Texas Seminaries Win Right to Offer Bible Degrees in Landmark Religious Freedoms Case
August 31, 2007
Austin

Just this morning, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of three theological seminaries in a landmark religious freedoms lawsuit challenging government interference in seminary operations. The 8-0 decision in the case of HEB Ministries, Inc., et al. v. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, et al., overturns two lower court opinions and a Texas law which gave the state power over seminaries and their training of pastors and religious leaders for the ministry. The state had fined the Tyndale Theological Seminary $173,000.

“This decision is a huge victory for all seminaries not only in Texas but nationwide. The state has no authority or competence to control the training of pastors and ministers, and the Supreme Court rightly held so,” said Liberty Legal Institute Chief Counsel Kelly Shackelford, who argued the case along with attorney Shelby Sharpe before the high court. the rest