'Most important' religious freedom case

There was a time when Cheryl Perich may have wanted to emphasize she was a minister.

But that was before her case worked its way up to the Supreme Court this March.

In 1999, Perich signed a one-year contract to teach at Hosanna-Tabor Lutheran Church and School in Redford, Mich. The next year the congregation voted to make her a "called teacher" — a commissioned minister in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. She didn't have to renew a contract every year and could now take tax breaks reserved for ministers. And, under Lutheran teachings, she would be answering a call from God.

But five years later they would vote to rescind her call and put into motion what many say is the most important religious freedom case in years.

When Perich went to a church golf outing in June 2004, she couldn't have known how much her life was going to change. She couldn't have known more than 100 organizations and religious institutions would file 30 briefs in the Supreme Court arguing about what began that day. What was supposed to be a fun activity led to events that are destined to affect almost every religious group in the nation. It will determine who can sue religious organizations for discriminatory hiring and firing practices. It will say which religious employees the law will consider ministers and those it will consider secular. It will decide when the government will step in and stop a church from "discriminating" and when it will back off and let a church make its own decisions.

Robert T. Smith at BYU's International Center for Law and Religion Studies said, depending on the Supreme Court's decision, churches could expect a rash of litigation challenging their hiring and firing for ministerial positions — potentially limiting religious autonomy in choosing who will lead congregations.

Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission could change everything.

But in June 2004, it was just a medical mystery. Perich fell ill during the golf outing and was rushed to a hospital.

It took until December before doctors diagnosed narcolepsy — a disease with symptoms ranging from sudden deep sleep to muscle weakness.