A content analysis of the Appeal to Reason, the most popular Socialist newspaper of this era, revealsweaknesses in the Socialist Party's methods for inaugurating socialism. The Socialist Party did not offer a distinct alternative to the major parties because it moderated its demands in order to appeal to middle class voters. The major parties absorbed these liberal policies and the Socialist Party lost its strength

DO 630 Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

Chad Owen Brand, ed., Perspectives on Spirit Baptism. Broadman & Holman Publishers. ISBN: 0805425942 Raniero Cantalamessa, Come, Creator Spirit:Meditations on the Veni Creator, Liturgical Press, 2003, pp. 382. ISBN 0814628710, 9780814628713. Come, Creator Spirit is a detailed commentary on the famous hymn Veni Creator. Gordon Fee, Paul, the Spirit and the People of God, Hendrickson Publishers, ISBN: 1-56563-170-6. Craig Keener, Gift & Giver: The Holy Spirit for Today, Baker Academic, 0-8010-2266-5. Clark Pinnock, Flame of Love, InterVarsity Press, 1999. pp. 280. ISBN 0-8308-1590-2. Robert Tuttle, Sanctity without Starch, Bristol Books, 1992, pp. 203. ISBN: 0-917851-19-6.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/1319/thumbnail.jp

PH 610 Systematic Apologetics

PURPOSE: It is the purpose of this course to give the student reasonable response to some of the most challenging questions for the Christian faith today. Some people tend to define faith (since it apparently lies beyond the senses, perhaps even the realm of their experiences altogether) as trying to believe in something they can’t quite believe in, that’s just out of reach, just beyond belief. They sometimes ask, “Must I check my brain at the door of the church or does the Christian faith make sense? Furthermore, what’s the point? What\u27s in it for me? Since Pentecost there have been Christians called to respond to such questions. We will study several of these in expectation of strengthening our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/3295/thumbnail.jp

DO 670 United Methodist Theology

1. The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2000. 2. Abraham, William J. Waking from Doctrinal Amnesia: The Healing of Doctrine in The United Methodist Church. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995. 3. Campbell, Dennis. United Methodism and American Culture, Vol. III, Doctrines and Disciplines. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1999. 4. Chiles, Robert E. Theological Transitions in American Methodism: 1790- 1935, Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984. 5. Langford, Thomas, ed. Practical Divinity: Readings in Wesleyan Theology, Vol. 2, revised text 1999. Abingdon Press. 6. Tuttle, Robert G., Jr. Sanctity without Starch: A Layperson’s Guide to a Wesleyan Theology of Grace, Bristol House, 1992.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/2169/thumbnail.jp

MS 610 The Ministry of Evangelism

Required Texts: ME 501 Selected Articles Packet (125 pp.). 1. The Faith Sharing Congregation, Swanson and Clement (107 pp.). 2. To Spread the Power, George Hunter, III (200 pp.). 3. Becoming a Contagious Christian, Hybels and Mittelberg (221 pp.). 4. Turnaround Strategies for the Small Church, Ron Crandall (160 pp.). 5. Can We Talk?, Robert Tuttle, Jr. (110 pp.). Collateral Texts: Read at least one of the following not previously read. 1. The Heart of Youth Ministry, Goddard and Acevedo (Bristol, 1989). 2. Tell It Well, J. T. Seamands, Beacon Hill, 1981. 3. How to Reach Secular People, George Hunter, III (Abingdon, 1992). 4. A Song of Ascents, E. Stanley Jones (Abingdon, 1979). 5. New Testament Evangelism, Michael Green, OMF Literature, 1979.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/1717/thumbnail.jp

MS 610 The Ministry of Evangelism

1. Turnaround Strategies for the Small Church, Ron Crandall (160 pp.). 2. To Spread the Power, George Hunter, III (200 pp.). 3. Becoming a Contagious Christian, Hybels and Mittelberg (221 pp.). 4. Can We Talk?, Robert Tuttle, Jr. (110 pp.). 5. Someone Out There Needs Me, Robert Tuttle, Jr., a print out book available at the Bookstore.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/2411/thumbnail.jp

MS 610 The Ministry of Evangelism

1. The Faith Sharing Congregation, Swanson and Clement (107 pp.). 2. To Spread the Power, George Hunter, III (200 pp.). 3. Becoming a Contagious Christian, Hybels and Mittelberg (221 pp.). 4. Turn Around Strategies for the Small Church, Ron Crandall (160 pp.). 5. Can We Talk?, Robert Tuttle, Jr. (110 pp.).https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/2182/thumbnail.jp

MS 685 The Church Abroad: Turkey/Greece (with an extension to Rome)

Course Description: The trip to Turkey and Greece will begin in Istanbul where we will be met by Ralph and Elaine Elliot, leaders in the church in Turkey where there are less than 3,000 Protestant Christians nationwide.1 They will deliver the first lecture. This is a course that begins with history and focuses on evangelism and mission. Not only are we visiting the sites, we are visiting local churches in both Turkey and Greece to receive some instruction as to how the Church survives in an overwhelmingly predominate Muslim setting (Turkey) and Orthodox setting (Greece). Apart from the local churches and traditional sites of Paul\u27s missionary journeys we visit the Blue Mosque and Saint Sophia in Istanbul and then include visits to the rock fortress of Meteora and the Byzantine monasteries in western Thessaly. During the 11 days in Turkey and Greece (an extension to Rome is also possible) there will be frequent input from the professor along with evening sessions for reflection and processing the day’s events. Students will be asked to read in advance from a selection of books that cover topics relevant to the Biblical times as well as the contemporary religious and socio-political scenes.https://place.asburyseminary.edu/syllabi/3427/thumbnail.jp