Jesus prayed for unity in the church in John 17. Paul admonished Christians to resolve their disputes within the church rather than in court. I know of very few churches that are prepared to resolve disputes within the body.1. Better unity requires better theology.2. Better unity requires pastoral involvement.3. Better unity involves outside help.4. Get an arbitration contract.

Jesus prayed for unity in the church in John 17. Paul admonished Christians to resolve their disputes within the church rather than in court. I know of very few churches that are prepared to resolve disputes within the body. 1. Better unity requires better theology. 2. Better unity requires pastoral involvement. 3. Better unity involves outside help. 4. Get an arbitration contract.

Better Unity

1. Better churches have a safety policy.2. Better churches provide safety training to their workforce.3. Better churches measure compliance with their safety policy.4. Better churches correct mistakes that cause injury.5. Better church leaders lead by example in safety practices.6. Better churches have a solid reporting process for injuries.7. Better churches involve everyone in creating safe workspaces.8. Better churches also extend workplace safety to volunteers.

1. Better churches have a safety policy. 2. Better churches provide safety training to their workforce. 3. Better churches measure compliance with their safety policy. 4. Better churches correct mistakes that cause injury. 5. Better church leaders lead by example in safety practices. 6. Better churches have a solid reporting process for injuries. 7. Better churches involve everyone in creating safe workspaces. 8. Better churches also extend workplace safety to volunteers.

Eight Things Your Church Can Do to Limit Liability for Workplace Injury

www.LawandChurch.com1. Better churches fulfill their general duty to provide a safe workspace.The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cites employers who do not provide safe workspaces, including ergonomically effective office space.2. Better churches train their employees on ergonomics because the more employees know the more likely they are to avoid harm.Employees must know common musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and their signs and symptoms.Employees must know the importance of reporting MSDs as soon as possible.Employees must know how to report an MSD in your church.Employees must know risk factors and activities associated with work-related MSDs.3. Better churches require employees to work safely and provide the tools necessary to do so.Require employees to stand up and walk around every hour.Provide standing desks.Provide proper typing equipment to avoid carpel tunnel.Provide back and knee braces for heavy lifting, helmets and harnesses for work at heights, and other safety equipment.

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a> 1. Better churches fulfill their general duty to provide a safe workspace. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cites employers who do not provide safe workspaces, including ergonomically effective office space. 2. Better churches train their employees on ergonomics because the more employees know the more likely they are to avoid harm. Employees must know common musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and their signs and symptoms. Employees must know the importance of reporting MSDs as soon as possible. Employees must know how to report an MSD in your church. Employees must know risk factors and activities associated with work-related MSDs. 3. Better churches require employees to work safely and provide the tools necessary to do so. Require employees to stand up and walk around every hour. Provide standing desks. Provide proper typing equipment to avoid carpel tunnel. Provide back and knee braces for heavy lifting, helmets and harnesses for work at heights, and other safety equipment.

Changes Your Church Should Make to Comply With Safety Laws

3 Legal Mental Health Issues Affecting Your Church

Dealing with Pandemic Financially

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a>

Minister to Kids Online Carefully

Your Medical Releases Probably Won’t Work

What You Need to Know about BYOD

1. There are so many church leaders out there right now whose passion for the gospel has not been sickened by coronavirus. Here’s the problem: we still have to cancel those mission trips and many churches have collected thousands of dollars in donations designated for those trips. Misspending that money could be a catastrophe. At the Church Law Group, we have some ways to help you.2. Better churches have documentation on what designated money is designated for.3. Better churches have strict policies on the process of receiving and documenting designated funds.4. Better churches have a plan on what to do when designated funds cannot be used for a designated purpose.5. Go to our website at ChurchLawGroup.com and download our template plan that helps churches take care of these vital issues. Without a plan and a process, you’ll set your church up for headaches. Your church can succeed at fulfilling the great commission even in having to cancel these mission trips.

1. There are so many church leaders out there right now whose passion for the gospel has not been sickened by coronavirus. Here’s the problem: we still have to cancel those mission trips and many churches have collected thousands of dollars in donations designated for those trips. Misspending that money could be a catastrophe. At the Church Law Group, we have some ways to help you. 2. Better churches have documentation on what designated money is designated for. 3. Better churches have strict policies on the process of receiving and documenting designated funds. 4. Better churches have a plan on what to do when designated funds cannot be used for a designated purpose. 5. Go to our website at <a href="http://ChurchLawGroup.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ChurchLawGroup.com</a> and download our template plan that helps churches take care of these vital issues. Without a plan and a process, you’ll set your church up for headaches. Your church can succeed at fulfilling the great commission even in having to cancel these mission trips.

What Leaders Must Consider About Cancelled Mission Trips

www.LawandChurch.comChurch leaders are getting creative in how they do worship services online. Here’s the problem: there are a slew of legal issues that existed in person and are exacerbated when we move online. We’ve got to have a plan to ensure legal compliance in these trying times.Copyright &amp; Takedown Notices - make sure your church has its proper streaming licenses and a takedown notice.Children - many church leaders are trying to reach children online too. This is great, but when you do that you automatically raise the bar on data privacy issues.Confidentiality - what goes on Facebook stays on Facebook. Make sure you have a good privacy policy in place to protect your church.

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a> Church leaders are getting creative in how they do worship services online. Here’s the problem: there are a slew of legal issues that existed in person and are exacerbated when we move online. We’ve got to have a plan to ensure legal compliance in these trying times. Copyright &amp; Takedown Notices - make sure your church has its proper streaming licenses and a takedown notice. Children - many church leaders are trying to reach children online too. This is great, but when you do that you automatically raise the bar on data privacy issues. Confidentiality - what goes on Facebook stays on Facebook. Make sure you have a good privacy policy in place to protect your church.

What Church Leaders Must Consider About Online Worship Services

Churches are vulnerable and unprotected because the policies, processes, and bylaws that protect the church are outdated and time consuming.  Church leaders need a simple, affordable, expert way to protect their churches with good policies and procedures.  Law and Church is a weekly podcast presented by The Church Law Group, and hosted by pastor and attorney Josh Bryant. We interview prominent church leaders from around the country including Dr. Thom Rainer, Jim Sheppard, and more to discover how we can better lead our churches in policy, process, and risk management while we strive to advance the gospel of Christ in a legally compliant and safe way.

Our churches exist in a culture that we have never had before. Josh Bryan gives current, needed and practical information on how to navigate in these complicated times.

New Day

Josh Bryant does an outstanding job as both a practicing attorney &amp; former church staff of the current legal risks &amp; challenges in this dark world that face churches today.

Outstanding Direction on legal challenges of the church

Law and Church

Josh Bryant

Title Resources Guarantee Company v. The Lighthouse Church and Ministries What can we learn:  Make sure you have an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel working complex transactions.  This church stood to make money on the resale of property even after rollback taxes.  It could have been good for this congregation.  Now they will be lucky to break even because no attorney saw that two contracts contradicted each other and did not clearly outline who was responsible for rollback taxes.  It’s wise to know some of these provisions of contract interpretation.  They are really pretty common sense, but knowing them can help you see problems before they occur.   Sweet v. Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints What can we learn?  We want to be good stewards, but we can’t fall into the trap that the ends justify the means.  If you intentionally interfere in a vendor’s contract with a supplier to get a lower cost and that vendor can show damages (lost revenue minus costs), then you can be found liable for tortious interference.  This does not only apply to contracts either.  If a sales person is trying to sell you Acme paper towels for your bathroom and you go straight to Acme to get a better price, you could be found liable for tortious interference with a business expectancy.    These are crude hypotheticals and cases like this will be extraordinarily tied to specific facts; each case will be different.  Needless to say however, you must be careful when going around or undercutting one party to get a better deal from a party already in contract or an expectation of economic benefit from the party you did an end run around.   Spirit of Aloha Temple v. County of Maui What can we learn?  Be very careful when purchasing land.  Try to make sure you can get a special use permit before buying.  Do not go to the planning commission without a lawyer like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel.  There is nothing that suggests this church did, but it could have been in more trouble had it made procedural mistakes before the planning commission.  Not every ruling against a church is unreasonable.  The safety issue in this case appears legitimate except for the fact that other non-agricultural use permits in the area have been granted.   Garfield Baptist Church v. City of Pewaukee What can we learn:  As in the previous case, make sure you have an attorney like Josh Bryant here at Church General Counsel when making objections to a public utility.  Because they are granted quasi-monopolies by the government, they act as quasi-governmental entities.  Utility disputes must almost universally begin before the public service commission.  The church filed this directly with a trial court, which did not have jurisdiction to hear the dispute since the church did not go before the public service commission.  If you don’t get the ruling you want in the public service commission you can still get judicial review, but as with appeals from municipal or county commissions you can be limited in the evidence presented if things were not done properly in the initial administrative review.  Get an attorney like Church General Counsel involved early.   Rector Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church v. City of Philadelphia Historical Commission What can we learn?  Churches are often donated land or purchase property for future use.  Failure to use that land for religious purposes creates difficulties - rollback taxes and denied relief under RULIPA are examples.  Churches can often be designated as historic spaces because of how old many of the buildings are.  If you have an old church building that could be of some historical significance and you are making plans to dispose of that property, document your plans and actions very carefully.  This is a case in which the church probably should have made an allegation that this designation is basically a governmental taking of property subject to the Fifth Amendment’s taking clause often referred to as eminent domain. Get a legal opinion from Josh Bryant and Church General Counsel before things get too complicated.  Cruz v. Trustees of Calvary Baptist Church What can we learn?  Every state’s charitable immunity statutes follow a different system if they have charitable immunity statutes at all.  Many states have repealed charitable immunity, and it is certainly disfavored in many jurisdictions that do have it.  It is not wise to rely on charitable immunity to determine your course of action - it should only be used as a defense in a crunch if your state allows it.   Cruz v. Roman Catholic Church of St. Gerard Magella What can we learn?  The decision hinged on the church relying on an affidavit signed 2.5 years after the incident stating that the worker was not using proper safety equipment.  However, no one mentioned this at the time in incident reports.  If there is a personal injury on your church’s property:  Find any and all witnesses.  Get contemporaneous incident reports.  Collect photographs, video, etc. Call an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel.  You MUST preserve evidence.     Lozada v. St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church  This case interprets the exact same law dealt with in the previous case.  In this case, a worker was installing wiring for a security system in the church when his ladder shifted.  The incident injured the workers’ back.  The case here hinged on the plaintiff testifying that no one was holding the ladder while his coworker testified that he was holding the ladder.  As you can see, this would be a great time to have contemporary incident reports so you could clearly show that someone was holding the ladder.  Hartung v. Diocese of Rockville Centre What can we learn?  Obviously, if the church creates a hazard it has a duty to remediate it.  If someone gets hurt, you’ll be liable for the injury.  If someone tells the church about the hazard, the church has a duty to remediate it.  If someone gets hurt, you’ll be liable for the injury.  This is not a situation in which you can stick your fingers in your ears and close your eyes.  If you should know about the hazard then you have constructive notice.  If someone gets hurt, you’ll be liable for the injury.   Newton Covenant Church v. Great American Insurance Company What can we learn?  Churches must follow their bylaws.  There would have been much less of a chance of litigation had the process been done properly.  When making a major shift like leaving a denomination to join another, get an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel to help walk you through that process and ensure proper parliamentary procedure is followed at the meeting.   Eltingville Lutheran Church v. Rimbo What can we learn? Once again, churches must follow their bylaws.  In this case, the bylaws subjected the local church to a higher synod.  As such, the synod’s determination to take over the church is purely a religious determination and the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the dispute.  Armas v. St. Augustine Old Roman Catholic Church What can we learn?  FLSA issues in the church are extremely complicated.  DOL publications state that churches are frequently exempt, but many churches regularly go on mission trips throughout the country and have more than a $500,000 budget - these could make the church an “enterprise.”  More and more churches operate schools, which will automatically make the church an enterprise.  More churches are engaging in other business partnerships, renting out facilities, developing property, and so forth.  All of these could make a church an “enterprise” under the FLSA.  Classifying job positions is a difficult process riddled with exceptions.  Get an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel or HR expert to help with this.  

Title Resources Guarantee Company v. The Lighthouse Church and Ministries <ul><li>What can we learn: <ul> <li>Make sure you have an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel working complex transactions.  This church stood to make money on the resale of property even after rollback taxes.  It could have been good for this congregation.  Now they will be lucky to break even because no attorney saw that two contracts contradicted each other and did not clearly outline who was responsible for rollback taxes. </li> <li>It’s wise to know some of these provisions of contract interpretation.  They are really pretty common sense, but knowing them can help you see problems before they occur. </li> </ul> </li></ul>Sweet v. Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>We want to be good stewards, but we can’t fall into the trap that the ends justify the means. </li> <li>If you intentionally interfere in a vendor’s contract with a supplier to get a lower cost and that vendor can show damages (lost revenue minus costs), then you can be found liable for tortious interference. </li> <li>This does not only apply to contracts either.  If a sales person is trying to sell you Acme paper towels for your bathroom and you go straight to Acme to get a better price, you could be found liable for tortious interference with a business expectancy.   </li> <li>These are crude hypotheticals and cases like this will be extraordinarily tied to specific facts; each case will be different.  Needless to say however, you must be careful when going around or undercutting one party to get a better deal from a party already in contract or an expectation of economic benefit from the party you did an end run around. </li> </ul> </li></ul>Spirit of Aloha Temple v. County of Maui <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>Be very careful when purchasing land.  Try to make sure you can get a special use permit before buying. </li> <li>Do not go to the planning commission without a lawyer like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel.  There is nothing that suggests this church did, but it could have been in more trouble had it made procedural mistakes before the planning commission. </li> <li>Not every ruling against a church is unreasonable.  The safety issue in this case appears legitimate except for the fact that other non-agricultural use permits in the area have been granted. </li> </ul> </li></ul>Garfield Baptist Church v. City of Pewaukee <ul><li>What can we learn: <ul> <li>As in the previous case, make sure you have an attorney like Josh Bryant here at Church General Counsel when making objections to a public utility.  Because they are granted quasi-monopolies by the government, they act as quasi-governmental entities. </li> <li>Utility disputes must almost universally begin before the public service commission.  The church filed this directly with a trial court, which did not have jurisdiction to hear the dispute since the church did not go before the public service commission.  If you don’t get the ruling you want in the public service commission you can still get judicial review, but as with appeals from municipal or county commissions you can be limited in the evidence presented if things were not done properly in the initial administrative review.  Get an attorney like Church General Counsel involved early. </li> </ul> </li></ul>Rector Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church v. City of Philadelphia Historical Commission <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>Churches are often donated land or purchase property for future use.  Failure to use that land for religious purposes creates difficulties - rollback taxes and denied relief under RULIPA are examples. </li> <li>Churches can often be designated as historic spaces because of how old many of the buildings are.  If you have an old church building that could be of some historical significance and you are making plans to dispose of that property, document your plans and actions very carefully.  This is a case in which the church probably should have made an allegation that this designation is basically a governmental taking of property subject to the Fifth Amendment’s taking clause often referred to as eminent domain. Get a legal opinion from Josh Bryant and Church General Counsel before things get too complicated.</li> </ul> </li></ul>Cruz v. Trustees of Calvary Baptist Church <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>Every state’s charitable immunity statutes follow a different system if they have charitable immunity statutes at all. </li> <li>Many states have repealed charitable immunity, and it is certainly disfavored in many jurisdictions that do have it. </li> <li>It is not wise to rely on charitable immunity to determine your course of action - it should only be used as a defense in a crunch if your state allows it. </li> </ul> </li></ul>Cruz v. Roman Catholic Church of St. Gerard Magella <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>The decision hinged on the church relying on an affidavit signed 2.5 years after the incident stating that the worker was not using proper safety equipment.  However, no one mentioned this at the time in incident reports. </li> <li>If there is a personal injury on your church’s property: <ul> <li>Find any and all witnesses. </li> <li>Get contemporaneous incident reports. </li> <li>Collect photographs, video, etc.</li> <li>Call an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel. </li> <li>You MUST preserve evidence. </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li></ul>Lozada v. St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church <ul> <li>This case interprets the exact same law dealt with in the previous case.  In this case, a worker was installing wiring for a security system in the church when his ladder shifted.  The incident injured the workers’ back. </li> <li>The case here hinged on the plaintiff testifying that no one was holding the ladder while his coworker testified that he was holding the ladder.  As you can see, this would be a great time to have contemporary incident reports so you could clearly show that someone was holding the ladder. </li> </ul>Hartung v. Diocese of Rockville Centre <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>Obviously, if the church creates a hazard it has a duty to remediate it.  If someone gets hurt, you’ll be liable for the injury. </li> <li>If someone tells the church about the hazard, the church has a duty to remediate it.  If someone gets hurt, you’ll be liable for the injury. </li> <li>This is not a situation in which you can stick your fingers in your ears and close your eyes.  If you should know about the hazard then you have constructive notice.  If someone gets hurt, you’ll be liable for the injury. </li> </ul> </li></ul>Newton Covenant Church v. Great American Insurance Company <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>Churches must follow their bylaws.  There would have been much less of a chance of litigation had the process been done properly. </li> <li>When making a major shift like leaving a denomination to join another, get an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel to help walk you through that process and ensure proper parliamentary procedure is followed at the meeting. </li> </ul> </li></ul>Eltingville Lutheran Church v. Rimbo <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul><li>Once again, churches must follow their bylaws.  In this case, the bylaws subjected the local church to a higher synod.  As such, the synod’s determination to take over the church is purely a religious determination and the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the dispute. </li></ul> </li></ul>Armas v. St. Augustine Old Roman Catholic Church <ul><li>What can we learn? <ul> <li>FLSA issues in the church are extremely complicated.  DOL publications state that churches are frequently exempt, but many churches regularly go on mission trips throughout the country and have more than a $500,000 budget - these could make the church an “enterprise.” </li> <li>More and more churches operate schools, which will automatically make the church an enterprise. </li> <li>More churches are engaging in other business partnerships, renting out facilities, developing property, and so forth.  All of these could make a church an “enterprise” under the FLSA. </li> <li>Classifying job positions is a difficult process riddled with exceptions.  Get an attorney like Josh Bryant at Church General Counsel or HR expert to help with this. </li> </ul></li></ul>

Churches in Court - Josh Bryant

William Vanderbloemen

Process Driven Church Employment with William Vanderbloemen (Part 1)

Jim Sheppard

www.LawandChurch.comI tell every church that I work with that I want to help them become more secure, effective, and efficient.  One area where too many churches are vulnerable and insecure is in their financial position.  I read a statistic recently and we'll be talking about it a bit more in future episodes that 61% of all church buildings in America house congregations that cannot financially maintain the building.  That affects somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 churches.  On top of that, one of the issues I unfortunately deal with somewhat frequently is the physical security of money and embezzlement.  Financial insecurity intersects the law in so many ways.  With deferred maintenance comes denied insurance claims.  With dips in giving come missed debt payments and the possibility of foreclosure or bankruptcy.  Now I'm not an accountant or financial advisor, but I tell churches I work with that they need to have access to one and to develop a plan.  Planned giving means different things in different circles, so let's define that a bit.  Jim, what is planned giving?Here are the high points of our discussion with Jim Sheppard:What is planned giving?Who should plan their giving to the church and who should pastors approach about planned gifts?What are some things that churches can do to better cultivate a planned giving culture? Where have we fallen short?What does the future of legacy giving look like?

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a> I tell every church that I work with that I want to help them become more secure, effective, and efficient. One area where too many churches are vulnerable and insecure is in their financial position. I read a statistic recently and we'll be talking about it a bit more in future episodes that 61% of all church buildings in America house congregations that cannot financially maintain the building. That affects somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 churches. On top of that, one of the issues I unfortunately deal with somewhat frequently is the physical security of money and embezzlement. Financial insecurity intersects the law in so many ways. With deferred maintenance comes denied insurance claims. With dips in giving come missed debt payments and the possibility of foreclosure or bankruptcy. Now I'm not an accountant or financial advisor, but I tell churches I work with that they need to have access to one and to develop a plan. Planned giving means different things in different circles, so let's define that a bit. Jim, what is planned giving? Here are the high points of our discussion with Jim Sheppard: What is planned giving? Who should plan their giving to the church and who should pastors approach about planned gifts? What are some things that churches can do to better cultivate a planned giving culture? Where have we fallen short? What does the future of legacy giving look like?

Process Driven Planned Giving - Jim Sheppard, CEO & Principle at Generis

www.LawandChurch.comOne of the tools we touched on I want to go into a bit more deeply and that is the capital campaign.When should a church think about a capital campaign?When a capital campaign is geared towards a designated goal, what are some things churches should do to ensure gifts are used for their designated purpose?What are the general steps involved in a capital campaign? (30,000 foot view)

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a> One of the tools we touched on I want to go into a bit more deeply and that is the capital campaign. When should a church think about a capital campaign? When a capital campaign is geared towards a designated goal, what are some things churches should do to ensure gifts are used for their designated purpose? What are the general steps involved in a capital campaign? (30,000 foot view)

Process Driven Capital Campaigns and Designated Giving - Jim Sheppard, CEO & Principle at Generis

www.LawandChurch.comOnce per month on the Law and Church Podcast we're going to review cases in which churches are in court.  Our goal is to learn from these churches, figure out why they are in court, and talk through some things that could keep us from finding our own churches in similar situations.Universal Life Church v. KingTemple Beth Shalom v. Commerce &amp; Industry Insurance CompanyJohn Doe v. Boy Scouts and LDS ChurchCalvary Pentecostal Church v. FoxStone GroupAfresh Church v. City of Winchester

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a> Once per month on the Law and Church Podcast we're going to review cases in which churches are in court. Our goal is to learn from these churches, figure out why they are in court, and talk through some things that could keep us from finding our own churches in similar situations. Universal Life Church v. King Temple Beth Shalom v. Commerce &amp; Industry Insurance Company John Doe v. Boy Scouts and LDS Church Calvary Pentecostal Church v. FoxStone Group Afresh Church v. City of Winchester

1. Churches are better elsewhere right now.Can the government shut down a church? Yes. Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. But, the Supreme Court has held that the free exercise clause is not violated if a law is generally applicable to the public and any infringement on the right to practice religion is narrowly tailored to meet a compelling state interest.There is no argument that shutting down gatherings of more than 10 people is a law of general applicability. There is no argument that there is not a compelling state interest when this virus is projected to kill 100,000-240,000 Americans. That’s more than all of the combat related deaths in every armed conflict the United States has been in since WWII. Is the law narrowly tailored to meet the state’s interest? The government could mandate that churches perform services in certain ways that minimize exposure to the coronavirus, but the Constitution also says “Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion.” This creates a circular problem. Shutting down a church violates the free exercise clause. Telling a church how to perform religious services violates the establishment clause. That is a very good indication that the law cannot be more narrowly tailored than it already is.2. Churches can do better than civil disobedience right now.Peter Jones’s entry in the Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics provides a great framework here. When we talk about civil disobedience, we know that there must be a conflict between God’s law and man’s law when for the believer, God’s law must control. Even in GOd’s law - in Scripture - there is a presumption that we should obey our authorities. That’s in Romans 13, Titus 3, 1 Peter 2, and in other places too. So, if we’re going to be disobedient, the burden is on us to show that it is necessary. A law that prohibits what God demands calls for direct civil disobedience. The question then is whether government bans on church services during the pandemic prohibits what God requires. On the surface, the answer is yes, it does. God demands that we habitually meet together. Some states now have laws that demand we do not meet together. Therefore, the law prohibits what God demands, right?Here’s what Jones says. FIrst, we must be diligent about the facts and context. Let’s not forget other facts. Other facts show that it is entirely possible for churches to meet online, and a vast number of churches are doing so. Small groups are meeting via Zoom or Google hangouts. Some churches are having small baptism services for groups of less than 8 or 10 people and wearing protective gear like gloves and masks. Some churches are sending pastors and deacons into homes to administer the Lord’s supper to groups of less than 8 or 10 people. Our inability to think outside the box does not justify civil disobedience here.Jones goes on to say that civil disobedience should be a last resort. We know this pandemic has an expiration date. We know there are other things we can do. We could even engage in litigation if necessary to regain permission to meet together, which no one has had time to pursue yet. We’ve not reached the point of last resort.Jones continues to argue that the moral objections to these bans must outweigh the moral objections to the disobedience. Disobedience here could lead to nothing more than dead Christians. I’m not discounting God’s power to protect and heal, but considering how the church can continue to meet and minister and the possibility of further degradation of Christian influence in our society because we disobeyed and expel died, I think the moral objections to disobedience outweigh the moral objections to being ordered not to.Here is the last thing Jones says: if we disobey, we should expect and accept punishment for breaking the law. That level of commitment to your convictions is what makes civil disobedience effective. It’s what made Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr. effective. So if you feel the Spirit leading you to disobey and meet as a church, expect and accept the consequences of that. Otherwise, your disobedience is ineffective.3. Churches better in pandemic will be better after pandemic.A 16th century proverb says “mater artium necessitas” - the mother of invention is necessity. Public schools have lagged behind on remote learning. Necessity right now has birthed a much better grasp of what is necessary to use technology to meet as a church. We’ve taken a break from our technology and the law series to address coronavirus, but this is a great transition back into that topic.Church leaders have largely bought into the notion that the church’s website is the new front door. Many would be guests will make up their mind about the church before they ever step foot in it. But we’ve not done a great job carrying that to its logical conclusion. Our live streams and recordings of our services are not always the greatest quality. Our ability to capture data on those who are attending online services is not at its peak. Online giving is now a matter of absolute necessity. Since these things are necessary, we would be foolish to throw these tools away after this pandemic has passed. We must continue improving the quality of our online services. We must continue to push for online giving. We must continue to work to capture contact information for people visiting our church’s website and using the website as an outreach tool. We must continue to explore how to get people into groups online.

1. Churches are better elsewhere right now. Can the government shut down a church? Yes. Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. But, the Supreme Court has held that the free exercise clause is not violated if a law is generally applicable to the public and any infringement on the right to practice religion is narrowly tailored to meet a compelling state interest. There is no argument that shutting down gatherings of more than 10 people is a law of general applicability. There is no argument that there is not a compelling state interest when this virus is projected to kill 100,000-240,000 Americans. That’s more than all of the combat related deaths in every armed conflict the United States has been in since WWII. Is the law narrowly tailored to meet the state’s interest? The government could mandate that churches perform services in certain ways that minimize exposure to the coronavirus, but the Constitution also says “Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion.” This creates a circular problem. Shutting down a church violates the free exercise clause. Telling a church how to perform religious services violates the establishment clause. That is a very good indication that the law cannot be more narrowly tailored than it already is. 2. Churches can do better than civil disobedience right now. Peter Jones’s entry in the Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics provides a great framework here. When we talk about civil disobedience, we know that there must be a conflict between God’s law and man’s law when for the believer, God’s law must control. Even in GOd’s law - in Scripture - there is a presumption that we should obey our authorities. That’s in Romans 13, Titus 3, 1 Peter 2, and in other places too. So, if we’re going to be disobedient, the burden is on us to show that it is necessary. A law that prohibits what God demands calls for direct civil disobedience. The question then is whether government bans on church services during the pandemic prohibits what God requires. On the surface, the answer is yes, it does. God demands that we habitually meet together. Some states now have laws that demand we do not meet together. Therefore, the law prohibits what God demands, right? Here’s what Jones says. FIrst, we must be diligent about the facts and context. Let’s not forget other facts. Other facts show that it is entirely possible for churches to meet online, and a vast number of churches are doing so. Small groups are meeting via Zoom or Google hangouts. Some churches are having small baptism services for groups of less than 8 or 10 people and wearing protective gear like gloves and masks. Some churches are sending pastors and deacons into homes to administer the Lord’s supper to groups of less than 8 or 10 people. Our inability to think outside the box does not justify civil disobedience here. Jones goes on to say that civil disobedience should be a last resort. We know this pandemic has an expiration date. We know there are other things we can do. We could even engage in litigation if necessary to regain permission to meet together, which no one has had time to pursue yet. We’ve not reached the point of last resort. Jones continues to argue that the moral objections to these bans must outweigh the moral objections to the disobedience. Disobedience here could lead to nothing more than dead Christians. I’m not discounting God’s power to protect and heal, but considering how the church can continue to meet and minister and the possibility of further degradation of Christian influence in our society because we disobeyed and expel died, I think the moral objections to disobedience outweigh the moral objections to being ordered not to. Here is the last thing Jones says: if we disobey, we should expect and accept punishment for breaking the law. That level of commitment to your convictions is what makes civil disobedience effective. It’s what made Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr. effective. So if you feel the Spirit leading you to disobey and meet as a church, expect and accept the consequences of that. Otherwise, your disobedience is ineffective. 3. Churches better in pandemic will be better after pandemic. A 16th century proverb says “mater artium necessitas” - the mother of invention is necessity. Public schools have lagged behind on remote learning. Necessity right now has birthed a much better grasp of what is necessary to use technology to meet as a church. We’ve taken a break from our technology and the law series to address coronavirus, but this is a great transition back into that topic. Church leaders have largely bought into the notion that the church’s website is the new front door. Many would be guests will make up their mind about the church before they ever step foot in it. But we’ve not done a great job carrying that to its logical conclusion. Our live streams and recordings of our services are not always the greatest quality. Our ability to capture data on those who are attending online services is not at its peak. Online giving is now a matter of absolute necessity. Since these things are necessary, we would be foolish to throw these tools away after this pandemic has passed. We must continue improving the quality of our online services. We must continue to push for online giving. We must continue to work to capture contact information for people visiting our church’s website and using the website as an outreach tool. We must continue to explore how to get people into groups online.

What Better Churches Must Know About Coronavirus, Pandemic, and Law

Thom Rainer

www.LawandChurch.comOne of the things I've advocated for a while now is getting out in front of cultural trends.  For example, there are some changes that churches need to make now to get out in front of sexual orientation and gender identity laws, the trend with courts to side-step the First Amendment using business organizational law, and so forth.  Our guest today is an expert and researcher of where churches are heading and what the future might look like.  And as we've discussed some of these trends legal issues start to pop out.Growing churches will have to pay attention to property law and business organization law.Tech savvy churches will have to pay attention to data security and intellectual property laws.Shrewd churches will have to pay attention to tax laws.Senior citizen churches will have to pay attention to changes in legacy giving patterns and estate laws.Here are the high points of our discussion with Dr. Rainer:What do you forecast in terms of church growth strategies? Horizontal growth will out pace vertical growth.  Churches must be prepared for mergers, new churches, and new property acquisitions.How do you see churches using technology and the internet for church growth? The online campus will continue to grow as a first step to a physical campus.  Data security around online giving, prospect capturing, and other confidential communications must be addressed.  Protecting intellectual property will also be a chief concern.

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a> One of the things I've advocated for a while now is getting out in front of cultural trends. For example, there are some changes that churches need to make now to get out in front of sexual orientation and gender identity laws, the trend with courts to side-step the First Amendment using business organizational law, and so forth. Our guest today is an expert and researcher of where churches are heading and what the future might look like. And as we've discussed some of these trends legal issues start to pop out. Growing churches will have to pay attention to property law and business organization law. Tech savvy churches will have to pay attention to data security and intellectual property laws. Shrewd churches will have to pay attention to tax laws. Senior citizen churches will have to pay attention to changes in legacy giving patterns and estate laws. Here are the high points of our discussion with Dr. Rainer: What do you forecast in terms of church growth strategies? Horizontal growth will out pace vertical growth. Churches must be prepared for mergers, new churches, and new property acquisitions. How do you see churches using technology and the internet for church growth? The online campus will continue to grow as a first step to a physical campus. Data security around online giving, prospect capturing, and other confidential communications must be addressed. Protecting intellectual property will also be a chief concern.

Church Trends and Law - Dr. Thom Rainer, founder and CEO of Church Answers

Donnie Baker

Process Driven Church Debt - Donnie Baker, Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending

Better Church Data Security

Better Church Websites

Three Questions Every Church Process Must Answer1. Why are we doing this?2. What are we doing?3. How are we going to do it?Notice this is not a policy. Remember, a policy has a basis in law, ethics, or your bylaws, an objective, procedures it governs, and Scripture supporting it. Each of these elements but the procedures the policy governs at least speak into the first question of your policy: why?Get a free course: Church Policy, Process, and Protection.

Three Questions Every Church Process Must Answer 1. Why are we doing this? 2. What are we doing? 3. How are we going to do it? Notice this is not a policy. Remember, a policy has a basis in law, ethics, or your bylaws, an objective, procedures it governs, and Scripture supporting it. Each of these elements but the procedures the policy governs at least speak into the first question of your policy: why? Get a free course: Church Policy, Process, and Protection.

Better Processes

www.LawandChurch.comFour Components of Better Church PoliciesBOPS1. Your policy must have a Basis.2. Your policy must have an Objective.3. Your policy must refer to Procedures that it governs.4. Your policy must contain Scripture that supports the objective.

<a href="http://www.LawandChurch.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.LawandChurch.com</a> Four Components of Better Church Policies BOPS 1. Your policy must have a Basis. 2. Your policy must have an Objective. 3. Your policy must refer to Procedures that it governs. 4. Your policy must contain Scripture that supports the objective.

Four Components of Better Church Policies

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