This book examines the legal structures within which religious organizations conduct their activities. The legal structures of religious organizations encompass not only their corporate organizations, but the many ways employment, property ownership, decisions regarding forms of ministry, and participation in society define a particular institution. The authors, from a variety of practicing, religious, and scholarly backgrounds, provide a range of perspectives — both practical and theoretical — on these issues. The book fills a void in the current resources, providing a detailed description of policies, identity, and the effect of legal rules on church structures.

Contributors include Patricia Carlson, Angela Carmella, Mark Chopko, Carl Esbeck, Patty Gerstenblith, H. Reese Hansen, Donald Hermann, Bernadette Kenny, Douglas Laycock, William Marshall, Martin Marty, John Massad, Patrick Schiltz, Elizabeth Sewell and Rhys Williams.