The Law of Church and State in America

by Dean M. Kelley

An online publication of this 5-volume work completed in 1997 by the Rev. Dean M. Kelley, long-time Director for Religious and Civil Liberties of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. This work is structured around important functions or aspects of the religious enterprise. Volume I deals with the autonomy of religious bodies, that is, their rights to manage their own internal affairs. Volume II deals with the outreach activities of religious bodies as they relate to the external world. Volume III treats of the inculcation of the faith by or on behalf of religious bodies (and a wide array of educational practices pertaining to religion in public schools). Volume IV studies the patterns of protecting the practice of the faith by the faithful in the secular world. And Volume V focuses on state shelters for religion— institutionalized provisions for “protecting” religion, such as legal exemptions (as from taxation), governmental “proprietaries” (such as chaplaincies), folk-practices of civil religion or the public cultus that become enmeshed with state action, and the perplexities of governmental efforts to define (or to avoid defining) “religion” and “church.”

Each of the chapter is in pdf format.

Introduction

Title page/dedication
About the author
About this publication

Vol. 1 — Autonomy of Religious Bodies
Brief Biography of Religion Clauses
Ch. 1 – Autonomy of Religious Bodies
Ch. 2 – Church Property
Ch. 3 – Church Membership
Ch. 4 – Church Employees
Ch. 5 – Church Resources
Ch. 6 – Church Structures
Ch. 7 – Church Records and Internal Communications
Ch. 8 – Freedom of the Pulpit
Ch. 9 – Tragedy at Waco: Annihilation of Autonomy

Vol. 2 — Outreach
Introduction
Ch. 1 – Evangelism
Ch. 2 – Conversion
Ch. 3 – Solicitation and Fund-Raising
Ch. 4 – Serving Human Need
Ch. 5 – Influencing Public Policy

Vol. 3 — Inculcation
Ch. 1 – Religion and Education
Ch. 2 – State Regulation of Religious Schooling
Ch. 3 – Religious Inculcation in Public Schools
Ch. 4 – State Aid to Parochial Schools
Ch. 5 – Religious Activities of Students in Public Schools

Vol. 4 — Practice
Ch. 1 – Rights of Conscience
Ch. 2 – Civil Disobedience
Ch. 3 – Medical Treatment
Ch. 4 – Sacramental Practices and Provisions
Ch. 5 – Special Populations and Environments

Vol. 5 — Shelters
Ch. 1 – Introduction
Ch. 2 – Removal of Protectionist Barriers
Ch. 3 – Appropriate Protections of Free Exercise
Ch. 4 – Governmental Proprietaries in Religion: Chaplaincies
Ch. 5 – Governmental Proprietaries in Religion: Creches and Crosses
Ch. 6 – Boundary Questions: Riddle of Defining “Religion” and “Church”

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