STATEMENT OF THE WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION BY RALPH K. HELGE, LEGAL COUNSEL TO THE CHURCH I have served the Worldwide Church of God as Legal Counsel for the past twenty years. In addition, I am a graduate of the Church's theological school and am therefore thoroughly knowledgeable of the Church's beliefs and practices. We consider this to be a great opportunity that the Commission has given for us to present to the Commission the problems and difficulties faced by the membership in obtaining accommodation of their religious beliefs and practices. We, therefore, extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Commission for their assistance and consideration in this regard. was founded in Eugene, Oregon in 1934. It now has baptized members and Churches in many countries around the world. In the United States the Church has approximately 52,000 adult baptized members and over 38,000 heads of households, 306 local church congregations and 667 ministers scattered throughout the 50 states. B. Teaching Regarding Employment - Among the foregoing teachings is that an employee is to give wholehearted service to his employer (I Pet. 2:18; Eph. 6:5-6), and that he who will not work shall not eat (II Thes. 3:10). Therefore, members of the Worldwide Church of God are urged to be faithful and loyal employees and to give a full day's work for their pay. Further, the members are urged to go over and above what is required of them in their jobs as long as the requirements of the employer do not conflict with the requirements of God. III. DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH REQUIRING ACCOMMODATION - A. Weekly Sabbath The weekly Sabbath is observed each week from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset as a commanded Holy convocation which all members of the Church are required to observe by refraining from secular labor and entertainment activities, by attending worship services and by devoting the period to worship, spiritual study, prayer and physical rest. B. Annual Holy Days - In obedience to the Biblical commands and doctrines of the Church, members keep the seven annual Holy Days mentioned in Leviticus 23 from sunset to sunset on their respective days. The annual Holy Days kept by the Church are the first and seventh days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (or Passover season); Pentecost (or Feast of Weeks); Feast of Trumpets (or Rosh Hashanah); Day of Atonement (or Yom Kippur); first day of Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkoth); and the eighth day of the Feast (or Last Great Day). The annual Sabbaths are, like the weekly Sabbath, Holy convocations which all members of the Church are required to observe by refraining from secular labor and entertainment activities, by attending worship services and by devoting the period to worship, spiritual study, and prayer. During the period of the Feast of Tabernacles, all members of the Church are commanded to attend an eight day convocation at specific regional locations throughout the country. Because of the distance, reasonable travel time is normally required at the beginning and end of the Feast of Tabernacles. There is no ministerial dispensation for members to work on the Sabbath or during Holy Days. Members do observe the "ox in the ditch" principle, however. This means that members will work during such times in case of an emergency. IV. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH IN OBSERVING THEIR BELIEFS AND PRACTICES. We have, in our office, seven drawers containing more than a thousand files on members of the Church who have written us concerning problems with having their religious beliefs accommodated in their employment. We have also taken a survey of the Church membership in which we solicited information from the members as to problems that they have had. Many of the members attach comments as to the difficulties they had in their individual cases. The following pages are only a few representative samples of the case histories reported to us: A. Problems Because of Observance Of Holy Days Brice C. worked for an agricultural products company in California. He requested, in writing, nearly a year ahead of time for approximately seven working days off in the fall of 1977 to attend the Church's Feast of Tabernacles. The company refused to grant the time even though he was entitled to two weeks vacation, which he was not allowed to take, and the union and fellow employees stated they had no objection to his being off. Brice was reinstated two and one half months later with a promise that they "will try" to give him the days he needs off for his holy days, but they refused to give him any back pay for the time he lost. Sid L. worked for a school in Ohio for 14 years as a teacher. For the last six of those years he had been a member of the Worldwide Church of God and had been given a leave of absence of approximately six to seven school days each fall to attend the Church's Feast of Tabernacles. He was then notified by the Board that his absences were to be "disruptive and unfair to the students," and that he would not be allowed such absences in the future. Upon his continuing to observe his Church holy days, he was terminated. The school board stated he was such a good teacher that a substitute teacher couldn't adequately replace him for the days he was gone, and it was therefore an undue hardship on the school. Larry B. worked for a record and tape sales company in the State of Washington. He paid his own expenses, furnished his own car, and set his own hours. However, when he informed them in the fall of 1977 that he needed time off for the Feast of Tabernacles, they refused any accommodation and discharged him when he took the time off. Tom B. is a school teacher in a small public school district in California. For the past seven years he has requested that his school board grant him time off in the fall to attend the Feast of Tabernacles. He has been refused permission to take it off on every occasion. The school board has notified him on several occasions of his termination, but has continued to employ him because of certain pending court action in the matter. The Board argues that having a substitute take his place for the approximately six or seven school days he is gone for the Feast of Tabernacles is disruptive and detrimental to the children's scholastic progress. This is their claim even though the principal, in his latest evaluation, rated his students' "progress toward |