In his well-received lecture on church autonomy, Bob Renaud presented conclusions from his law review article on the same subject:

The decision in Westbrook should be encouraging to Christians for many reasons. First, pastors should be encouraged that biblical church discipline can be carried out under the authority of church government, without fear of being overturned in civil court. Second, historians should be encouraged that there is a court which remembers the almost-forgotten historical meaning of “separation of church and state.” And third, Christian citizens should be encouraged that the court had the understanding to respect this historical principle of jurisdiction, a principle grounded ultimately in the Scriptures themselves.

Bob Renaud, The Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy, May 31, 2008.