Your denomination
The very first place that any church leader should go with a legal question is (drumroll, please) the Church. Most American Christians belong to an organized denomination. While these denominations have various levels of hierarchical structures, they all share the goal of pooling resources among large groups of Christians, though not always for the same reasons. One of the resources denominations provide to member congregations is some sort of legal support.
For example, I belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Like most major American denominations, the ELCA has a general counsel whose job it is to advise the national church. Because there are nearly 10,500 congregations in the ELCA, the General Counsel cannot be attorney or all of them. The ELCA is divided into sixty-five regional bodies called synods. Each synod is led by a bishop, who typically has a staff. While none of these synodical offices as a full-time attorney, they do regularly face legal problems and can often help congregations sort through the solutions legally and theologically. They also can typically point congregational leaders to an attorney who regularly helps congregations in the area.
For example, I belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Like most major American denominations, the ELCA has a general counsel whose job it is to advise the national church. Because there are nearly 10,500 congregations in the ELCA, the General Counsel cannot be attorney or all of them. The ELCA is divided into sixty-five regional bodies called synods. Each synod is led by a bishop, who typically has a staff. While none of these synodical offices as a full-time attorney, they do regularly face legal problems and can often help congregations sort through the solutions legally and theologically. They also can typically point congregational leaders to an attorney who regularly helps congregations in the area.
Your congregation
Another place to find an attorney within the church is of course your own congregation. If you don’t know of a lawyer in your congregation, it is almost certain that one of the leaders knows one. Not every attorney can do every kind of legal task; the law is a very diverse profession requiring specialization. It is, however, a profession built on relationships. For that reason, asking an attorney for advice on who to contact for a specific issue will almost always get you a helpful answer.
While most of these attorneys will give basic legal advice free of charge, remember this is how attorneys make their living, so be respectful of how much time you take before offering to pay them. Before attorneys take matters that will take a lot of time, they will almost always make sure everyone understands the arrangement.
Denominational online resources
The Church also has many resources for people who do not yet need an attorney or are looking for basic information to help them determine when to call one. Again using my own ELCA as an example, the churchwide website has several pages with helpful information, mostly in the form of questions. For instance, there is a section on “Questions About Buildings and Property,” as well as a section on “Questions About Protecting Children and Adults from Abuse.” I have also found similar web pages for the Assemblies of God USA, Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Methodist Church (specifically, the General Council on Finance and Administration of the UMC), and the Union for Reform Judaism.
At least from my experience, most American denominations do not have such resources on the Internet, so don’t be surprised if you can’t find anything when you search your denomination’s name with “legal resources” or another similar term. Take a look at some of the pages I have linked to for some approaches from national church bodies. Their advice will often be relevant to your situation.
Nonchurch resources for churches
There are also some individuals and organizations that offer free advice on the Internet for different reasons. For instance, there is a law firm in Texas that maintains a blog (aptly named the Church Law Blog by the Church Law Group). This group of attorneys represents churches and other nonprofits, so I presume it is information to demonstrate its expertise in the area and to attract new clients. Similarly, ChurchLawandTax.com provides a pay newsletter and has some information and other newsletters available on its site for free. There are also groups with political and/or theological agendas that will post legal advice for like-minded people to follow. I would be especially careful relying too heavily on such groups, especially if you’re not their idea of like-minded people.
Generic legal resources
Of course, churches are not the only organizations with legal problems. Many free legal resources aimed at a more general audience can be helpful to church leaders. There are too many good resources to list here, but I would like to share with you three of my favorites.
First is a podcast and blog that I follow that is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips network: Legal Lad. This podcast as in around for several years now and has a very useful searchable database. it is targeted to a lay audience who is curious about legal issues, so it is a great place to start to understand the basics of a particular legal problem. I often search this site when I help people with their everyday legal problems.
Another general resource to which I often refer people with basic legal issues is Nolo. Nolo has been around for a long time publishing self-help legal books. Now it has many online resources, some of which are free and posted on the company’s website: www.nolo.com. A similar website is legal publisher West’s FindLaw.com.
The last resource is more like the tools that attorneys use to research the law, but it might come in handy when you are trying to find a case or legal article. Google Scholar has a legal section. Go to scholar.google.com, click on the “Legal opinions and journals” radio button, and enter your search terms.
Pay church-specific resources
Finally, there are resources targeted at churches out there for purchase that are as broad or narrow as you would like with titles like Managing Your Church’s Employees. Because I do not know the first thing about any of these resources, I’m not going to list or endorse any. (If you would like me to look at any resource in particular and perhaps post about it, please let me know.)
Consult an attorney
Remember, none of these online or printed resources is a replacement for talking to a real, live human being! Every situation is a little different, and the consequences of making a mistake can be serious. Plus, every jurisdiction has slightly different laws, so it’s best to talk to an attorney who can advise you about the local quirks and differences from these generic sources. Ultimately, lawyers get paid for their judgment and experience much more than their knowledge.
If you would like to share more legal resources for churches, please post a comment in this post.
Have a legal question that affects religious organizations? E-mail it to me at questions@lawmeetsgospel.com.
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