In 2026, local churches often encounter federal court processes when building new sanctuaries or expanding ministries. Despite RLUIPA’s existence for more than 25 years, recent
The trend of disaffiliation is accelerating in 2026, but the “flavor” of these departures has changed. We are no longer just seeing mass exits from the United Methodist Church (UMC) under temporary provisions like Paragraph 2553, which expired in 2023.
The recent announcements regarding the financial troubles of major religious denominations raise significant concerns for local churches. These developments not only threaten the stability of larger organizations but also cast a shadow on the resources and support available to individual congregations.
Worried about the validity of your easement or deed restriction? You should consider the revised and amended Marketable Record Title Act
Appellate advocacy can be quite challenging. Once the briefs are submitted, each party is typically allowed only 15 minutes to present their case. However, depending on the specific court and the issues being discussed, the argument may differ significantly from what you might expect.
Having just returned from oral argument in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, I thought it might be helpful to share some tips for approaching oral argument effectively.
In McMahon v. World Vision, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision. It affirmed World Vision’s constitutional
The profound significance of this ruling is twofold. It underscores that informal, relational “membership” and unwritten expectations are legally insufficient. For a religious organization, strong, formal corporate governance and well-documented policies are the essential foundation for legal autonomy and self-preservation. The case powerfully demonstrates that a religious body’s ability to protect its mission and assets is contingent on its willingness to align its internal structure with secular corporate law and constitutional principles. The Wimber decision highlights a clear synergy between adhering to secular corporate law and leveraging constitutional protections.
The legal dispute between Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the United Methodist Church’s (UMC) South Central Jurisdictional Conference is a multifaceted case rooted in a century-old relationship. At its core, the conflict arose from SMU’s unilateral decision in 2019 to amend its articles of incorporation and declare independence from the UMC, a move that directly contravened the university’s founding documents. This action, which was precipitated by the UMC’s internal doctrinal conflicts over LGBTQ+ issues, sparked a protracted legal battle that ascended to the Texas Supreme Court.
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment has been shaped by cases involving the ministerial exception for religious organizations. An example is Rohde v.
In the July 2025 decision of Family Federation for World Peace and Unification International v. Hyun Jin Moon, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals upheld
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