Legal Considerations for Your Church

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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 here are some of the topics for which resources are available from the ChurchLawToday.com bookstore.

Just one lawsuit against a church can be devastating to the church, the community, and the children and family involved.

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.

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.

Addresses the legality behind church issues, including pastoral counseling, negligent supervision and child abuse reporting.

Christianity Today article.

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?"

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.

In recent years hundreds of churches have been sued because of child abuse or molestation occurring in church youth or children’s programs. What can a church do to reduce the chances that such a tragedy will occur? While an answer to such a complex legal question is far beyond the scope of this article, let me make a few observations.

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

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.

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.

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

PDF document.