Protecting Your Church from Lawsuits

With the Supreme Court’s recent decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States churches must consider protecting themselves and their staff.  Churches that hold to the Biblical doctrine that marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman find themselves at odds to many in our culture.  The concern is that same-sex couples will desire to use church facilities and beseech church staff to officiate at weddings.  This leads to the fear that when these requests are made and declined that accusations and lawsuits will result.

While much of this is only speculation at this point, it does seem prudent for churches, Christian schools, and ministries to take precautions to ensure their beliefs are upheld and they have legal protection.

We at Seven Oaks Church of Christ in Mayfield, Kentucky recently wrote and revised a couple of documents to help provide us protection.  Following the guidance and legal counsel taken from the Alliance Defending Freedom group and their free brochure “Protecting Your Ministry (part 1 and 2)” we constructed a Statement of Faith and revised our Building Use Policy.  I found this document by ADF, which was given to me, to be extremely helpful and informative.  It is free and accessible at their website.

We produced a Statement of Faith which gives a brief overview of our core beliefs and contains clear statements regarding our church’s position on marriage, gender issues, and sanctity of life.  While we want to be clear that this Statement of Faith is not a creed or document that in any way supersedes the authority of Scripture, we believe this document will help provide a written statement of our church’s position on these important issues.  It will also help to provide a concise statement for those who are desiring to learn about our church’s beliefs.  You are welcome to read our Statement of Faith

Next, we revised our Building Use Policy which has been in existence since 2006.  The policy is primarily used when folks want to use the building for a wedding.  We included statements in the policy regarding approved weddings ceremonies and made references to any functions being consistent with our church’s Statement of Faith and moral teachings.  You can read it as well —Building Use Policy- Updated 2015.

Both of these documents seek to provide protection for the church legally and for the staff and property of the church against lawsuit and being used in a manner inconsistent with our beliefs.  I would encourage your church family to consider taking the time to formulate similar documents.

 

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