Court Rules Social Work Professor Not a Minister, Can Sue Christian College for Discrimination In a significant church-state case that could bring implications for Christian higher education, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled March 5 that not all professors at Christian colleges could be considered ministers and therefore such schools are not immune from discrimination lawsuits. Gordon College, a nondenominational school founded in a Baptist Church in 1889, unsuccessfully argued a social work professor denied promotion could not sue the school Wenham, Massachusetts, for discrimination because the school deemed all professors as ministers. The U.S. Supreme previously backed a “ministerial exception” to exempt religious groups from anti-discrimination laws with regard to employment of its “ministers.” The justices have applied this principle to teachers at Lutheran and Catholic elementary schools where the teachers lacked official ministerial titles but taught religion and led religious practice like prayer. The ministerial exception is designed to protect the religious rights of religious institutions, but some argue that broadening the definition of minister too far would allow otherwise unlawful discrimination.