Jesus said a wise man builds his house on a foundation of rock. That way, when the rain falls, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat on the house, it will not fall, because it is founded on solid ground. From a legal perspective, a religious nonprofit organization, the “house,” rests upon [...]

This point cannot be more strongly made: the Church faces enormous potential legal liability in the area of Children’s Ministry. Many studies show this to be the number one category that brings liability claims against the Church. Three major areas of concern for our clients are: · Prevention of accidental injury · Prevention of the [...]

Why do people come to the Church? Hopefully, it is to experience the meaningful message and the chance to fellowship with other Believers. But, many people expect more from the Church than just services. In particular, they want instructive classes, fun activities, and personal attention including counseling. Does your Church meet these needs? Is there [...]

Employment Law – What is Title VII, FMLA, and ADA? Any church of any size will have employees. It might just be the senior pastor or it might be a staff of hundreds. As a result, the Church, as an employer, is subject to some, but not all of the various state and federal laws [...]

Commercial Activity – Can the Church also operate an Italian restaurant? In the “Norman Rockwall” past, the Church was a little white church in the valley that got by on the weekly donations of its congregation. Today, many churches have expansive campuses with millions of dollars worth of sophisticated video, sound, and computer equipment, satellite [...]

Churches are some of the most creative places on the planet. Those creative ideas and works are sometimes created by church staff and they are sometimes based upon making use of creative materials from the outside world. All of these creative works, whether created internally or brought in from the outside world, are subject to [...]

Mediation and Litigation – The world is a place of conflict Church ministry is not easy. While the Church, through its staff and its members, will try to model good scripturally-based behavior, there will inevitably be conflict. This could be an employment dispute where a Church employee alleges that he/she has been the victim of [...]

According to a recent speech by Lois Lerner, director of IRS Exempt Organizations, there is a direct correlation between an organization’s good governance and overall tax compliance.   Specifically, the IRS asserts that a well-governed organization is more likely to be compliant with the tax law and as a result, is taking an active examination of [...]

With the rise of social media, pastors and church employees have an increasingly public arena in which they can have their voices heard, whether it is through streaming sermon videos, podcasts or in written form through twitter, Facebook or blogging. Most often, pastors and churches utilize these forms of written social media as a means [...]

QUESTION:  Are there any rules governing how the board of directors should be composed? ANSWER:  For the most part, the law does not contain rules of this nature.  The IRS suggests that “governing boards should be composed of persons who are informed and active in overseeing the charities’ operations and finances.”  The IRS further suggests [...]