Seminary says Texas violating its religious rights

By The Associated Press

03.04.01

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FORT WORTH, Texas — A tiny seminary banned from awarding degrees because it lacks state-approved accreditation says Texas is violating its religious rights.

Tyndale Theological Seminary filed an appeal Thursday with the State Court of Appeals, after Judge Paul Davis ruled last month that the school must pay $170,000 in fines for awarding 34 diplomas.

However, the judge removed $3,000 in fines levied against Tyndale for using the word "seminary" in its name.

Last year Fort Worth-based Tyndale, which has about 350 students, filed suit in Travis County against the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. It said the school would be fined for issuing theological degrees without being accredited by one of three state-recognized organizations.

The Southern Bible Institute of Dallas and the Hispanic Bible Institute of San Antonio also joined the lawsuit.

"This is a serious violation of religious freedom," said Kelly Shackelford, an attorney for the nonprofit Liberty Legal Institute in Plano who is representing Tyndale. "They've taken a principle that applies to secular education but is totally not applicable here."

State law prohibits the unaccredited schools from calling themselves seminaries or granting degrees including the words bachelor, master or doctor. The Legislature passed the law in 1975 as a way to shut down diploma mills.

The education coordinating board says it must regulate unaccredited schools to protect consumers from fraud and ensure the legitimacy of degrees.

Leaders of some of the state's largest seminaries and religious-affiliated schools support the state law.

"We are a conservative, confessional institution, and we have not found that our accreditation has caused us to compromise our Biblical convictions," said Kenneth Hemphill, Fort Worth-based president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, which has more than 4,000 students.

"We have found accreditation valuable in that it provides accountability for the institution and credibility for those looking for graduate theological work," Hemphill said. "It is important to have standards of quality."

Shackelford said a ruling on his appeal may come later this year.

Meanwhile, Tyndale and the other two seminaries in the lawsuit will continue offering classes but will not award degrees. The schools will not seek accreditation because they oppose state rules on their curriculum, professors and school's financial status, Shackelford said.

"We'll keep fighting this because it's going to impact every seminary in the state," he said. "We find it a little frightening that the state thinks it has control over seminaries."