This section explains the importance of Bill #6883.  It also explores the

potential impact on all religious groups if an exemption

for religious training in Connecticut is not provided.

It is vital to understand Bill #6883 is written to allow bona fide religious organizations the freedom to offer educational programs aimed at training men and women for religious vocations without state licensure.  

Without this bill, legitimate schools will be closed and others placed under regulations that could destroy or dilute their distinctiveness.  For example: How could the state approve, standardize and regulate a college curriculum that offers courses on Premillennialism, Hermeneutics, Homiletics, Biblical Doctrines, Pastoral Epistles, and the Pentateuch without entangling themselves in the affairs of the church?  How would they be able to understand and then regulate the unique personal and spiritual standards each religious group has for their faculty, let alone regulate the academic standards for a college professor who teaches systematic theology and pastoral leadership? These things are clearly beyond the scope of the state’s authority.

Already, an African American Bible College in Bridgeport has been forced to close, two other Bible Colleges in our state have been issued cease and desist orders and many more will be identified and possibly closed.  Under the current law, any religious group that is offering education beyond high school could come under state regulation.  Even churches offering religious courses via satellite or synagogues offering courses in Talmudic law are in danger of state licensure.   The current law is so broad that one local church was told by the head of the Department of Higher Education that they were in violation of the law by simply training Sunday school teachers and then offering them certificates for completing the course.

The passage of this bill will provide the necessary freedom for religious groups to train leaders without the state becoming entangled in religious affairs.  This bill will also enable the state to protect the consumer by only granting exemption to bona fide religious organizations.

For more information select History of the Bill, Objections Answered or Wording of the Bill.