Legal Considerations for Your Church

What you don't know about security and liability for your church members could make you a lawsuit statistic. The following resources can help you manage the legal side of church business.

Screening Volunteers

• Conducting Criminal Records Checks on Volunteer Workers (PDF)
  An overview by Richard Hammar (Legal counsel to the General Council of the Assemblies of God) of "Volunteer Select Plus," a national screening service that can provide churches with low-cost criminal records checks.

• Screening Children's Ministry Volunteers
  Just one lawsuit against a church can be devastating to the church, the community, and the children and family involved.

Articles on Liability and Legal Issues

• Liability and Church Security
  Concerned about unsupervised children in your church? Uncertain on what insurance will and will not cover? Is a partner or sister church renting your church building for services? You need to know about your lawful liability.

• Legal Implications Of Child Abuse
  Incidents of molestation can occur in any church. This article will alert church leaders to the seriousness of this risk and help them implement a preventive-maintenance program.

• Sexual Harassment
  Defining sexual harassment and ways churches can reduce the risk of sexual harassment claims.

• Children's and Youth Workers: Your Legal Liability

• Are You An "Innocent" Thief?
  Abuses of the copyright law exist primarily in the area of music, but the principle also holds true for Christian drama, Bible studies, or any other printed material we use. Such things should not be duplicated without permission.

• Christians and Lawsuits
  George Wood, General Secretary of the Assemblies of God, addresses the question "What position does the Assemblies of God take in regard to Christians and lawsuits?"

• Ten Deadly Lawsuits of the Church (Christianity Today)

• Tips on Reducing Legal Risk
  Addresses the legality behind church issues, including pastoral counseling, negligent supervision and child abuse reporting.

• Churches Act Pre-Emptively To Reduce Risk Of Abuse
  Assemblies of God churches and organizations are taking additional steps to examine their responsibility in acting preemptively and preventatively in order to protect children from harm.

Pastoral Selection Committees

• A Pastor Selection Process Model (PDF)

• ChurchLawToday.com offers a "Pastoral Candidate Interview Booklet for Pulpit Search and Pastor Search Committees."

Legal, Tax and Risk Management Resources for Churches and Ministers

ChurchLawToday.com is a web site operated by Richard Hammar, an attorney, CPA, and author specializing in legal and tax issues for churches and clergy. Richard Hammar also serves as Legal Counsel for the Assemblies of God. Listed below are some of the topics for which resources are available from the ChurchLawToday.com bookstore.

Protect Your Kids at Home

Kids need protection from predatory criminals when surfing the web, too. You should research Internet Filtering software and services to find which one will be most effective for your family. Here are some search links to get you started.

• Family Internet Filters Rated (Google)
• Internet Filtering Software (Google)
• Family Internet Filters Rated (Yahoo)
• Internet Filtering Software (Yahoo)