This book examines the current law on the employment status of ministers of religion and suggests reforms in this area of the law to meet the need for ministers to be given a degree of employment protection. The work considers the constant theme in Christian history that the clergy should not be subject to the ordinary courts and asks whether this is justified with the growth of areas such as employment law. The work questions whether it is possible to arrive at a satisfactory definition of who is a minister of religion and, along with this, who would be the employer of the minister if there was a contract of employment. Taking a comparative perspective, it evaluates the case law on the employment status of Christian and non-Christian clergy and assesses whether this shows any coherent theme or line of development. The work also considers the issue of ministerial employment status against the background of the autonomy of churches and other religious bodies from the State, together with their ecclesiology. The book will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of law and religion, employment law and religious studies, together with both legal practitioners and human resources practitioners in these areas.
Author(s): John Duddington
Series: ICLARS Series on Law and Religion
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 313
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Part 1 Who are the clergy and religious workers and who is their employer?
Chapter 1 Volunteers
Chapter 2 Religious workers
Chapter 3 The clergy as ministers of religion
Part 2 The status of ministers of religion in employment law
Chapter 4 Employment status of the clergy: A comparative perspective
Chapter 5 How can the employment relationship between a member of the clergy and their religious body be analysed?
Chapter 6 The legal status of the clergy under employment law as employees and workers
Part 3 The perspectives from church-state relations and from the churches themselves and a possible way forward
Chapter 7 The autonomy of religious bodies
Chapter 8 The Perspectives of the Churches on the Legal Status of the Clergy
Chapter 9 A solution?: Potential reforms to achieve a degree of employment protection for clergy and other religious workers
General Index
Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
