The Regulation of Religious Organizations as Recipients of Governmental Assistance

by Carl H. Esbeck
Religious Social Sector Project, Center for Public Justice (1996) 
Photocopy of original (out of print)

Political leaders from the White House and Congress to state capitols and city halls are looking for ways government can support community and religious organizations that work with the needy. Is government support helpful or harmful to religious and private charities?

This study surveys federal, state, and local laws and regulations to determine:

• When religious organizations determine government support, what restrictions are placed on them?
• Are the restrictions constitutionally acceptable?
• Do the restrictions harm the religious integrity of the organizations?

Esbeck lays a solid foundation for reconstructing public policy so that government and religious charities can collaborate fruitfully.

Carl H. Esbeck is the R.B. Price Professor and Isabelle Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor of Law at the University of Missouri School of Law. He teaches and publishes on church/state issues and has advised congressional committes and congressional offices on legislation concerning government and religious charities. He is a former director of the Center for Law and Religious Liberty, the advocacy division of the Christian Legal Society.