In recent years the Church has found itself in the legal arena more than it ever saw coming.
The years between 1996 and 2004 saw a 600 percent increase in lawsuits filed against churches. It’s an upsurge that, in large measure, was precipitated by the sexual abuse revelations in Roman Catholicism, according to Prattville attorney Chuck Grainger.
But today’s lawsuits cover a whole gamut of topics in church life — not just abuse, Grainger said.
“We live in a litigious society and may face persecution in the future,” he said. And that doesn’t even touch nonlegal conflict that happens in churches.
During a recent Church Administrative Guidelines conference, Grainger outlined a number of ways churches can protect not only themselves but also the people entrusted to them.
“Churches shouldn’t sponsor high-risk activities, such as a youth bungee-jumping trip,” he said during the conference, which was sponsored by the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions’ office of LeaderCare and church administration. “[Churches] should do background screenings on all those who work with minors and have two adults with minors at all times, preferably two adults unrelated to one another. And they should have adequate liability coverage.”
Grainger, a member of First Baptist Church, Prattville, explained that incorporation is a means of protecting a church’s liability.
“Incorporation creates a ‘fictitious person’ so that leaders and members of the church aren’t singled out for lawsuits except in case of gross misconduct by individuals,” he said.
Nonprofit corporations
Grainger said it has been common for churches to file articles of incorporation, but now it is recommended they file as nonprofit corporations — a procedure that may offer greater protection. In either case, documents should be filed with the county probate judge who will, in turn, provide a copy to the secretary of state.
Incorporation documents can be viewed by the public, but a church’s bylaws are not considered public documents, he said.
“Bylaws explain how a church operates and are updated from time to time,” Grainger said. “Be sure your incorporation documents mention the bylaws, but don’t include them in incorporation filings. We don’t want to re-file incorporation documents every time we change bylaws.”
Another way congregations can protect themselves is to have worker’s compensation insurance for all employees. Grainger also said churches can post signs prohibiting firearms on site. Alabama’s concealed carry law trumps church policy, he said, but firearms are prohibited in day care or child-care facilities by state law.
Bylaw restriction
Churches also should consider a specific bylaw restriction in a leadership section prohibiting “continued participation in homosexual behavior,” Grainger said.
“We want to be welcoming and loving toward all people, but a church has the freedom of association to restrict leadership positions to people of Christian maturity,” he said.
Chip Smith, associate in the office of LeaderCare and church administration and director of the conference, said many churches bundle constitution and bylaws together like salt and pepper, but the documents are separate and unique.
“A constitution is what unincorporated churches have instead of articles of incorporation,” he said. “The current edition of ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’ (11th edition) states that the term ‘bylaw’ is preferred and that’s what we now recommend.”
Smith said bylaws explain how a church relates to its members and shouldn’t include “legalese” or be overly technical — they should just give general guidelines.
“A sixth grader should be able to read the bylaws,” he said. “Specificity comes in the policies.”
And policies are important for a church to have, Smith said. “I’ve known some churches who claim they don’t have policies. Some say they follow only the Bible. This is a good practice, but every church has policies — the way they do things — whether written or not.
“Policies relate to employment benefits or handling money or church discipline, and these documents are very specific,” he said. “Sometimes policies are approved by the congregation and sometimes they’re written by specific committees or teams in the church to govern their procedures and need not be approved by the congregation.”
Smith said written and proper documentation helps the church follow Paul’s exhortation that everything “be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40).
“Proper documents help us do our work efficiently, save time and avoid disagreements as we seek to serve the Lord.”
For more information, contact Chip Smith at 1-800-264-1225, ext. 342, or csmith@alsbom.org.
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