Gemma Adam of FIEC Practical Services helps churches embrace legal responsibilities for the sake of the gospel
The legal system and the Word of God can sometimes seem entirely contrary.
We don’t see the Apostle Paul worrying about risk assessments or DBS checks before preaching to crowds in Acts. Church leaders often tell me they struggle to justify spending valuable time and effort on legal matters when they want to be proclaiming God’s Word and winning people for his kingdom. The law can feel like a never-ending list of regulations and tasks. But churches and Christian organisations need to comply with these things, primarily because the Bible commands believers to submit to the governing authorities for ‘the authorities that exist have been established by God’ (Romans 13.1). This isn’t the case when the authorities’ commands conflict with those of the Bible but, praise God, we are not currently in that situation in Britain. Churches are not above the law, but need to submit to it, like every other organisation does, as Romans 13 says: ‘not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience’. So, rather than seeing the law as a hindrance, churches and Christian organisations can joyfully embrace legal compliance as an opportunity to aid their mission to spread the gospel. How? Here’s a few examples:
1. Love your church by preparing for the future
Whether we are leaders, members or attendees we want our churches to reach the lost both now and in the years to come. The legacy our churches leave behind should enhance the gospel work of the next generation, not hinder it. One way we can do that is by ensuring that our churches have proper governing documents in place. Emmanuel Church, Marlborough was planted by three FIEC churches. They worked hard to put in place governing documents before they’d even had their first service. Pastor Reuben Mann explains: ‘It was important to us to have proper governing documents so we could register as a charity and so that the trustees and everyone involved were clear on their roles. We wanted to ensure that what we were doing not only followed the law but also our biblical principles. FIEC Practical Services helped us set up as a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) and liaised with the Charity Commission on our behalf to make sure our documents reflected our specific needs. Having this all in place means those in the church and outsiders dealing with us are clear why we exist and we can now concentrate on reaching the people in and around Marlborough with the gospel’.
This means a church or Christian organisation can have legal charitable status. It brings obvious benefits as charities can claim Gift Aid and pay reduced VAT, but it also means churches become subject to charity law guidelines and the authority of the Charity Commission.
This should not cause concern. The guidelines ensure that charities are well governed so that their aims are achieved and donors’ money is used as intended. They can actually help churches to achieve what they would want to do anyway.
Sometimes churches are working with documents written hundreds of years ago which no longer reflect what they do as a charity. It’s important to get advice about what amendments could be properly made to bring these documents up-to-date. Churches should also get advice when buying, selling or letting charity property.
Governing documents help churches to be good stewards and ensure that both best practice and the charity’s vision are passed on to future generations.
2. Love God’s people by treating them well
I’ve often heard the argument that Christians shouldn’t enter into legal agreements: ‘our relationships are governed by the Bible and the Holy Spirit – we don’t need a legal document to tell us how to treat one another’!
However, even among brothers and sisters there are disagreements. Not having proper contracts or tenancy agreements in place only exasperates a situation if a dispute arises. It adds confusion instead of helping to bring a resolution.
Rather than doing the bare minimum for staff and volunteers, wouldn’t it be wonderful if churches and Christian organisations were way ahead of the world in compliance, exemplifying what it means to be a well-governed charity and an excellent and generous employer?
This means taking employment and equality legislation seriously and having appropriate contracts and policies in place. Any disputes will hinder a church’s witness and gospel growth, so don’t leave yourselves open to a disagreement that could have been resolved by having the right documentation.
Knighton Free Church employs four full-time and six part-time staff. It recently went through the process of adopting a full set of employment policies and contracts with the help of Nicholas Conway, HR Consultant, FIEC Practical Services. Pastor Andy Upton explains: ‘When I started at Knighton, all I had was a letter from the elders with a few terms and conditions on it. That was a while ago and things have changed quite a bit since then, so we wanted to make sure that our contracts were not just up-to-date but legal and fair. Nick helped us to get the wording right then sat down with each member of staff and talked them through the new contracts. I think it’s helped everyone to feel valued. We will have to make minor changes to keep them current but with the help of FIEC Practical Services we can do that.’
3. Love your neighbour by protecting them from harm
The media is desperate to show the church in a bad light so we need to ensure we give no opportunity for criticism, but are seen to be a good witness: ‘then you will shine among them like stars in the sky’ (Philippians 2.15).
There is a range of health and safety matters that churches and Christian organisations need to comply with, from fire safety and food hygiene to asbestos and electrics.
There are important requirements for churches leasing out property and, of course, safeguarding procedures for working with children and vulnerable adults.
Churches and Christian organisations ought to be a place where the safety of children and vulnerable adults is absolutely guaranteed. Having proper policies and robust training in place will also ensure that innocent volunteers are not put in a compromised position.*
In all these things, churches should be ahead of the game so that anyone attending an evangelistic supper won’t go home with a tummy bug, tenants living in church properties will be kept safe and children attending holiday clubs will be properly looked after.
Before food hygiene certificates and Dettol, God prescribed health and safety laws for his people: ‘when you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof’ (Deuteronomy 22.8). God cares about health and safety. He wanted to protect his people and for them to look out for one another.
Churches should take this seriously for the sake of loving others and for the reputation of the gospel.
Gemma Adam is a solicitor employed by FIEC Practical Services as the Practical Services Director. She is married to Richard, Assistant Minister of Emmanuel Church, Bramcote. Gemma has many years of experience in charity and property law and here she explains why complying with the law of our nation is an integral part of a church’s witness and ministry.
FIEC is all about growing gospel-driven churches. FIEC Practical Services is a team of Christian solicitors and experts helping to serve FIEC’s vision by assisting churches and Christian organisations to comply with the law so they can be good witnesses in their communities. We can provide advice on legal issues, model documents carefully drafted to comply with the law and biblical convictions, and also carry out training on legal issues for trustees and elders/pastors. All FIEC churches have access to 30 minutes of free legal advice and there are a number of helpful articles on legal issues available at fiec.org.uk. Please contact the FIEC Practical Services team on 01858 411569 or practicalservices@fiec.org.uk.
