Dean M. Kelley

Dean M. Kelley (June 1, 1926 – May 11, 1997) was an American legal scholar, where his work was mainly concerned with religious liberty issues. He also served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

In Why Conservative Churches are Growing, Kelley pointed out what he saw as the essential difference between liberal and conservative churches: conservative churches concentrated on spiritual needs, liberal churches on political causes, which causes were better promoted by political organizations such as the Democratic Party and the Americans for Democratic Action. He also predicted the ongoing decline of the liberal churches, based on his extensive research, and his conclusions earned him widespread opprobrium on the Left. The work contains a strong implied warning to those pastors on the right who would politicize their churches.

His 1977 study, Why Churches Should Not Pay Taxes, is considered "essential reading" for those who support tax exemptions for religious organizations, according to James Dunn, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs.

Biography Dean Kelley was born on June 1, 1926, in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He graduated from University of Denver in 1946 and from the Iliff School of Theology, where he received a master's degree in theology, in 1949. In 1946 he married the former Maryon Hoyle. He worked as a minister for United Methodist churches in Colorado and New York until 1960, when he joined the NCC. In 1964 he was chosen for a leadership and spokesman role by the coalition lobbying the United States Congress to defeat an effort to promote school prayer. He died on May 11, 1997, in West Swanzey, New Hampshire.