ChurchSafety

No church enjoys going to court. Legal disputes are messy, and sometimes unavoidable. However, your church can create proactive procedures to avoid common reasons why churches most often go to court, and to resolve legal conflict. Creating—and enforcing—the effective policies and procedures will show a court that your church is doing everything possible to keep your people safe, a strong defense should your church ever be brought to court. Gaining knowledge in the five areas below will also prepare you for interacting with a lawyer if your church receives a court summons or needs to issue a lawsuit. After you read through the summaries on the top five reasons churches end up in court, download the corresponding resource, Avoiding Church Lawsuits, to learn more about dealing with these issues.

Personal Injury. Churches may be liable for personal injury on or off church property. If a church cannot prove they provided ample supervision over a church activity (on or off church property), they may be held responsible if injuries occurred. Church legal expert, Richard Hammar, explains that churches must be careful when hosting events on and off church property, and when an outside group is using the premises. Hammar says, "All too often a church inadvertently retains 'control' over its facilities even when they are being used by an outside group—with control comes responsibility."

Church Property Disputes. Churches can avoid church property disputes by adopting appropriate nondoctrinal language in deeds, trusts, local church bylaws, or denominational bylaws. Churches can also accomplish private resolution using a variety of means, including deeds, trusts, and more. Each of these options is summarized in Avoiding Church Lawsuits.

Insurance Coverage Disputes. Churches can avoid insurance coverage disputes by regularly reviewing their insurance policy, so there's no confusion about what kind of coverage the church has purchased.

Zoning. Zoning laws keep many churches from building on certain property, even expanding on property they already own. There are some legal remedies for churches who want to fight zoning laws.

Child Sexual Abuse. Many churches don't realize the threat of sexual abuse of a minor in their church, but if a church is not actively screening their volunteers they could be held responsible. Church attorney Richard Hammar emphasizes, "Victims of molestation who have sued a church often allege that the church was negligent in not adequately screening applicants or for not providing adequate supervision." Learn more about the number one reason most churches end up in court in Avoiding Church Lawsuits.

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