News Release
For Immediate Release: 9.15.25
Contact: Peyton Drew, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
Federal Court Protects Church Freedom Over Matters of Internal Religious Governance and Leadership
Fifth Circuit rules churches are free from court interference in matters of hiring.
New Orleans, LA—The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determined that courts cannot “interfere with matters of church government, matters of faith, [and] matters of doctrine,” dismissing a lawsuit brought against the North American Mission Board by a former employee of one of the organization’s key ministry partners. Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale, First Liberty Institute and Dorr LLP represent NAMB.
You can read the decision here.
“There should be no doubt that religious organizations and associations—not judges—have the freedom to choose how to fulfill their religious missions and with whom,” said Matthew Martens, partner at WilmerHale. “We are grateful that the Fifth Circuit recognized this important principle of religious freedom.”
“The First Amendment prohibits the government from interfering with the autonomy of religious organizations and the church,” said Hiram Sasser, Executive General Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “No court should be able to tell a church who it must hire to preach their beliefs, teach their faith, or carry out their mission.”
NAMB partners with Southern Baptist churches, local associations, and state conventions to share the Christian faith by caring for refugees, fighting human trafficking, supporting adoption/foster care, coordinating the response to natural disasters, and planting new churches. A former executive director of a state convention of Southern Baptist churches sued alleging that NAMB influenced his termination. The district court dismissed the case, concluding that the case would require secular courts to evaluate NAMB’s decision making regarding religious leadership—a purely religious matter that the First Amendment prevents secular courts from addressing. A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed that decision upon appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court denied cert, sending the case back to the district court, which concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
The church autonomy doctrine protects the religious liberty of religious organizations and local churches by preventing courts from considering a case challenging how they pursue their religious mission. In this case, NAMB cannot effectively carry out its mission of helping churches share the gospel, engage in compassion ministry, and plant new churches across North America if a court insists that it cooperate with those whom NAMB does not believe are able to effectively carry out that same mission.
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is a non-profit public interest law firm and the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact Peyton Drew at media@firstliberty.org.
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