New Testament Church of God v Stewart: [2007] EWCA Civ 1004

CA: Pill, Arden and Lawrence Collins LJJ: 19 October 2007

The respondent was an international Christian Church which had over 100 churches in the United Kingdom. The claimant, a minister of religion, was appointed to a pastorate at one of its churches. As a pastor, he was required to carry out work of a spiritual and administrative nature at the church in accordance with the respondent’s rules and to report regularly to the respondent’s national office, and was paid a salary by the national office which came out of collections taken at the church. When the claimant’s pastorate was terminated he made a claim of unfair dismissal. The employment tribunal found as a preliminary issue that the claimant was an “employee” of the respondent within the meaning of section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, holding that there had been an intention to create legal relations and that the contract was a contract of employment. The Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed an appeal by the respondent.

The respondent appealed.

The Court of Appeal held:
A spiritual motivation in working for a Church did not preclude an intention to create a legal relationship, and, in determining whether there was such a relationship between a minister and his Church, the religious beliefs of the parties, the spiritual nature of the work and the spiritual discipline under which the work was performed were relevant considerations for the fact-finding tribunal. While the law should not readily impose a legal relationship on members of a religious community that would be contrary to their religious beliefs, on the facts found, the tribunal had been entitled to conclude that there had been an intention to create legal relations between the claimant and the respondent Church and that the contract was a contract of employment.

The appeal was dismissed.

Appearances: Antony Sendall (Geoffrey Leaver, Milton Keynes) for the respondent church; Daniel Barnett (Stone King, Bath) for the claimant.